David Dunbar Buick

David Dunbar Buick (1854-1929) was a Scottish born American inventor and businessman who founded the Buick Motor Company in Detroit, which he led from 1899 to 1906. Before entering the automobile business he worked in plumbing supply manufacturing, where he developed a process for bonding vitreous enamel to cast iron. At his automobile company he helped develop the overhead valve, or valve in head, engine, a design that delivered more power than the side valve engines common at the time and became a lasting influence on later engine construction. Buick lost control of the company that carried his name after 1906 and, after a series of unsuccessful ventures, died in relative poverty in 1929, even as the Buick brand he founded went on to become one of the most enduring names in American automotive history.