Billy Durant

It seems some of us live our lives kissed by angels and granted with the Midas touch; Billy Durant would seem to be one such individual. The problem we face in accessing the life of Billy Durant is in the myth and legend connected with him. After being removed as the Chairman of General Motors by a consortium of bankers, Billy Durant really did march into the annual GM stockholders meeting followed by a line of assistants, each carrying a bushel basket of stock certificates. Durant announced to the board and to the room, “Gentleman, I now control this company.”
He was born in Boston in December of 1861, but spent his early years with his maternal grandfather in Flint, Michigan. His Grandfather Henry Crapo had foreseen the decline of the whaling business in New England and had taken his fortune west to invest in the lumber business. Eventually, Henry Crapo was elected Governor of Michigan. Young William quit school to work in his grandfather’s lumber yard. Billy Durant began his professional career as a cigar salesman and eventually moved on to selling carriages.


In 1885, Durant partnered with Josiah (Dallas) Dort to found the Coldwater Road Cart Company. A year later, Durant became acquainted with the wagon designs of a local competitor. Durant with $2,000 in seed money bought the designs and founded the Flint Road Cart Company. In less than four years, the Durant – Dort Carriage Company had become one of the leading providers of horse-drawn vehicles in the world, with over a dozen factories selling 75,000 carriages a year.


http://www.rubbertherightway.com/blog/william-c-billy-durant/

It seems some of us live our lives kissed by angels and granted with the Midas touch; Billy Durant would seem to be one such individual. The problem we face in accessing the life of Billy Durant is in the myth and legend connected with him. After being removed as the Chairman of General Motors by a consortium of bankers, Billy Durant really did march into the annual GM stockholders meeting followed by a line of assistants, each carrying a bushel basket of stock certificates. Durant announced to the board and to the room, “Gentleman, I now control this company.”
He was born in Boston in December of 1861, but spent his early years with his maternal grandfather in Flint, Michigan. His Grandfather Henry Crapo had foreseen the decline of the whaling business in New England and had taken his fortune west to invest in the lumber business. Eventually, Henry Crapo was elected Governor of Michigan. Young William quit school to work in his grandfather’s lumber yard. Billy Durant began his professional career as a cigar salesman and eventually moved on to selling carriages.


In 1885, Durant partnered with Josiah (Dallas) Dort to found the Coldwater Road Cart Company. A year later, Durant became acquainted with the wagon designs of a local competitor. Durant with $2,000 in seed money bought the designs and founded the Flint Road Cart Company. In less than four years, the Durant – Dort Carriage Company had become one of the leading providers of horse-drawn vehicles in the world, with over a dozen factories selling 75,000 carriages a year.


http://www.rubbertherightway.com/blog/william-c-billy-durant/


so what are you selling ?

William Crapo Durant - one of the moguls of North American auto manufacturing.
Made a fortune in the early days of General Motors, then got kicked out. After in the 1920's, he built a new conglomirate with Durant Motors. They built the Durant and the Star.

The office building he built is a few blocks from my house, and still bears his name.

http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2007/ny/bgrd/backgroundfile-6780.pdf

so what are you selling ?
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Ha,ha... tough crowd here! He won't be back.

so what are you selling ?
__________________________________________________ ____________________________
Ha,ha... tough crowd here! He won't be back.

this one poster guy should go to the American history forums.

or is billy durant a chevrolet classic ?

or is billy durant a chevrolet classic ?

Billy Durant was co-founder of Chevrolet in 1912, (5 years before it became part of GM).
So, I guess Durant is the oldest Chevrolet classic :)

And before Chevy became part of GM, they made a V8! I think it was in 1913, and think it was air cooled. I know it didnt lubricate its own valves, so the driver had to periodically stop, open the hood, and squirt oil onto all tappets and pushrods and rockers and valve stems. (This need to oil the valves with a squirt can was also true on the early Rolls-Royce Silver Ghosts, from 1910 till about 1914. Meanwhile the lowly model T Ford had internal lubrication -by splash- for its valves.)

There used to be two of the 1913 Chev V8's still existing, and one of them was in the Ford Museum in Dearborn. The next time Chevy put a V8 into one of their cars was in 1954 or 55 I believe.

Besides Durant, there are others giants of the auto industry; the Duesnberg brothers Fred and Auggie, the Offenhausers, Miller, and many more. A guy name Omar Zerke invented the grease fitting, along with having well over 100 patents on auto related goodies. I have a 28 LaSalle which has 49 of the Zerke fittings - the old kind that were a bayonet style to hold the gun to the fitting.

And before Chevy became part of GM, they made a V8! I think it was in 1913, and think it was air cooled. I know it didnt lubricate its own valves, so the driver had to periodically stop, open the hood, and squirt oil onto all tappets and pushrods and rockers and valve stems. (This need to oil the valves with a squirt can was also true on the early Rolls-Royce Silver Ghosts, from 1910 till about 1914. Meanwhile the lowly model T Ford had internal lubrication -by splash- for its valves.)

There used to be two of the 1913 Chev V8's still existing, and one of them was in the Ford Museum in Dearborn. The next time Chevy put a V8 into one of their cars was in 1954 or 55 I believe.

Besides Durant, there are others giants of the auto industry; the Duesnberg brothers Fred and Auggie, the Offenhausers, Miller, and many more. A guy name Omar Zerke invented the grease fitting, along with having well over 100 patents on auto related goodies. I have a 28 LaSalle which has 49 of the Zerke fittings - the old kind that were a bayonet style to hold the gun to the fitting.

chevrolet made a V8 in 1917-18 then stopped and in 1955 made the V8 again. like you say it was open valves and had to be oiled manually 1917-18.

Cadillac made the first american V8 engine for a car in 1914. Olds made the V8 in 1949 until the late 1990's. they made the last carb V8.

the fuel efficiency of these engines is very poor when compared to the engines of today. also these old engines made a lot of noise. with fuel at 25 cents / gallon not that expensive to operate. back in the old days.