One hundred and seven years of automotive history came to an end in Lansing, Michigan, on Thursday, April 29, 2004, when the final Oldsmobile rolled off the production line at G.M.’s Lansing Car Assembly Plant. The vehicle, an Alero model finished in metallic cherry red, bore the signatures of some 4,500 workers under the hood and trunk!

A low-key ceremony, perhaps befitting the somber occasion, was held on the grounds of the R.E.Olds Transportation Museum through much of the day. The final vehicle was driven from the plant late in the morning of the event, and parked under a tent. It was the center of attention of T.V. camera people and press photographers, with flash bulbs constantly popping.

As can be imagined, it was an emotional event for many of those in attendance. While a band played tunes from the early decades of the twentieth century (the favorite of the audience was of course "In My Merry Oldsmobile"), a substantial group of Oldsmobile retirees mingled with collectors of vintage Oldsmobile cars and a scattering of automotive historians. Tears were observed in the eyes of at least one old-time Oldsmobile employee as events of earlier years in the factory were recalled. Another person, a recent retiree, mentioned that the total service period of his father and himself at the company extended over three-quarters of a century!

No speeches were made at the event, and no high-level General Motors officials attended. However, a display of various Oldsmobile models covering a full century or more was set up by G. M. in the R.E. Olds Museum. A replica of Ransom Olds’ initial creation, a crude steam car dating to 1887, anchored one corner of the display. Then came a curved-dash vehicle of the very early 1900s, followed by a magnificent 1911 Oldsmobile Limited featuring a six-cylinder engine of 707 cubic-inch displacement. Cars of the teens, twenties and thirties were shown, including a now almost-forgotten marque, a Viking V-8 built as an upscale model by the Oldsmobile firm in 1929 and 1930. Finally, a group of more modern Oldsmobile cars lined the center and another corner of the room.

Outside the museum could be observed a line-up of Oldsmobile cars brought by collectors to mark the occasion. Here too a wide range of early models was featured, dating from the early 1900s to the modern era.

The Oldsmobile car was named for Ransom Eli Olds, who organized the Olds Motor Vehicle Company in 1897, a year after he drove his initial gasoline-powered car on the streets of Lansing. Olds was a contemporary of Charles Brady King and Henry Ford of Detroit, both of whom first built vehicles in the same year,1896. Ransom Olds forged ahead of King and Ford in producing cars in substantial numbers, however, and by 1903 Oldsmobile led all other makes in volume of vehicles built. To achieve this Ransom Olds initiated what some historians believe was the auto industry’s first primitive production line.

Ransom Olds left the company early in 1904, soon thereafter establishing the firm which built the Reo car. The Oldsmobile company was absorbed by William Durant’s new conglomerate, General Motors, in 1908, where it remained as a division until its current demise.

Oldsmobile for years was considered the "cutting edge" or "experimental" car of General Motors. In the mid-to-late 1920s it may well have been the first American automobile to utilize chrome brightwork.In the late 1930s the division was tapped by General Motors to introduce the first truly automatic transmission. This pace-setting activity continued in the late 1940s, when together with Cadillac Olds pioneered in the introduction of a modern, high-compression V-8 engine (this powered the famous "Rocket 88" vehicle). Other innovations followed, including the front-wheel drive Toronado model in the 1960s.

The production of Oldsmobile vehicles reached a high level throughout the decades following the second World War, with well over a million cars turned out in 1977. However, a changing automobile market hit the Oldsmobile division hard in the late 1980s and 1990s, resulting in a disastrous slump in sales. This led to a decision by General Motors in early 2001 to phase out production of Oldsmobile vehicles. The Alero on display thus was the last of the line.

SAH was represented at the termination ceremony by Helen Earley, James Neal and Sinclair Powell. Helen, a retired Oldsmobile staff person, is co-author of the definitive book on Oldsmobile history, entitled "Setting the Pace".