R.E. Olds - The Man Behind The Wheel

This is a VERY early cut of a documentary I am producing on R.E. Olds, founder of the Oldsmobile and REO car companies. This was played in 2004 at the REO Car Company Centennial celebration (my first big premiere!) and I am currently recutting it for the R.E. Olds Museum in Lansing, MI.

*note*
You may notice some of the pictures and video seem too small; this is because the video was cut to be displayed on a television screen and YouTube doesn't use the safe-text area concept that televisions do.

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• olds
• oldsmobile
• reo
• car
• family
• history
• documentary
• michigan
• lansing

[wahs12312]

R.I.P. brother (June 3, 1864 - August 26, 1950)!!!!!. I love all of your top of the line name brand Luxury vehicles & Mainstream vehicles too also 24/7!!!!!. And the best of the looking vehicles of the 20th century generation cars are there today!!!!!. Thank You Mr. Ransom Eli. Olds for making all the fasts Oldsmobile cars in the 20th century R.I.P. (August 21, 1897 - April 29, 2004)!!!!!. And P.S. we will miss you 24/7!!!!!.

[SilverWolfM200LDH]

You did an amazing job on your documentary, I really enjoyed watching it. I remember seeing Oldsmobile's 100th birthday on an episode of My Classic Car in 1997 and I remember when they were discontinued in 2004, Oldsmobile was a great company and R.E Olds sounds like he was a great man.

[andersonvillas1277]

I visited the R.E. Olds Museum in Lansing, MI. that place was cool and the staff was very friendly!

[bigdreamer66]

In his day there were around 1,000 other car companys try to succeed and his company was one of the few that did, only to be dismantled in our day.

[Guitarplar]

I don't think my second comment got posted. Contact me if I can help you. I'll make SVHS footage available to you as well as filmed copies of the old 8x10 glossies.

[Guitarplar]

Nice job. I was born in Lansing, Dad worked for Oldsmobile, brother worked for Reo/Diamond Reo til they closed. I was a film maker in the 70s and was part of the team that produced the Olds anniversary film for Oldsmobile. Years later, I went back down to Lansing and shot footage of the 100th anniversary on my own but I've never finsished the film. I have lots of footage of curved dash Oldsmobiles running around in lansing and Helen Early (Olds history dept) let me copy tons of old stills.

[farlane]

Hey - we're featuring this on Michigan Automotive History: Reo Motor Car Company on Absolute Michigan.

If you have any new news or updates, pop over and post a comment!

[diggyj]

I wish he was still alive to help me fix some of the problems on our 1933 Reo flying cloud!

[RustyREO]

Thanks for this wonderful posting. I have a 1927 REO truck that I'm restoring and although I knew a little bit about Ransom Eli Olds, this video has inspired my efforts to further succeed in my endeavors to preserve a small piece of this great man's history. His legacy was truly international. Greetings from Melbourne Australia. (RustyREO)

[Bullettube]

Awesome! I've read so much about Olds over the years and now you've brought him to life!

It should be noted that the most creative and intelligent people also have a good sense of humor.