REO Trucks to Reveal Runabout November 16. The Man Behind the Name Founded Oldsmobile

REO Trucks is about to show the public what its revived American truck brand will actually look like and it probably won’t resemble a Curved Dash Olds.

The company says it will reveal all three Runabout designs for the T4X work truck, T4C crew cab and S4C SUV on November 16. More than 40,000 paid reservations have already been placed, even though buyers have so far seen only teasers. But the name behind this modern truck attempt goes back more than 120 years to one of the most important figures in early American automotive history: Ransom Eli Olds.

Before REO, Ransom Olds Built Oldsmobile

Ransom Eli Olds was born in Ohio in 1864 and grew up in Lansing, Michigan, where his father operated a machine shop. Olds experimented with steam-powered vehicles before turning to gasoline automobiles and organizing the Olds Motor Vehicle Company in 1897. The business eventually became Olds Motor Works, and the Curved Dash Oldsmobile emerged as one of America’s first genuinely successful mass-produced cars.

Olds helped pioneer the use of a stationary assembly-line production system years before Henry Ford perfected the moving assembly line. The Curved Dash proved that automobiles could be built in meaningful volume and sold to a broader public rather than remaining expensive novelties.

But Olds eventually lost control of the company that carried his name. After disagreements with management, he left Olds Motor Works in 1904. Rather than retire, he almost immediately began building another automobile company from scratch.

REO Became His Second Automotive Empire

Olds initially intended to use his own name again, but objections from his former company led him to use his initials instead: R.E. Olds became REO. The REO Motor Car Company began building automobiles in Lansing in 1905 and quickly became a serious player in the young American auto industry.

Trucks eventually became one of REO’s defining products. The famous REO Speed Wagon arrived in 1915 and helped establish the company as an important commercial-vehicle manufacturer. Over the decades, REO built cars, pickups, delivery vehicles and heavy trucks, creating a reputation durable enough that the name still carries recognition long after the original company disappeared.

That legacy is exactly what the modern REO revival is leaning into. The new company describes the Runabout as an affordable, simple and repairable American truck line using gasoline four-cylinder power, a body-on-frame chassis, mechanical four-wheel drive and a choice of manual or automatic transmissions. It’s potentially one of several new trucks worth waiting for.

What does the REO Truck look like? We’ll find out November 16

Until now, the biggest unanswered question about REO Trucks has been simple: what will the new REO trucks actually look like? That changes on November 16, 2026, when the company plans to reveal all three Runabout designs. The styling is being developed by Frank Stephenson’s design studio, whose founder’s résumé includes the modern MINI, BMW X5, Ferrari F430 and McLaren P1.

REO currently lists estimated starting prices of $21,500 for the T4X, $25,000 for the T4C, and $28,500 for the S4C. Pilot builds are targeted for 2027, the order book is expected to open in 2028, and first deliveries are targeted for late 2028 or 2029. The company emphasizes that those figures and dates remain targets rather than guarantees.

Whether the new REO can turn 40,000-plus reservations into actual trucks remains to be seen. But the November 16 reveal will be an important moment for a startup trying to revive one of America’s oldest automotive names. More than a century after Ransom E. Olds started REO because he had lost control of Oldsmobile, someone is once again betting that his initials still mean something.