Editing Oldsmobile (section)

===Early history===
[[File:Olds2.jpg|thumb|left|150px|Ransom Eli Olds, the founder and namesake of Oldsmobile]]
Oldsmobiles were first manufactured by the Olds Motor Vehicle Company in [[Lansing, Michigan]], a company founded by [[Ransom E. Olds]] in 1897. In 1901 (the same year that [[Horace Elgin Dodge|Horace]] and [[John Francis Dodge|John Dodge]] won a contract to produce transmissions for the Olds company), the company produced 635 cars, making it the first high-volume gasoline-powered automobile manufacturer (electric car manufacturers such as [[Columbia Electric]] and steam-powered car manufacturers such as [[Locomobile Company of America|Locomobile]] had higher volumes a few years earlier).

Oldsmobile became the top-selling car company in the United States from 1903 to 1904. Ransom Olds left the company in 1904 because of a dispute with sales manager [[Frederic L. Smith]], who was questioning production techniques and wanted Mr. Olds to certify that each car that left the plant was free from defects. Mr. Smith then set up an experimental engineering shop without Mr. Olds' knowledge or consent, causing Mr. Olds to leave in 1904 and form the [[REO Motor Car Company]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Biography of Ransom E. Olds |url=https://biography.yourdictionary.com/ransom-e-olds |website=Your Dictionary |access-date=25 November 2020 |archive-date=December 4, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201204054047/https://biography.yourdictionary.com/ransom-e-olds |url-status=live }}</ref> This was similar to the situation [[Henry Ford]] experienced when he was forced out of the company he founded (the [[Henry Ford Company]]) before starting the [[Ford Motor Company]] in 1903.

[[File:1904-oldsmobile-archives.jpg|thumb|left|1904 [[Oldsmobile Model 6C]] "Curved-Dashboard"]]
The 1902 to 1907 [[Oldsmobile Curved Dash|Oldsmobile Model R "Curved Dash"]] was [[list of automotive superlatives|the first mass-produced car]],<ref>{{cite book|title=Michigan Yesterday & Today|publisher=[[Voyageur Press]]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HQdTa9ZXlVAC&q=Ransom+Olds+and+assembly+line&pg=PA29|isbn=9781616731380|year=2009|access-date=November 18, 2020|archive-date=December 21, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211221031541/https://books.google.com/books?id=HQdTa9ZXlVAC&q=Ransom+Olds+and+assembly+line&pg=PA29|url-status=live}}</ref> made on a progressive moving automotive [[assembly line]], an invention which is often incorrectly credited to Henry Ford and the Ford Motor Company. Ford was the first to manufacture cars on a ''continuously'' moving and ''synchronized'' assembly line starting in 1913, five years into Model T production. Olds' moving assembly line was manually progressed, meaning that the vehicle being assembled was manually pushed to the next workstation after the assigned assembly was performed at the previous station. This differed from hand-making vehicles in the past where various workers would work on one car until it was completed, which was labor- and time-intensive.

After Ransom Olds merged Olds Motor Vehicle Co. with the Olds Gas Engine Works in 1899, the newly formed entity was known as Olds Motor Works. The company moved to a new plant in Detroit, located at the corner of East Jefferson Avenue and [[MacArthur Bridge (Detroit)|MacArthur Bridge]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://detroit1701.org/Ransom%20Olds%20Plaque.html|title=Ransom Eli Olds Commemorative Marker|access-date=June 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171206032206/http://detroit1701.org/Ransom%20Olds%20Plaque.html|archive-date=December 6, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>

By March 1901, Olds Motor Works had a whole line of models ready for mass production. However, that month the factory caught fire and burned to the ground, destroying nearly all of the prototypes that were inside. The only car that survived the fire was a Curved Dash prototype, which was wheeled out of the factory by two workers as they escaped the burning building.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.hemmings.com/stories/2013/03/09/this-day-in-history-oldsmobile-factory-burns-down | title=This Day in History: Oldsmobile factory burns down | author=Kate Sullivan |access-date=2023-05-04 |website=www.hemmings.com}}</ref>

While the factory was being rebuilt using insurance funds, many subcontractors were used to keep production going, including [[Henry M. Leland]] for engine production and the [[Dodge Brothers]]. Olds was a strong competitor to other independent companies [[Buick]] and [[Cadillac]] before they became divisions of [[General Motors]] between 1908 and 1909. Later after Mr. Olds left the company, Oldsmobile production was moved to [[Lansing Car Assembly|Lansing]].

Officially, the cars were called "Olds automobiles", but were colloquially referred to as "Oldsmobiles". It was this moniker, as applied especially to the Curved Dash Olds, that was popularized in the lyrics and title of the 1905 hit song "[[In My Merry Oldsmobile]]". The last Oldsmobile Curved Dash was made in 1907. [[General Motors Corporation|General Motors]] purchased the company on November 12, 1908.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://automotivehistory.org/automotive/november-12-1908-gm-buys-oldsmobile/|title = November 12, 1908 – GM buys Oldsmobile|date = November 12, 2016|access-date = July 8, 2020|archive-date = August 6, 2020|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200806004504/https://automotivehistory.org/automotive/november-12-1908-gm-buys-oldsmobile/|url-status = live}}</ref> When GM assumed operations, platform sharing began with Buick products and Oldsmobile shared platforms were identified with the prefix "Series" followed by a number, while models developed by pre-GM engineers were identified with the prefix "Model" followed by a letter. Early on, Oldsmobile was a competitor of [[Hudson Motor Car Company|Hudson]], as some former engineers of Oldsmobile took positions with Hudson.