He started Buick Auto-Vim and Power Company in 1898, and the company initially concentrated on making engines. In 1902 the company was awarded a patent for an automotive overhead valve engine.
The first automobile was built in 1900. In 1903, Buick found a group of wagon makers in Flint, Michigan, willing to take the risk and buy his company. Buick Motor Division incorporated May 19, 1903 in Flint, Michigan.
In May and June of 1904, the company built the first Flint Buick. Buick began producing the Model B Touring Cars, its first retail model, that summer and built 37 cars by the end of 1904.
By 1906, Buick was building 4,600 automobiles a year. 1907 saw Henry Ford introduce his famous Model T. Buick countered Ford’s success with the Model 10. In 1908, Buick became number one automobile producer surpassing Food and Cadillac.
By the 1920s, Buick was becoming the car of choice for kings, sultans and political leaders and winning competitions from South America to Australia to the Soviet Union.
Buick built aircraft engines, Hellcat tank destroyers and other military hardware, when United States entered World War II. In the 1970s and 1980s Buick started producing smaller and midsize cars to meeting the demand of the American car buyer for fuel economy.
Buick: A division of General Motors
