Automotive News - September 15, 2008 - (Page 14)

David Buick: The forgotten man of a burgeoning empire Lawrence R. Gustin ulitzer Prize-winning historian Bruce Catton once observed that of all the automotive tales told in Detroit, “there is no tale as strange as the tale of David Buick.” And yet, another prominent historian lamented that few aspects of U.S. auto history have been “so poorly recorded” as the early career of David Dunbar Buick. David Buick’s name has appeared on 40 million motor vehicles over 105 years. And some of those cars had quite notable owners — political leaders, movie stars, adventurers, sultans, kings of England and the last emperor of China. More important, Buick built the automobile that provided the stage for Billy Durant as he created what became the world’s largest au- P tomaker, General Motors. Admittedly, there were reasons for David Buick’s obscurity. He disliked making public appearances and sometimes displayed a curt, sharp-edged personality. He was “a hard man to do business with,” said Detroit politician John C. Lodge. A private man Buick was seldom available for interviews. He wrote little that survived. His family preserved few of his photographs and personal effects. Then there was the money problem: He lost much of his fortune in a shady oil deal in California and was nearly broke when he died in 1929. In his last years he was too poor to afford a An early Buick returns to Flint, Mich., after a test run to Detroit in 1904. In the car are engineering whiz Walter Marr, left, and Tom Buick, son of company founder David Buick. Brose offers GM its congratulations on 100 years of Innovative Technology automotive excellence The Brose Group is one of the fastest growing international automotive suppliers. Worldwide, more than 14,000 employees 15,000 at 50 locations in 21 countries are engaged in the development and production of components and systems for automobiles. Today you can find a Brose product in every third vehicle produced worldwide. Brose technology helps make day-to-day motoring of millions of car drivers safer and more pleasant. At the touch of a button, doors, windows or liftgates can be easily operated and seats, steering wheel and headrests ergonomically adjusted. Brose electric drives ensure safety and reduced fuel consumption. They control braking systems, electric steering or automated clutches. They regulate heating and ventilation blowers, ensuring efficient engine cooling. More than 40 car manufacturers and suppliers trust Brose's intelligent product solutions designed to meet the ever-increasing demands for environmental compatibility, safety, comfort and cost effectiveness. Every third automobile produced worldwide today is already equipped with one of our products. telephone, let alone an automobile. By then, 2 million Buicks had been produced, and the brand was highly valued. But the only job David Buick could find in his last years was as a low-paid instructor in a Detroit trade school. More has been learned recently about the slight, 5-foot-5½inch native of Scotland. He attracted a few mechanical stars to work for him, and he knew much more about how to design and manufacture engines than was previously thought. David Buick was never a big success after he left the plumbing supplies business around 1900. But he was tenacious enough to follow his dream, which was to get his automobile into production. He did that just long enough to attract Durant, the promotional wizard from Flint, Mich. Buick was born Sept. 17, 1854, in the fishing village of Arbroath, Scotland, on the North Sea. Two years later he moved to Detroit with his parents. Buick quit school at 11, worked on a farm until he was 15 and then entered the plumbing business. He became an expert brass finisher, then an inventor of plumbing devices and, eventually, president of Buick & Sherwood, a prosperous plumbing supply house. Walter Marr’s role By the late 1890s he had started manufacturing gasoline engines and engine parts. In 1899, the Motor Vehicle Review reported that he and partner William Sherwood were “experimenting with motor carriages” and planned to get into that business. Buick sold the plumbing business in 1899, soon parted ways with Sherwood and created Buick Auto-Vim & Power Co. in downtown Detroit. A key move was hiring machinist Walter Marr, who in 1900 became his engines manager. Marr was a major component of David Buick’s success. Marr ran a bicycle shop in Saginaw, Mich., and moved it to Detroit in 1896. In 1898 he built his first motor vehicle. A year later, after his bike shop folded, Marr found a job at Detroit Shipbuilding Co. He was working on a marine engine when David Buick, who raced sailboats, walked by on AUTOMOTIVE NEWS The Brose Group Germany Belgium Brazil Canada China Czechia France Great Britain Hungary India Japan Mexico Portugal Slovakia South Africa South Korea Spain Sweden Turkey USA Brose North America 3933 Automation Ave. Auburn Hills, MI 48326 Phone: (248) 339-4000 Fax: (248) 339-4099 Internet: www.brose.com 14 September 15, 2008 © GM Corp. http://www.brose.com http://www.brose.com

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Automotive News - September 15, 2008

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