Walter Maur and Thomas Buick
Buick's chief engineer, Walter L. Marr (left), and
Thomas D. Buick, son of founder David Dunbar Buick,
drove the first Flint Buick in a successful Flint-Detroit
round trip in July 1904.
David Buick was building gasoline engines by 1899,
and Marr, his engineer, apparently built the first auto to
be called a Buick in 1900. However, Buick traditionally
dates its beginnings to 1903. That was the year the
company was reorganized, refinanced and moved from
Detroit to Flint. Buick has always been a product
innovator. Buick engineers developed the
"valve-in-head" engine, a light, powerful and reliable
engine which would eventually influence the entire
automotive industry.
William C. Durant was instrumental in promoting
Buicks across the country using his Durant-Dort
Carriage Co. outlets and salespeople as the nucleus or a
giant distribution system. He knew the Buick as a
"self-seller." If automobiles could be this good, he
thought, maybe it was time to switch from the horse and
buggy business to automobiles.
1 .
At the
1905
New York
Auto Show, Durant took
orders for 1,000 Buicks
before the company had
built 40. On Buick's
success, Durant created
a
holding company,
September 16, 1908. He
called it General Motors.
William
C .
(Billy) Duvant