The Men That Buildt the Cars - Darel Leipold

Last Week’s Program: Our speaker on July 24th was Darel Leipold, and he told us about four of the famous people who were the original movers and shakers in the automotive industry.

The first of the four was Will Durant. He started the Flint Wagon Works, was involved in the early days of many of the brand names we know today, He was a wheeler and dealer, and bought and sold companies to build the empire. He was the man, who built General Motors, and he bought the patent for the first automobile self-started, but the product didn’t work. After a lifetime of dealing, he dies broke.

The second was E.L. Cord. He was a race driver who got into the marketing end of the business, designed and sold the Cord car, and then started to invest in the radio and television business. He did well, and died in 1974.

The third was Walter Chrysler. He, like the others, interacted with the group, and built cars and empires for his own companies and those of his friends. He also built a skyscraper in New York City and named it after himself.

The fourth man was Henry Ford. At one time half of the cars on the road were built by Ford and his companies.

The bottom line of the presentation was that while these four are the founders of the auto revolution, they were more interested in the financial markets, and were not too adept at playing it.