Categories: This Day

September 16, 1908 – The birth of General Motors

Buick Motor Car company owner William C. Durant leveraged an engine supply deal with McLaughlin Motor Car Company of Canada to found General Motors on this day in 1908. In the beginning, the Detroit headquartered GM , which positioned it self as an automotive holding company, had only Buick, under its umbrella. Within a decade it would acquire more than twenty companies.

Above: A woman driving a 1910 Buick. Top: William Durant with Chevrolet 490

Durant would acquire Oldsmobile later in 1908, bringing GM’s holdings to two. The next year, GM purchased Cadillac, Cartercar, Elmore, Ewing, Oakland, Reliance Motor Truck Company and Rapid Motor Vehicle Company. The latter two being the predecessors to GMC. That same year, Durant initiated an attempt to purchase Ford Motor Company for $8 million. Henry Ford agreed, but the payment had to be under his terms and made in solid gold. When Durant failed to close the deal because hesitant bankers refused to loan him the capital, the board-of-directors booted him from the cash-strapped company.

General Motors Building in Detroit. The GM headquarters from 1923 to 1996. It’s now known as Cadillac Place and is a National Historic Landmark.

Durant’s Rebuild

In 1911, after being forced out of GM, Durant co-founded Chevrolet Motor Company with Louis Chevrolet. In 1916, after a stock buying campaign, Chevrolet came to own 54.5% of GM stock, putting Durant back in the driver’s seat of the holding company he founded. He continued his original buying spree, this time going international. GM bought Vauxhall of England in 1925, 80 percent of Germany’s Opel in 1929, and Holden of Australia became a GM property in 1931. Today General Motors builds Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, and Wuling.

Durant’s ride with GM lasted through 1920, when to board kicked him out once again. He’d go on to found Durant Motors, which wouldn’t survive the Great Depression. He would eventually manage a chain of bowling alleys, but ultimately died living on a pension from old friends. Upon his death, the Durants faced bankruptcy, forcing them to sell their art collection.

Brian Corey

Recent Posts

November 20, 2011 – Famed Ferrari designer Sergio Scaglietti dies

Scaglietti, left, in his body shop Sergio Scaglietti opened Carrozzeria Scaglietti, an auto repair and…

1 day ago

November 19, 1959 – Ford announces the end of Edsel

Too much money. Too much hype. Too much of the same old thing. Designed to…

2 days ago

Rare 1955 Mercedes Truck for Sale

This 1955 Mercedes-Benz 170 S-D Diesel pickup truck appears to be an exceptionally rare find,…

2 days ago

November 18, 1960 – End of the line for DeSoto

1961 DeSoto Less than a week after Chrysler acquired Dodge Brothers, it debuted its new…

3 days ago

November 17, 1986 – The Assassination of Renault CEO Georges Besse

Georges Besse (Renault) On this day in 1986 Georges Besse, the 58-year-old CEO of French…

4 days ago

November 16, 1904 – The history of auto theft in Los Angeles begins with first recorded stolen car in the city

1905 White steam car. Not the first stolen car, but similar. This one is known…

5 days ago