Ransom Olds
| Ransom E. Olds | |
|---|---|
Portrait of Olds, c 1920
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| Born |
Ransom Eli Olds June 3, 1864 Geneva-on-the-Lake, Ohio, United States |
| Died | August 26, 1950 (aged 86) Lansing, Michigan, United States |
| Occupation | Business, Automobiles |
| Spouse(s) | Metta Ursula Woodward |
| Parent(s) | Pliny Fiske Olds and Sarah Whipple Olds |
Ransom Eli Olds (June 3, 1864 – August 26, 1950) was a pioneer of the American automotive industry, for whom both the Oldsmobile and REO brands were named. He claimed to have built his first steam car as early as 1894 and his first gasoline-powered car in 1896. The modern assembly line and its basic concept is credited to Olds, who used it to build the first mass-produced automobile, the Oldsmobile Curved Dash, beginning in 1901.
Olds was born in Geneva-on-the-Lake, Ohio, the youngest son of blacksmith and pattern-maker Pliny Fiske Olds and his wife, Sarah Whipple Olds. His parents moved the family to Cleveland, Ohio, when Olds was still a boy. He eventually settled in Lansing, Michigan, where he married Metta Ursula Woodward on June 5, 1889. He was of English ancestry with the first paternal line coming from Dorset, England in 1667.
He founded the Olds Motor Vehicle Company in Lansing, Michigan, on August 21, 1897. The company was bought by a copper and lumber magnate named Samuel L. Smith in 1899 and renamed Olds Motor Works. The new company was relocated from Lansing to Detroit. Smith became President while Olds became vice president and general manager.
By 1901 Olds had built 11 prototype vehicles, including at least one of each power mode: steam, electricity and gasoline. He was the only American automotive pioneer to produce and sell at least one of each mode of automobile.
On March 9, 1901, the Olds Motor Works factory burned to the ground. Only one model, the little Curved Dash runabout, was saved from the flames. Ransom Olds claimed it was the fire that made him select the runabout, from among his many other models, to put into production. His biographer questions the veracity of this story. He points to an Olds advertising blitz that had already led to more than 300 Curved Dash orders even before the fire took place. "Olds did not need the one rescued car from which to reconstruct the plans and patterns for the runabout."
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