Ransom E. Olds

Ransom Eli Olds was an American businessman and engineer recognized as one of the founding figures of the American automobile industry, and the namesake of both the Oldsmobile and REO brands. He built an early steam powered car in the 1880s and a gasoline powered vehicle by 1896, then founded the Olds Motor Vehicle Company in 1897. At Oldsmobile he pioneered a form of the modern assembly line, using it to mass produce the low priced Curved Dash runabout beginning in 1901, a vehicle credited with making automobile ownership realistic for many more American buyers. After leaving Oldsmobile in 1904 he founded the REO Motor Car Company, which continued to bear his initials. Olds was born in Ohio in 1864 and died in 1950.