Before there were Buick automobiles, he was known for his bathtubs. As a young man, David Dunbar Buick owned a lucrative plumbing business, where he developed a method of bonding enamel to cast iron, providing all sorts of people with their first truly modern bathroom fixtures.
But David became increasingly preoccupied by internal combustion engines, and by 1899, he and his engineer, Walter L. Marr were building their own. He soon sold his portion of the plumbing business, and formed The Buick Auto-Vim and Power Company, planning to produce stationary and marine engines. However his urge to build his own car persisted.
Between 1899 and 1900, the first “Buick” automobile was built. After a bitter dispute, leading to Marr’s resignation, a financially needy Buick sold the car to Marr, himself for $225.
By 1902, Buick’s new machinist, Eugene Richard had patented an advanced “valve-in-head” engine design. Things should have been getting easier, but it takes money to make money. Capital had to be perpetually reinvested in the company, leaving little or no room for financial gain.
The ailing business was reorganized in 1902, (this time as the Buick Manufacturing Company) with the generous support of Benjamin Briscoe, a sheet metal supplier, and friend from Buick’s plumbing days. Under this arrangement, Buick had until September, 1903 to make good on his debt to Briscoe, or lose control of his company. In the meantime, Briscoe sold his interest in Buick to the Flint Wagon Works, a carriage company looking to become a manufacturer of automobiles.
In 1903, as the deadline passed, Buick surrendered his stock to the FWW’s James H. Whiting, and the Buick Motor Company was finally incorporated. The facility moved from Detroit, 60 miles north, to a large, new building in Flint, Michigan. David and his son, Thomas retained token shares of stock, and David stayed on as secretary of the new company.
Whiting planned to expand the company, and knew it would require still more money, and perhaps, a younger man to see it through. That man was Billy Durant, an upstart in the carriage industry who, after witnessing the Buick operation, was ready to give the auto business a try, which he certainly did. Under Durant, the Buick company became the #1 producer of automobiles in 1908. With that success, Durant soon acquired Oldsmobile, Cadillac, and Oakland (now Pontiac), forming General Motors.
Years later, teaching at the Detroit School of Trades in relative anonymity, David Dunbar Buick refused to complain. He had never asked to be famous. His goal was to found a successful car company. And that’s just what he did.
By Adam Icenogle