Man of Vision: Ransom Eli Olds

By Bill Vossler
Published on August 8, 2012
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Ransom E. Olds showed early genius as an automotive industrialist. 
Ransom E. Olds showed early genius as an automotive industrialist. 
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A 1905 Standard Runabout Curved dash Oldsmobile. This model sold for $600 ($675 with top). 
A 1905 Standard Runabout Curved dash Oldsmobile. This model sold for $600 ($675 with top). 
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When Olds tired of the automotive business, his swan song was his
When Olds tired of the automotive business, his swan song was his "Farwell Car," as illustrated in this ad. The car's name was REO the Fifth. 
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What better advertising for REO Motor Car Co., Lansing, Mich., than to have U.S President Theodore Roosevelt (back seat, left) take his first public automobile ride in a 1907 REO? 
What better advertising for REO Motor Car Co., Lansing, Mich., than to have U.S President Theodore Roosevelt (back seat, left) take his first public automobile ride in a 1907 REO? 
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An Olds gas engine. 
An Olds gas engine. 
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A 1926 heavy-duty 2-ton REO Speed Wagon. 
A 1926 heavy-duty 2-ton REO Speed Wagon. 
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Kardell's 10-20 utility tractor claimed to be
Kardell's 10-20 utility tractor claimed to be "The practical tractor with built-in service; the tractor the farmer wants." 
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Another project of ransom Eli Olds' fertile mind: the REO DeLuxe Flying Cloud rotary mower with silent muffler.
Another project of ransom Eli Olds' fertile mind: the REO DeLuxe Flying Cloud rotary mower with silent muffler.
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A restored 1910 Olds Type 6A 12 hp engine manufactured by Seager Engine Works, Lansing, Mich., but badged with the Olds name. 
A restored 1910 Olds Type 6A 12 hp engine manufactured by Seager Engine Works, Lansing, Mich., but badged with the Olds name. 
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The Kardell
The Kardell "Four-in-One" tractor ("motor plow - truck - tractor - farm power") was said to replace four horses on a 200-acre farm. Ransom Olds had a fainancial interest in the Kardell company, which was originally based in St. Louis.
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"In My Merry Oldsmobile" was a hit tune in 1905. 

Few people in life have the great fortune to have a city named after themselves — much less two companies, two major automobiles, a truck, a gasoline engine, two tractors and a chair. But then, Ransom Eli Olds was not your average person.

Born in 1864, Olds was the son of a machinist. Pliny Fisk Olds ran a blacksmith shop in Geneva, Ohio, where he repaired and built steam engines. As a youth, Ransom objected to the smell of horse manure on the farm and city streets, so he decided to try his hand at inventing an automobile.

As a teen, Ransom moved with his family to Lansing, Mich. There he refined his skills while working for his father for two years without pay. Thereafter he was paid 50 cents a day while he played with steam and tinkered with gasoline engines with the goal of inventing a horseless carriage.

The neighbors were not impressed. “When he started to build engines in the little lean-to beside the Olds barn,” according to The History of Oldsmobile, “the neighbors began to prophesy that no good would come of it. ‘That kid of yours will blow his head off one day, Pliny,’ they forecast.”

Industry’s first export

Ransom bought a half-share in his father’s business, forming P.F. Olds & Son. Pliny was so pleased with his son’s steam carriage invention that he quadrupled his pay to $2 a day.

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