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The 2004 Buick Rainier is the vehicle the famed golfer touts in
television commercials
The Buick corporate publicity agenda that produced such events as a tug-of-war with an elephant, started with the fellow who assembled General Motors, Billy Durant. It was Durant who made Buick Motor Company into a successful business. And it was Durant who built General Motors around the rock that was Buick.
Durant owned an established network of wagon distributorships across the country. This presented the perfect venue for the promotion of his new project: the Buick automobile.
It was Durant who assembled the racing team that garnered all the trophies. It was Durant who went to the 1905 New York Auto Show and took orders for 1,000 Buicks before the company had built 40 cars.
By 1908, Buick was the number one selling car in the United States. On the newfound strength of this young company, Durant created a holding company that same year. He called it General Motors. By 1910 he had pulled 30 independent companies into the fold of General Motors. These included other car brands as well as subsidiary companies such as AC, the spark plug company. The first two auto companies to be added to the corporate conglomerate that began with the Buick line, were Oldsmobile and Cadillac.
David Buick’s influence in the company faded rapidly, and it is said he died in near poverty. Durant also faded considerably, but rebounded several times in the process. He lost control of General Motors due to financial over-extension—twice. The first time, he went off with one of Buick’s early race drivers, Louis Chevrolet, and started the company by that name. The success of Chevrolet allowed Durant to regain control of General Motors when Chevrolet was later incorporated into the GM fold.
Durant was forced out again for financial over-extension, and this time never regained a foothold in the company. He faded into obscurity after the Depression wiped him out, as a proprietor of a bowling alley in Flint, a few city blocks from the automotive empire he built.
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