APRIL 29

On this date in 2004, the last Oldsmobile rolled off of the assembly line.  It was one of the oldest nameplates in the auto industry having lasted through 107 years of production.    General Motors stopped making this line of cars because it had become unprofitable.

The car was named after Ransom Eli Olds, a motor vehicle designer born in 1864 in Geneva, Ohio.    He started the Olds Motor Company which was purchased by General Motors in 1897 and then formed the REO Motor Company in Lansing, Michigan.  It is generally accepted in the industry that Olds actually invented the assembly line; Henry Ford only expanded on his ideas.  REO made cars, trucks and buses including a truck known as the Speedwagon (pictured below).

Where I once worked, many years ago, they had a sign framed on a prominent wall.  It was a quotation by Olds that he supposedly made in 1936.  It went something like this:  "With the introduction of this new vehicle, I have created the ultimate automobile.  I don't think that anyone will ever surpass it in technology, performance or luxury.  A better car will never be made."

Never assume that you have reached the top of the hill even though you see no land higher.  It is always there.

'-.-'