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TIME LINE OF CARS
June 1864 - Ransom E. Olds, founder of Oldsmobile was born.
February 1868 - Birth of Charles Brady King, auto pioneer who built the first car to run on the streets of Detroit.
May 1868 - Horace E. Dodge is born, co-founder of Dodge.
April 1875 - Birth of Walter P. Chrysler, founder of Chrysler Corp.
August 1876 - Charles F. Kettering born, automotive inventor and V. P. of GM research 1920-1947
November 1885 - K.T. Keller - President of Chrysler '35-'50 Chairman "50-'56 is born
January 1886 - Karl Benz gets patent for a three wheel automobile in Germany.
September 1886 - Powell Crosley born, founder of Crosley Car Corporation
November 1893 - Harley Earl - V.P. GM Styling '40 - 58 is born
July 1894 - Birth of E. L. Cord, founder of Cord Corporation, President 1929-33, Chairman 1933-37.
March 1896 - Charles Brady King test drives his gasoline power car on Detroit streets.
June 1896 - Henry Ford completes his first car.
August 1897 - Olds Motor Vehicle Co. founded by Ranson E. Olds.
November 1899 - 6th First Packard completed.
February 1903 - The Dodge brothers agree to supply Henry Ford with 650 complete chassis for $250 each.
July 1903 - First Ford production car sold to a Chicago Dentist.
January 1904 - Buick Motor Co. is reorganized as a Flint company.
August 1907 - Oakland Motor Car Co. founded later to evolve into Pontiac.
September 1907 - Birth of Walter P. Reuther, UAW President, 1946-1970
September 1908 - Billy Durant incorporates General Motors
November 1908 - 12th Oldsmobile becomes part of GM
February 1909 - Founding of the Hudson Motor Car Co. 24th
July 1909 - Billy Durant's GM acquires Cadillac
November 1910 - 23rd Jim Storrow becomes GM third President, serves two months
November 1911 - 8th Billy Durant incorporates the Chevrolet Motor Car Company.
October 1913 - Model T Ford begins using moving assembly line
January 1914 - Ford starts paying workers $5.00 a day.
November 1914 - Horace and brother John Dodge, take delivery of the first Dodge car from the Production Department at Hamtramack, Michigan.
November 1915 - 16th Pierre duPont becomes GM Chairman
June 1916 - Bob McNamara, Ford V.P. after being U.S. Secretary of Defense.
July 1916 - Nash Motors formed by C.W. Nash
July 1917 - First Ford truck introduced
November 1920 - 20th Pierre duPont becomes President of GM replacing Durant
February 1922 - Ford acquires Lincoln Motor Co. for $8 million.
May 1923 - Alfred P. Sloan becomes GM President and CEO
July 1923 - Fisher Body registers "coach" trademark
December 1923 - Chrysler Motor Corp. of Michigan formed.r
January 1924 - First Chrysler is introduced at the New York Auto Show
October 1924 - Lee Iacocca born in Allentown, PA. Ford President from 1970 - 78, Chairman and CEO of Chrysler until 1992
January 1925 - John Z. DeLorean is Born. 1-5-1925
March 1925 - William Clay Ford is born on the 14th.
January 1926 - First Pontiac is introduced at the New York Auto Show
June 1926 - GM aquires Fisher Body.
May 1928 - Chrysler buys Dodge from Dillion, Read & Co., investment bankers for $140 million
June 1928 - First Plymouth is produced.
August 1928 - DeSoto introduced at the New York Auto Show, first year sales record of 81,000 held for three decades.
March 1929 - David Dunbar Buick dies on the 5th.
April 1929 - GM acquires 80% interest in German Opel
June 1929 - Buick Marquette introduced - 35,000 built first year
October 1929 - Thursday, October 24, the Stock market crashes taking auto stocks and ultimately some auto companies with it. GM stock falls from near $182 a share to $36 by November.
February 1932 - Ford ends Model A production after producing 4.8 million units.
February 1934 - Ralph Nader is born on the 27th, Author of Unsafe at Any Speed.
June 1934 - Ferinand Porsche signs contract to produce three Volkswagen prototypes.
February 1935 - Adolph Hitler announced first Volkswagen.
September 1935 - Buick introduces the '36 with hydraulic brakes and enclosed luggage compartment
November 1935 - 2nd The "Coffin-Nose" Cord 810 introduced.
November 1935 - 2nd The Lincoln Zephyr introduced.
November 1935 - 15th Nash introduces the '36 with optional double bed
February 1936 - Roy D. Chapin, founder of Hudson Motor Co. dies on the
February 1936 - Billy Durant, founder of GM, files for personal bankruptcy.
July 1936 - Toyoda Loom exports first trucks to China
October 1936 - First VW Beetle prototype completed
June 1937 - Oldsmobile introduces column-shift automatic transmission.
November 1937 - 21th Howard Coffin, co-Founder of Hudson Motor dies
January 1938 - The Cadillac Model 60, with many design and technical innovations is introduced.
May 1938 - Production begins of the first Volkswagan factory in Wolfsburg, Germany
October 1938 - Buick introduces first standard turn signals
December 1938 - Henry Ford II named Ford Motor Co. Director at the age of 21.
March 1939 - Malcom Bricklin is born on the 9th, creator of Bricklin Sports Car, importer of Suburu and Yugo to the U.S.A.
January 1940 - The 25-millionth GM car is produced. 11th
August 1940 - Walter P. Chrysler dies, founder of Chyrsler, Chairman 1925-1940
June 1941 - Louis Chevrolet dies
June 1941 - United Auto Workers succeeds in organizing Ford Motor Company.
September 1941 - '42 DeSota production begins
February 1942 - Ford produces the last car before all production is focused on World War II supplies.
May 1942 - National speed limit lowered from 40 to 35 to conserve gasoline
September 1942 - War gasoline rationing in the U.S.A. and a 35mph speed limit
June 1943 - Henry Kaiser introduces plan to sell a $400.00 car at gasoline stations.
January 1944 - Henry Ford II promoted to Ford Vice President. 23rd
June 1944 - Charles E. Sorenson named CEO of Willys-Overland.
July 1945 - Production of the first non-military Jeeps begins by Willys-Overland
August 1945 - First postwar Hudson, Super Six, introduced
June 1946 - Introduction of the '47 Frazer $2053.00, first Kaiser-Frazer Corporation.
April 1947 - On the 7th Henry Ford dies at his Fairlane home.
June 1947 - Preston Tucker displays his Tucker Torpedo at the Chicago Auto Show.
April 1948 - The all new '49 post war Ford goes into production on the 8th
April 1948 - On the 27th Bill Knudsen dies, GM President from 1937-1940
September 1948 - '49 "bathtub style" Nash introduced
January 1950 - Chevrolet - introduced with Power-glide transmission, first low priced car to do so.
January 1951 - Dr. Ferdinand Porsche, designer of the "Beetle" and Porsche sports cars, dies. 30th
January 1953 - GM Motorama opens with the LeSabre and XP300 Dream Cars. 17th
January 1953 - Introduction of the limited production V8 power Buick Skylark
June 1953 - Ford celebrates their 50th anniversary with the dedication of the Research and Engineering Center.
June 1953 - Introduction of the Corvette.
September 1953 - Ford's 40 millionth car produced, a convertible Mercury
December 1953 - Chrysler purchases body builder Briggs Manufacturing Co. shortly after it cuts off the supply of car bodies to Hudson and Packard.
October 1954 - Chevrolet introduces the small block V8 October 1955 - Lincoln Continental Mark II introduced, with production of 3000 in two years
December 1954 - First section of the Ohio turnpike opens.
June 1955 - Last Kaiser produced in the U.S.A., production moved to Argentina.
April 1956 - Alfred Sloan retires as GM Chairman, succeeded by Albert Bradey
August 1957 - Toyota exports first cars to United States
September 1957 - The Ford Edsel introduced
February 1958 - Toyota Motor Distributors Co. established in the U.S.A.
November 1958 - 25th Charles Kettering GM V.P. Research '20-'47 dies
April 1959 - The 50 millonth Ford Produced, a Galaxie
November 1959 - 19th Ford annouces the end of the ill-fated Edsel
March 1960 - Ford Mercury Comet first U.S.A. upscale compact introduced
November 1960 - 30th Chrysler discontinues the DeSoto
November 1961 - 16th Ford introduces the first intermediate size car the "Fairlane"
December 1961 - Ford aquires Philco. 11th
November 1962 - 3rd Harlow Curtis dies Buick President 1933-48, GM President '53-'58.
April 1964 - Ford Mustang Introduced
April 1965 - Ford Mustang Fastback Introduced.
February 1966 - Alfred P. Sloan Jr. GM Chairman from 1937-1956 dies on the 17th.
September 1966 - Mercury Cougar introduced, sister of the Ford Mustang
September 1966 - Chevrolet Camaro introduced on the 29th
January 1967 - The Pontiac Firebird is introduced. 28th
April 1967 - GM produces its 100 millionth car a Chevrolet Impala
April 1968 - Lincoln Mark III goes on sale.
November 1968 - GM introduces Opala to Brazil.
October 1968 - United States nationwide exhaust emissions standards take place in 1969
April 1969 - Harley Earl dies on the 1oth, V.P. GM Styling from 1940 - 1959
June 1970 - GM Opel produces the nine millionth Opel in Germany.
September 1973 - Ford Mustang II introduced
December 1975 - Chrysler introduces the Dodge Aspen and Plymouth Volare
August 1978 - Toyota Tercel introduced
September 1979 - Lee Iacocca elected Chairman and CEO of Chrysler
August 1980 - Ford Escort introduced in North America
October 1980 - Chysler introduces the "K-Car"
May 1981 - 20 millionth Volkswagan Beetle produced
March 1982 - Ford introduces the sub-compact Ranger Truck
March 1982 - Toyota introduces the Camry
June 1982 - Alex Mair of GM Advanced Engineering conceives the Saturn project.
October 1982 - Honda Motors introduces the first Accord
August 1983 - Chrysler pays off its loan to the United States early
October 1983 - First "minivan" is invented by Chrysler
March 1985 - Nissan produces its first U.S.A. built car the Sentra
October 1985 - Diamond Star Motors formed by Chysler and Mitsubishi
December 1985 - Ford aquires First Nationwide Financial Group.
June 1986 - Nissan begins Sentra engine at Smyrna, Tennessee assembly plant.
August 1987 - Chrysler buys American Motors
September 1987 - Henry Ford II dies
October 1987 - Ford aquires Aston Martin Lagonda
July 1988 - Toyota begins volume production of the Camry in U.S.A.
April 1989 - Honda Produces its 1 millionth U.S.A. car, a Civic
May 1989 - Diamond-Star Motors begins production of the Eagle Talon in U.S.A
December 1989 - Ford sells Rouge Steel. 15th
August 1991 - Solchiro Honda dies, founder of Honda Motors
April 1993 - Toyota completes a proving ground in Arizona
September 1996 - AutoMuseum.com open on the Web, first 12 months the site had 21,000 visitors.