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The oldest American automaker has reached the end of the road - which ends at the graveyard inhabited by other such venerable names as Packard, Nash, Studebaker, Hudson and DeSoto.
Founded in Lansing, Michigan in 1897 by Ransom E. Olds, the line of cars bearing his name first began rolling out as $1,000 hand-built, gasoline-powered wooden buggies, a price which made it unattainable to all but the very wealthy. A devastating factory fire which forced Olds to churn out the only model unaffected by the damage would set the company's fortunes in gear. The Curved Dash, a modest little roadster so named for the shape of it's dashboard, boasted a one-cylinder, 7-horsepower engine and held just 4 gallons of gas. The sprite little ride, which weighed in at at just 700 pounds, became an instant hit and, at $650, a real bargain. As America's first mass-produced assembly line automobile, the Olds Motor Works could manufacture up to 30 Curved Dash's a day. Selling over 4,000 units the first year out thanks in part to the marketing wizardry of Ransom E. Olds, who staged a transcontinental trip with the runabout to promote it's sturdiness and versatility at a time when steam-powered locomotives were considered the most reliable means for cross-country travel. Oldsmobile became part of GM in 1908, which placed the brand among it's mid-level lineup - higher priced than Pontiac and Chevrolet, a cut below Buick and Cadillac. From it's earliest days, Oldsmobile maintained it's status as a trendsetter in the field of automotive technology with such inovations as Hydra-Matic, the first high-volume automatic transmission and the Rocket 88, a specialized eight-cylinder powerhouse with 135 horsepower and 240 pound-feet of torque that went on to become the engine of choice at the Indy 500 and Daytona. Oldsmobile was among the first to make use of chrome-plated trim and pioneered front-wheel-drive with the 1966 Tornado, which also laid claim as the first car to offer driver's side airbags, begining in 1974. The brand's popularity steadily grew and became the first GM division aside from Chevrolet to sell over 1 million cars, topping off at it's peak in 1985 when 1,168,982 vehicles were produced. Since then, it's been all downhill. Buyers eventually began to spurn the midsize cars offered by Oldsmobile in favor of minivans, SUVs, and lower priced imports.
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