Joe Asuchak and His Amazing Collection of REO Automobiles
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Joe Asuchak and his amazing collection of REO automobiles The REO Motor Car Company was a Lansing, Michigan based company that pro- duced automobiles and trucks from 1905 to 1975. At one point the company also manufactured buses on its truck platforms. REO was initiated by Ransom E. Olds during August 1904. Olds had 52 per- cent of the stock and the titles of president and general manager. To ensure a reliable supply of parts, he organized a number of subsidiary firms like the National Coil Company, the Michigan Screw Com- pany, and the Atlas Drop Forge Company. Originally the company was to be called "R. E. Olds Motor Car Company," but the owner of Olds' previous company, then called Olds Motor Works, objected and threatened legal action on the grounds of likely confusion of names by consumers. Olds then changed the name to his initials. Olds Motor Works soon adopted the popular name of its vehi- cles, Oldsmobile (which, along with Buick and Cadillac, became founding divisions of General Motors Corporation). The company's name was spelled alternately in all capitals REO or with only an initial capital as Reo, and the company's own literature was inconsistent in this regard, with early advertis- ing using all capitals and later advertising using the "Reo" capitalization. The pronunciation, how- ever, was as a single word. Lansing is home to the R. E. Olds Transportation Museum. By 1907, REO had gross sales of $4.5 million and the company was one of the four wealthiest automobile manufac- turers in the U.S. After 1908 however, despite the introduction of improved cars designed by Olds, REO's share of the automobile market decreased due in part to competition from emerging companies like Ford and General Motors. REO added a truck manufacturing division and a Canadian plant in St. Catharines, Ontario in 1910. Two years later, Olds claimed he had built the best car he could, a tourer able to seat two, four, or five, with a 30–35 hp engine, 112 in wheelbase, and 32 inch wheels, for US $1055 (not including top, windshield, or gas tank, which were US $100 extra) self-starter was US $25 on top of that. In 1915, Olds relinquished the title of general manager to his protégé Richard H. Scott and eight years later he ended his tenure as the company's presidency as well, retaining the position of chairman of the board. Perhaps the most famous REO episode was the 1912 Trans-Canada journey. Traveling 4,176 miles from Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Vancouver, British Columbia, in a 1912 REO special touring car, mechanic/driver Fonce V. (Jack) Haneyand journalist Thomas W. Wilby made the first trip by automobile across Canada (including one short jaunt into northeastern Washington State when the Canadian roads were virtually impassable.) From 1915 to 1925, under Scott's direction REO remained profitable. During 1925, however, Scott, like many of his contempo- raries/competitors, began an ambitious expansion program designed to make the company more com- petitive with other automobile manufacturers by offering cars in different price ranges. The failure of this program and the effects of the Depression caused such losses that Olds ended his retirement dur- ing 1933 and assumed control of REO again, but resigned in 1934. During 1936, REO abandoned the manufacture of automobiles to concentrate on trucks. REO's two most memorable cars were its Reo Flying Cloud introduced in 1927 and the Reo Royale 8 of 1931.The Flying Cloud was the first car to use Lockheed's new hydraulic internal expanding brake system and featured styling by Fabio Segardi. While Ned Jordan is credited with changing the way advertising was written with his "Somewhere West of Laramie" ads for his Jordan Playboy, Reo's Flying Cloud—a name that provoked evocative images of speed and lightness—changed the way automobiles would be named in the future. It has a 115" wheelbase. The final REO model of 1936 was a Flying Cloud. In April 1927, Reo introduced the Wolverine brand of cars as a companion model to the Flying Cloud. With a Continental engine, artillery wheels, and a different pattern of horizontal radiator louvers from the Flying Cloud, the Wolverine was made until 1928. The 1931 Reo Royale was a trendsetting design, introducing design elements that were a precedent for true automotive streamlining in the American market. The model was vended until 1935. The Royale "the most fabulous Reo of all". In addition to its coachwork by Murray designed by their Amos Northup, the Royale also provided buyers with a 125 hp straight-eight with a nine bearing crankshaft, one shot lubrication, and thermostatically con- trolled radiator shutters. The Royale rode upon factory wheelbases of 131 and 135 inches a 1932 cus- tom version rode upon a 152-inch wheelbase. The Royale also featured REO's semi-automatic trans- mission, the Self-Shifter. 1916 REO 1928 REO 1928 REO 1928 REO 1931 REO 1929 REO 1931 REO Royale Victoria Eight 1932 REO 1929 Packard Joe Asuchak - Fort Macleod AB, member of SAACAC. .