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March 8, 1969 – Pontiac Trans Am debuts
8Mar By Automotive HistoryNo Comments
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March 8, 1969 – Pontiac Trans Am debuts

Pontiac Firebird Trans Am, left, on display at the 1969 Chicago Auto Show (CAS) The Pontiac Trans Am is a classic American muscle car that has become synonymous with power, speed, and style. It started as a performance package for the Pontiac Firebird, which got the sheet pulled off on this day in 1969 at the Chicago Auto Show during the peak of the muscle car era in the United States. The Trans Am was designed to be a high-performance vehicle, with a range of upgrades that included a tuned suspension, larger brakes, and a powerful 440 cubic inch V8 engine that produced 345 horsepower. The car also featured a unique front fascia, rear spoiler, and side-exit exhausts that gave it a distinctive look and sound. That first year, only 689 Trans Am hardtop coupes and 8 Trans Am convertibles...
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March 7, 1929 – GM buys Opel
7Mar By Automotive HistoryNo Comments
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March 7, 1929 – GM buys Opel

1931 Opel 1.8L By Lars-Göran Lindgren Sweden - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0 General Motors (GM) is one of the world's largest automakers, with a rich history dating back to its founding in 1908. In its early days it acquired brands such as Buick, Oldsmobile and Cadillac, among many, many others. Fast forward to two decades and we find that GM has not stopped buying. On this day in 1929 GM purchased 80 percent of the German automaker Opel, and eventually became the outright owner in 1931. While GM efforts in Europe can be traced to 1911, its footprint took hold there when it began producing Chevrolet cars in Denmark in 1923 and Belgium in 1925. Also in 1925 GM acquired British automaker Vauxhall. However, the acquisition of Opel proved to be a significant step in the company's growth. Foun...
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February 6, 1968 – Bunkie Knudsen becomes President of Ford
6Feb By Automotive HistoryNo Comments
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February 6, 1968 – Bunkie Knudsen becomes President of Ford

Bunkie Knudsen with new Chevrolet Auto industry titan Semon Knudsen was born in 1912 to William Knudsen, who himself would later become president of General Motors (1937-1940). His father gave him the nickname Bunkie, referring to the WWI term for bunk mate. The pair had a special bond, and the elder Knudsen knew how to play into his son's interests. When 14-year-old Bunkie asked for a new car, his father gave him a brand new 1927 Chevrolet. The only thing, it was fully disassembled. Bunkie went to work putting the car together piece by piece by hand, a process that cemented an interest in automobiles. His automotive career began after earning an engineering degree from MIT and then taking a low level position at Pontiac in 1939. Like father, like son, he would go on to become a succes...
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January 7, 1985 – Saturn is founded
7Jan By Automotive HistoryNo Comments
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January 7, 1985 – Saturn is founded

First generation Saturn S-Series The automotive history of Saturn cars started as a code name for what was to be a new small car that would fall under one of General Motors' existing brands in the mid 1980s. Chevrolet, Oldsmobile and Pontiac all received consideration when discussions of the new car started in June of 1982. At the time, domestic automakers came under pressure to build more efficient compacts to compete with imports. GM Chairman Roger Smith publicized the plan to produce a new vehicle in November of '83, promising something different. Just more than a year later, on this day in automotive history in 1985, GM officially founded Saturn Corporation. That small car became it's own company. A concept car soon followed. While the idea to release the vehicle under an exist...
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December 20, 1989 – Roger & Me Debuts
20Dec By Automotive HistoryNo Comments
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December 20, 1989 – Roger & Me Debuts

Michael Moore Amid record profits in the 1980s, a series of decisions approved by General Motors CEO Roger Smith led to the closing of several GM plants in Flint, Michigan. Smith intended to take advantage of cheap labor in Mexico. Michael Moore documented the shuttering of the plants, starting in 1986, in his film Roger & Me, which debuted on this day in 1989. It chronicled the impact of General Motors leaving the Flint community, which left 30,000 people suddenly unemployed. Ultimately, Moore wished to bring Smith to Flint to show him how his actions affected people GM previously employed. Throughout the film, Moore, originally from Flint, speaks with assembly workers and residents, many of whom share a strong disdain for Smith. He also connects with GM executives and cel...
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November 3, 1911 – Chevrolet is founded
3Nov By Brian CoreyNo Comments
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November 3, 1911 – Chevrolet is founded

1912 Chevrolet Classic Six. By Trainguy1 CC BY-SA 3.0 William Durant and Louis Chevrolet officially found the Chevrolet Motor Company on this day in 1911. Those also involved with the creation of the company include William Little, James Whiting and Louis' brother Arthur Chevrolet. The following year the Chevrolet Classic Six started rolling our of the their Flint, Michigan factory, priced at a whopping $2,500 each. In the early years, Durant and Chevrolet disagreed about the types of vehicles the brand should make, sporty cars versus luxury cars. This argument pushed Louis to sell his share of the company in 1914 to return to racing. That same year Chevrolet began production of the Royal Mail roadster that sold for a more reasonable $750. They also offered the Baby Grand touring car w...
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October 2, 1912 – GM & Ford executive Bunkie Knudsen is born
2Oct By Automotive HistoryNo Comments
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October 2, 1912 – GM & Ford executive Bunkie Knudsen is born

Bunkie Knudsen with new Chevrolet On this day in 1912 future auto industry executive Semon Knudsen was born to William Knudsen, who himself would later become president of General Motors (1937-1940). His father gave him the nickname Bunkie, referring to the WWI term for bunk mate. They pair had a special bond, and the elder Knudsen knew how to play into his son's interests. When at age 14 Bunkie asked for a new car, his father gave him all of the pieces to a brand new 1927 Chevrolet. Bunkie went to work assembling the car by hand, a process that cemented an interest in automobiles. Like father, like son, he would go on to become a successful executive in the industry. His automotive career began after earning an engineering degree from MIT and then taking a low level position at Pontia...
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October 1, 1908 – GM buys Buick, Ford builds first production Model T
1Oct By Automotive HistoryNo Comments
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October 1, 1908 – GM buys Buick, Ford builds first production Model T

October 1, 1908 was a big day in the growing automotive industry. Up in Flint, Michigan, William Durant had recently formed General Motors, intending it be a holding company for various automotive interests. On this day in 1908 his new company acquired its first property, Buick, though it was more or less a transfer from current owner Durant to GM. On the same day, about 70 miles southeast of Flint, in the booming town of Detroit, the Ford Motor Company manufactured its first production Model T. The world changed forever. William Durant Henry Ford A month after Buick moved under the GM umbrella, Durant acquired Oldsmobile. In 1909 he'd snap up several more, including Cadillac, Oakland (to become Pontiac), Rapid Motor Vehicle Company (to become GMC), Reliance Motor Truck Compa...
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September 17, 1909 – GM executive Ed Cole is born
17Sep By Automotive HistoryNo Comments
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September 17, 1909 – GM executive Ed Cole is born

On this day in 1909, General Motors executive Ed Cole was born in Marne, Michigan. The son of a dairy farmer, Cole spent his youth designing, building and selling homemade radios. Later he went to work as a field representative for a tractor manufacturing company. His first job in the auto industry saw him manning the counter at an auto parts store, which he did while attending Grand Rapids Community College. He’d later enroll in the General Motors Institute (now Kettering University in Flint, MI), where he pursued an education in engineering. The GM leadership saw the potential in Cole and decided it best to keep him around after graduation. His consistent quality output at GM led him to being assigned co-head of development, alongside Henry Barr, for the 1949 Cadillac V8 engine. ...
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September 16, 1908 – The birth of General Motors
16Sep By Automotive History11 Comments
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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...
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