Automotive News - September 15, 2008 - (Page 11)

tion’s second-largest automaker, behind Ford. But Durant’s biggest adventure lay ahead. Morgan’s concept Historians trace the idea for what eventually became General Motors to banking giant J.P. Morgan & Co. Morgan, writes historian Pelfry, was backing an automaking venture named MaxwellBriscoe. Morgan sent one of the company’s principals, Benjamin Briscoe, to investigate a major consolidation of automakers. It would be similar to the consolidation that formed U.S. Steel. Its working name: International Motor Car Co. Briscoe called Billy Durant first. Eventually, Henry Ford and Ransom Olds, founder of Oldsmobile and then head of Reo Motor Car Co., joined the talks. But negotiations collapsed when Ford and Olds demanded cash instead of stock in the new venture. Durant wasn’t ready to give up. GM is born “Durant said: ‘I like this idea of consolidation. I’m going to do it anyway,’ “ said Gustin. “I think he saw it as an extension of what he’d done in the carriage business.” By then, Durant already had his eye on a company he would add to the stable along with Buick: Olds Motor Works, the struggling maker of the Oldsmobile in Lansing, Mich. The plan in place, Durant needed a name. In- ternational Motor Car Co. was no longer available. Durant’s lawyers suggested an alternative: General Motors Co. GM was incorporated on Sept. 16, 1908. Within two months, it acquired Buick and Oldsmobile. The road ahead would be bumpy for Durant, but in his unpublished autobiography, as quoted by Pelfrey, he clearly saw the implications of what he had created. “I had made the first step; the responsibility was mine and it was up to me to make good,” Durant wrote. “My experience and success with Buick gave me the idea. I figured if I could acquire a few more companies like Buick, I would have control of the greatest industry in this country.” The supporting cast Billy Durant founded General Motors, but his path was filled with important bit players whose names never became part of the auto lexicon. The following information is from Billy Durant: Creator of General Motors by Lawrence R. Gustin. Alexander Brownell Cullen “ABC” Hardy — Hardy was the former manager of a Durant buggy company. After a long trip to Europe, he returned to Flint extolling the potential of the horseless carriage. Durant cared nothing about automobiles, but Hardy piqued the interest of James Whiting, manager of rival Flint Wagon Works. Benjamin and Frank Briscoe — The Briscoe brothers lent money to engine maker David Dunbar Buick. When Buick couldn’t repay his debt, the Briscoes persuaded him to restructure as Buick Motor Co. so the company could be sold. Benjamin Briscoe was working with automaker Jonathan Maxwell at the time, and he wanted to unload Buick. James Whiting — Influenced by Hardy, Whiting became fascinated by the automobile. After meeting with Benjamin Briscoe, Whiting agreed to have Flint Wagon Works buy Buick, and he moved Buick from Detroit to Flint, Mich. © GM Corp. “My experience and success with Buick gave me the idea. I figured if I could acquire a few more companies like Buick, I would have control of the greatest industry in this country.” — Billy Durant Driving a Buick turned Durant into a believer Lawrence R. Gustin The story of General Motors began in Flint, Mich., in the fall of 1904, when Flint carriage king Billy Durant shook off his disdain of automobiles and decided the Buick might have a future. It’s true that Durant was no cheerleader for motor cars in 1904. It’s also true that Durant, often called a visionary, initially had less vision about the future of the automobile than some of his friends and relatives. In 1903, directors of the Flint Wagon Works bought the small Buick Motor Co. of Detroit and moved it 60 miles north to Flint. Flint Wagon Works was a local competitor of Durant’s company, Durant-Dort Carriage Co. Wagon Works leader James Whiting saw an opportunity to sell gasoline engines to farmers. But David Dunbar Buick, a onetime plumbing supplier executive, along with his engineer, Walter Marr, wanted to build automobiles. Buick already had built two in Detroit. Whiting agreed that the Buick folks could build a few automobiles to see whether they would sell. By mid-September 1904 they had Fred Aldrich — Aldrich was the secretary of Durant-Dort Carriage Co. He advised Whiting to involve Durant in managing the faltering Buick after the acquisition proved to be a money pit. Durant had been living in New York and playing the stock market. George Perkins — Perkins was a backer of the Maxwell-Briscoe automotive venture and a partner in J.P. Morgan & Co. He wanted to arrange a big automotive merger. Benjamin Briscoe notified Durant, suggesting they call together the heads of 20 leading auto companies. Durant suggested they limit the meeting to leaders of Buick, Maxwell-Briscoe, Ford Motor Co. and Reo Motor Car Co. Perkins suggested that the venture be called International Motor Car Co. Herbert Satterlee — Satterlee was a J.P. Morgan lawyer who handled the merger discussions. After J.P. Morgan lost interest in the consolidation, Satterlee continued to work with Durant. Because Perkins wanted rights to the name International Motor Car Co., Satterlee and his law partners suggested one of Durant’s alternative names: General Motors Co. (later General Motors Corp.). — Leslie J. Allen Durant-Dort carriages — “blue ribbon vehicles” — on display in 1902. built 16 cars. The good news was Buick had created a powerful overhead-valve engine. The bad news was Buick was practically broke. Billy took a ride Flint’s carriage builders were close-knit, and Durant-Dort Secretary Fred Aldrich advised Whiting that Durant could properly finance Buick and get it on its feet. Durant, who once derided automobiles as “noisy contraptions,” finally got his first ride in a Buick. It happened just after he returned to Flint from semiretirement in New York, apparently to see about Whiting’s concerns with the shaky Buick business. A young Flint doctor, Herbert Hills, who had bought the first Flint Buick sold, gave Durant a ride on Sept. 4, 1904. “We started out with Durant and me in the front seat, and Mrs. Durant (Clara, his first wife) and their daughter in the rear,” Hills recalled. “We drove out East Kearsley Street, “I want nothing to do with it.” — Billy Durant, on the horseless carriage AUTOMOTIVE NEWS then one of the few paved streets in Flint, and Durant kept firing questions at me about how the car ran and if I liked it. We didn’t talk about anything else the whole time.” Sam McLaughlin, a carriage builder, auto pioneer and contemporary of Durant’s, said Marr later drove a Buick to Durant’s office, but Durant refused to ride in it. So Marr taught Durant’s carriage partner, Dallas Dort, how to drive it. Dort then went to Durant: “Come on out! It’s great. They taught me how to drive! I’ve been driving a car!” Durant replied: “I want nothing to do with it.” Durant came aboard McLaughlin continued: “Then later, Walter and David Buick drove it up and down past Mr. Durant’s house all that evening and the next day induced Mr. Durant to go out in it for a ride.” McLaughlin, who was known to embellish a story from time to time, said Durant then learned Marr was not trying to sell him a Buick car, but the Buick company. Soon Durant was testing the car, experiencing Buick’s powerful, overhead-valve engine, noting public reaction — and deciding this machine could be another “self-seller” like his patented road cart, which 18 years earlier had propelled him into the carriage business. And on Nov. 1, 1904, when he agreed to take over management of Buick if the stockholders would come up with money for expansion, Durant began the spectacular journey that would result in his creation of General Motors four years later. September 15, 2008 11

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