motor division type division industry automotive founded buick auto vim and power company 1899 buick motor company may 19 1903 ; 113 years ago 1903 05 19 founder david dunbar buick headquarters detroit michigan united states area served united states canada mexico china products automobiles services vehicle financing vehicle service and parts owner general motors 1908 present website buick.com buick bju . k formally the buick motor division is an upscale automobile brand of the american manufacturer general motors gm . for much of its existence in the north american market buick has been marketed as a premium automobile brand selling luxury vehicles positioned above gm s mainstream brands e.g. chevrolet while below the flagship luxury cadillac division . buick retains the distinction of being the oldest active american marque of automobile and the original buick motor company was a cornerstone of the establishment of general motors in 1908 . before the establishment of general motors gm founder william c. durant served as buick s general manager while his friend louis chevrolet worked as a racing driver for buick and later learned automotive design working there . buick branded vehicles are sold in the united states canada mexico china and taiwan . in 2015 buick sold 1 231 941 vehicles a record for the brand . 1 since restructuring in 2009 gm has also started to share technology vehicles and development between buick and gm s european opel division . 2 3 buick branded vehicles are also known for reliability ranking in the top ten for reliability in consumer reports brand reliability rankings . 4 contents 1 history 1.1 early years 1.1.1 engines 1.2 post world war ii years 1.2.1 1940s 1.2.2 1950s 1.2.3 1960s 1.2.4 1970s 1.2.5 1980s 1.2.6 1990s 1.3 recent years 1.3.1 2000s 1.3.2 2010s 1.4 concept cars 2 distinguishing features 2.1 trishield 2.2 ventiports 2.3 sweepspear 2.4 delta fin 2.5 taillight shapes 2.6 classic grille styling 2.7 waterfall grille 2.8 nailhead 3 performance 4 world distribution 4.1 mexico 4.2 new zealand 4.3 middle east 4.4 asia 5 motorsport 6 enthusiast organizations 7 advertisements 8 references 9 external links history edit see also david dunbar buick and harley earl early years edit buick founded in 1899 in jackson michigan is one of the oldest automobile brands in the world and the oldest in america . autocar originally an automobile maker but currently strictly a heavy truck maker and oldsmobile a now defunct early auto maker owned by gm were both founded in 1897 . studebaker was founded in 1852 but didn t begin producing automobiles until 1902 ; ford produced his first car in 1896 but did not start the ford motor co. until 1903 and during the period in between was involved with other automobile manufacturers such as cadillac . it was founded by david dunbar buick as the buick auto vim and power company an internal combustion engine manufacturer . valve in head engine illustration from 1904 patent buick manufacturing company the first two buick automobiles were made in 1899 and 1900 by buick chief engineer walter marr 5 but david buick was reluctant to begin making automobiles being satisfied with stationary and marine engine production so marr left buick in 1901 to found his own automobile company under his own name . his replacement was eugene richard who applied for a patent in 1902 for marr s valve in head engine which patent number 771 095 was awarded to richard in the name of buick in 1904 . 5 this was the world s first overhead valve internal combustion engine although it was called valve in head because the cylinders were horizontal so the valves were not actually overhead . in 1903 the third buick automobile was made this time by richard but in 1904 buick moved to flint michigan and richard stayed behind . marr was rehired in flint as chief engineer to begin making automobiles in production . that year 37 buick automobiles were made production increasing to 750 in 1905 1 400 in 1906 4 641 in 1907 and 8 800 in 1908 taking the number one spot away from close competitors oldsmobile ford and maxwell . 5 david dunbar buick incorporated his company as the buick motor company on may 19 1903 in detroit michigan . in march 1904 the company was purchased by benjamin briscoe who quickly sold it to james h. whiting 1842 1919 6 owner of flint wagon works in flint michigan . whiting moved buick to flint that summer to a location across the street from his factory with the idea of adding buick s engines to his wagons . 5 david buick stayed on as a manager and re hired walter marr as chief engineer . the engine buick and marr developed for this automobile was a 2 cyinder valve in head engine of 159 cubic inches with each cylinder horizontal and opposed to each other by 180 degrees . whiting built only a few automobiles in 1904 by bringing buick engines across the street where his workers shoehorned them into his wagons before running out of capital causing him to bring in william c. durant that year as controlling investor . durant was co owner also in flint of the durant dort carriage company which was the largest carriage making company in the country . 5 durant spent the next 4 years turning buick into the biggest selling automobile brand in the us . david buick sold his stock upon departure in 1906 and died in modest circumstances 25 years later . in 1907 durant agreed to supply motors to r. s. mclaughlin in canada an auto maker and in 1908 he founded general motors . 7 buick in the early years 1904 buick model b louis chevrolet driving a buick bug in the 1910 vanderbilt cup 1910 buick model 10 runabout 1914 buick b 35 phaeton 1917 buick d 35 roadster 1922 buick model 22 54 sport roadster 1925 buick standard model 25 touring 1930 buick series 26 business coupe 1932 buick model 67 sedan 1935 buick series 40 model 46c convertible coupe 1938 buick roadmaster series 80 touring sedan 1939 buick special series 40 model 41 touring sedan between 1899 and 1902 two prototype vehicles were built 8 in detroit michigan by walter lorenzo marr . some documentation exists of the 1901 or 1902 prototype with tiller steering 9 similar to the oldsmobile curved dash . in mid 1904 another prototype was constructed for an endurance run which convinced james h. whiting to authorize production of the first models offered to the public . 10 the architecture of this prototype was the basis for the model b. the first buick made for sale the 1904 model b was built in flint michigan at a re purposed factory that was known as the flint wagon works . 11 there were 37 buicks made that year none of which survive . there are however two replicas in existence the 1904 endurance car at the buick gallery & research center in flint and a model b assembled by an enthusiast in california for the division s 100th anniversary . 12 13 both of these vehicles use various parts from buicks of that early era as well as fabricated parts . these vehicles were each constructed with the two known surviving 1904 engines . the power train and chassis architecture introduced on the model b was continued through the 1909 model f. 14 the early success of buick is attributed in part to the valve in head or overhead valve ohv engine 15 patented by eugene richard and developed by david dunbar buick . the model f had a two cylinder engine an 87 inch wheelbase and weighed 1 800 lbs . 16 the creation of general motors is attributed in part to the success of buick 17 so it can be said marr and richard s designs directly led to gm . 18 the basic design of the 1904 buick was optimally engineered even by today s standards . the flat twin engine is inherently balanced with torque presented to the chassis in a longitudinal manner actually cancelling front end lift rather than producing undesirable lateral motion . the engine was mounted amidships now considered the optimal location . 19 durant was a natural promoter and buick soon became the largest car maker in america . using the profits from this durant embarked on a series of corporate acquisitions calling the new megacorporation general motors . at first the manufacturers comprising general motors competed against each other but durant ended that . he wanted each general motors division to target one class of buyer and in his new scheme buick was near the top only the cadillac brand had more prestige a ranking that buick occupies currently in the general motors lineup . to save on resources buick vehicles shared a common platform called the gm a platform that was shared with chevrolet oakland oldsmobile and cadillac . the ideal buick customer is comfortably well off possibly not quite rich enough to afford a cadillac nor desiring the ostentation of one but definitely in the market for a car above the norm . at first buick followed the likes of napier in automobile racing winning the first ever race held at indianapolis motor speedway . 20 the first full size buick to join the smaller model b was in 1907 when the model d was introduced with a four cylinder 255.0 cu in 4 178 cc engine installed in the front with rear wheel drive . in 1911 buick introduced its first closed body car 21 four years ahead of ford ; the car was built at the all new factory in flint which later became to be known as buick city . 22 buick during the 1920s made various sized vehicles with series designations for different years sometimes using numbers while later years using lettered designations . one of the larger vehicles with straight six and straight eight engines was the buick master six . in 1929 as part of general motors companion make program buick motor division launched the marquette sister brand designed to bridge the price gap between buick and oldsmobile ; however marquette was discontinued in 1930 . all buick marquette viking and oldsmobile products shared the newly introduced gm b platform starting in 1926 . buick debuted two major achievements for the 1931 model year the ohv buick straight 8 engine and a synchromesh transmission in all models but the series 50 . the eight was offered in three displacements the 220 cubic inch bore 2 7 8 in . stroke 4.25 in . was available in the series 50 with 77 brake hp . the series 60 engine was a 272 cu . in . unit bore 3 1 16 in . stroke 5 in . giving 90 brake hp . the series 80 and series 90 used a 344 cu . in . version bore 3 5 16 in . stroke 5 in . for 104 brake hp . automatic vacuum operated spark advance was another new feature replacing the steering column mounted spark lever although an emergency lever was now dash mounted . buick scored another first in 1939 when it became the first company to introduce turn signals which did not appear on other car brands until almost a decade later . 23 all 1939 models also had a steering column mounted shift lever . buick radiator mascot 1930s in the 1930s buicks were popular with the british royal family particularly edward viii . 24 25 he imported and used a canadian built mclaughlin buick that were gms top brand in canada cadillac not having caught on there . 26 george vi used one for a coast to coast royal tour of canada in 1939 . 26 engines edit 1904 1911 . two cylinders horizontally opposed at 180 degrees valves in each head 159 cu .