Ransom Olds: The Forgotten Auto Titan

By Lou Lawrence

Ransom Olds is considered by many to be the father of the U.S. automobile industry but has been ignored by historians. Olds obtained a U.S. patent for an automobile in 1896, and started one of the first car companies in 1897. He invented the moving assembly line, and developed the 1901 Oldsmobile that created the mass market for automobiles. Olds started two car companies, Oldsmobile and REO, before the U.S. automobile industry was ten years old. However, he left the auto business before the growth era and founded the city of Oldsmar, Florida which is near Tampa. Olds invested over $60 million in today's dollars and lost $40 million on the project. The area was primitive in 1915 and even though he spent years on the project the 1921 hurricane and the Florida land bust of the 1920s killed the program. Automotive historians mistakenly given credit to Henry Ford with the auto achievements of Ransom Olds. The Olds car company was successful while Ford's first two companies failed because Henry Ford had not completed his car design, and Olds started his company six years before Ford founded his third company, the Ford Motor Company, in 1903. The Olds' patent for the moving vehicle assembly line was granted twelve years before Henry Ford used the conveyor line for assembly. He also built the 1901 Curved Dash Oldsmobile that created a mass market for automobiles. The world has forgotten Ransom Olds and one can only wonder why. The treatise gives the history of the automobile and the Ransom Olds innovations as well as a review of his Oldsmar, Florida land development project.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1517737540
• ISBN13: 9781517737542
• Release Date: October 2015
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 72 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.2" x 6.0"