Billy Durant: Creator of General Motors

Four. Buick: Rags to Riches

Chapter Four Buick: Rags to Riches It was late in August, 1904, when Billy Durant, a self-made millionaire at the age of forty-two, stepped off the train at Flint. He had heard something about James Whiting's problems with his new automobile company. Could he be of service? They talked. The Buick was a fine automobile, with a powerful little engine. All that was needed was a sharp young businessman to take command-and some more money. Always, it seemed, Buick needed more money. Durant admitted that he felt pretty much the way Dort and Nash did about automobiles. "I thought it was terrible the way those noisy contraptions, especially the old steam engines, shocked people and frightened horses. My cousin, W. C. Orrell, had one and I was mighty provoked with anyone who would drive around annoying people that way. I was not in the least bit interested in managing an automobile concern." But he would take a look anyway. On September 4, Dr. Herbert Hills took him for his first ride in a Buick.* He was also * Recalling Durant's first ride in a Buick, Dr. Hills told the Flint NewsAdvertiser nearly half a century later (January 7, 1953): "One day I called Durant and asked him if he and his family would like to go for a ride in my new Buick. He said they would, and we started off with Durant and me in the front seat, and Mrs. Durant and their daughter in the rear. We drove out W. Kearsley Street, then one of the few paved streets in Flint, and Durant kept firing questions at me about how the car ran and if I liked it or not. We didn't talk about anything else the whole time. Later Durant told me that drive had influenced his decision to become general manager of Buick. " 67 Durant's calm, confident personality is expressed in this portrait. 68 Buick: Rags to Riches driven around by Whiting and Arthur Mason. Why, he wondered , did they drive only on the smoothest streets? Durant liked what he saw, but he wanted to drive it himself. So he took the car out alone. He rammed it down the muddy, rutted roads of the Flint countryside, roads which the locals were convinced were the worst in the country. Sometimes there were mechanical failures, sometimes the Buick got stuck. But on the whole, Durant was impressed-the Buick stood up pretty well, and its engine did seem to get it through terrain that stopped other cars. There was something else. The automobile attracted public attention. It gathered crowds just as the little road cart had done. One day in October, Durant and Whiting drove around Flint in a Buick, and then sat in the car in front of Whiting's house. They talked for more than an hour. Then Whiting walked into the house and announced with relief to his family: "Billy's sold."l A lot of factors were involved in that decision. Durant was impressed with the performance of the engine and he liked the look of the car. Influential men of Flint were turning to him for help and he did feel a strong loyalty to the city. For the first time he began to see that the automobile had a future. The stockholders of Buick were so desperate that they were willing to turn over controlling interest to him. And perhaps most important, the Durant-Dort Carriage Company had a large, idle factory in Jackson, Michigan. It had once housed the Imperial Wheel Company, but Durant-Dort had moved that firm to Flint, and the Jackson plant was a large white elephant. By November 1, 1904, an agreement had been reached. That day Durant was elected to the Buick board of directors. Whiting resigned from the presidency to devote more time, it was said, to the Flint Wagon Works, though Durant had plans for his services. Durant, just as he had in the carriage company, declined the presidency. Instead, Charles M. Begole was elected president, and George L. Walker became vice-president. The Buick directors immediately announced that Buick capital stock was being increased from $75,000 to $300,000, with plans for an early increase to $500,000; that Buick production would be 69 Billy Durant Billy Durant On November 3, 1904—two days after Durant took control of Buick—he created a...