Ransom Eli Olds founded his company in 1897.  By the early 1900’s it had become the world’s largest car maker due to the success of its “Curved Dash” model.  In 1904, he left the firm to set up another automobile producer REO.  In 1908 William Durrant bought Oldsmobile which became part of General Motors.  Over many decades their cars became one of America’s most popular and best-selling vehicles.  The Oldsmobile name was eventually discontinued by General Motors and the last model was built in 2004.