Dreamer David Buick set stage for GM
1854: Born in Arbroath, Scotland
1856: Family moved to Detroit; eventually he became president of a successful plumbing fixtures firm
Late 1890s: Began tinkering with gasoline engines, vehicles
1899: Sold plumbing business, formed Buick Auto-Vim & Power Co.
1903: Buick Motor Co. formed
1904: Billy Durant took over Buick
1908: Durant formed GM with Buick as base
1909: David Buick left Buick, GM
1929: Died in Detroit at age 74
Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Bruce Catton once observed that of all the automotive tales told in Detroit, "there is no tale as strange as the tale of David Buick." And yet, another prominent historian lamented that few aspects of U.S. auto history have been "so poorly recorded" as the early career of David Dunbar Buick.
