David Buick's Marvelous Motor Car: The men and the automobile that launched General Motors

David Buick's Marvelous Motor Car: The men and the automobile that launched General Motors

David Buick's Marvelous Motor Car: The men and the automobile that launched General Motors

David Buick's Marvelous Motor Car: The men and the automobile that launched General Motors

Hardcover(4th ed.)

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Overview

David Buick led a team that created gasoline engines for motor cars that were truly remarkable. They were powerful, durable and efficient engines that proved formidable on race tracks and in hill climbs. And, more important, those engines provided the power to negotiate the deeply rutted mud, clay and sand roads that often defeated other cars in the early 20th century.

David Buick created one of two big story lines that connected in Flint, Michigan, in 1904. His theme was about a faltering little company with a great engine, Buick Motor Company. The other big story line was that of the brilliant organizer and promoter, William C. Durant. When Durant was introduced to the Buick automobile, it was almost like an explosion in the business world. That combination, Durant and Buick, formed the beginning of General Motors.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780692996737
Publisher: Lawrence R. Gustin
Publication date: 01/04/2018
Edition description: 4th ed.
Pages: 306
Sales rank: 526,867
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)

Table of Contents

Forewords by Nicola Bulgari and Bob Lutz ........................................... i

Introduction ............................................................................................ v

One: An interview in Detroit ................................................................. 1

Two: From Scotland to Detroit: The early years ................................... 5

Three: Gasoline engines: The obsession begins .................................... 17

Four: Buick and boats ............................................................................ 29

Five: First Buick automobile ................................................................. 35

Six: Charles Annesley: Finding a missing link ...................................... 49

Seven: ‘Valve-in-head’ engines ............................................................. 55

Seven sidebar: ‘Valve-in-head’ engine technology, by Kevin Kirbitz ... 67

Eight: Buick starts a new company ....................................................... 73

Nine: Move to Flint ............................................................................... 81

Nine sidebar: Arthur Mason: A daughter’s recollection ........................ 95

Ten: The Wolverine ............................................................................... 99

Eleven: First Flint Buick ....................................................................... 105

Twelve: The irrepressible Billy Durant ................................................. 121

Thirteen: Buick thrives, but where’s the founder? ................................ 141

Fourteen: David Buick hits the road ...................................................... 153

Fifteen: Oil in California ....................................................................... 159

Sixteen: Buick sets pattern for Chevrolet .............................................. 175

Seventeen: David Buick’s final years .................................................... 195

Eighteen: Celebrating the past; a peek at the future .............................. 215

Conversations with C. S. Mott ............................................................... 245

About Sloan Museum’s Buick Gallery and Research Center ................. 253

Acknowledgments .................................................................................. 255

Index ...................................................................................................... 271

About the Author .................................................................................... 282

About Kevin Kirbitz ................................................................................ 284

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