The book Comeback! is not about cars, despite what you might think, but about the intrigues surrounding the people making cars. A few cars were game changers, though, none more than the Curved Dash Oldsmobile–it’s what started the automobile industry as we know it today.
Most people think the Ford Model T was the first successful automobile, but the Curved Dash Oldsmobile was first to break the 1,000 annual sales mark.
Why? While Ford was tinkering and racing, Ransom E. Olds focused on bringing an automobile to the mass market.
The Curved Dash Oldsmobile (can you tell where the name came from?) was cheaper than the “respected” automobiles of the day, plumbers, doctors and others could afford it. It was simple in design and construction, and therefore easy to maintain
He Hated Horses
Ranny Olds was driven by a passion: he hated horses. He grew up on a farm and came to abhor the stink farm animals made.
We forget today that the streets of the time were filthy from all the urine and feces of the riding and working horses. Unlike dog owners today, those owners were not required to carry poopy bags and clean up after themselves. The stench and flies must have been unbearable, especially in summer. Oh, and the carcasses of dead horses left there in the streets only made it worse. Ranny Olds was determined to rid the earth of that scourge, as you can tell from this 1902 ad.
There’s something else in the ad, something a little more subtle: a woman driver. The bicycle fad a few years prior brought out the notion that women can get around on their own. Olds saw women as a particular target market, because his cars were smaller, not as intimidating, and were easy to drive.
Olds took the 1901 New York Automobile Show by storm after the press ran breathless reports of Roy Chapin driving all the way from Detroit to New York in one week. Chapin was so splattered with mud the Waldorf Astoria Hotel wouldn’t allow him in the front door, so had to sneak in the workers’ entrance.
What Happened Then?
Success often leads to jealousies and splits. (The Dallas Cowboys’ Jones/Johnson split comes to mind.) The same happened to Olds. The Smith family put up the money for Olds Motor Works and Fred Smith worked Ranny Olds out of the company. Olds went on to form REO (his initials) which became one of the top four manufacturers. Oldsmobile, though, sank as Smith failed to capitalize on Olds’ success. Things got so bad that the Smiths decided to sell Oldsmobile when Billy Durant made them a lowball offer (which is how Oldsmobile became the second brand in the General Motors stable).
When Billy bought Oldsmobile he faced criticism from within the ranks. Why buy a loser? Billy countered by noting Oldsmobile’s brand awareness. “So, you’re paying a million dollars for a bunch of billboards?” they asked. Never underestimate the power of a name. The following year it received an unexpected fillip with the release of In My Merry Oldsmobile, a song which went on to be a hit… and a boost in awareness and sales.