Background
Buick was born on September 17, 1854, in Arbroath, Angus, United Kingdom and moved to Detroit at the age of two with his family.
Buick was born on September 17, 1854, in Arbroath, Angus, United Kingdom and moved to Detroit at the age of two with his family.
He left school in 1869 and worked for a company which made plumbing goods.
Buick's first business venture was the formation in Detroit in 1884, of the company of Buick and Sherwood, manufacturers of plumbing supplies. At that time Buick had already shown his inventive turn of mind by developing a new method for bonding porcelain and metal. Early in 1900 he began experimenting with gasoline engines for marine and farm use, and in 1901 formed the Buick Auto Vim and Power Company in Detroit. The following year he adapted his engine to the "horseless carriage, " changed the name of his company to the Buick Manufacturing Company, and in 1903, with the financial help of Frank and Benjamin Briscoe, produced his first automobile. Buick was the originator of the valve-in-head engine and the windshield. He ran heavily into debt, however, and the Briscoes sold their interest to James Whiting of the Flint Wagon Works, for $3, 500, the amount of Buick's indebtedness to them. Under Whiting the Buick Motor Car Company produced fifty-three cars in two years, but made no profits, and in 1905 the company was taken over by William C. Durant. After the reorganization Buick left the company, having lost his entire savings, and went first to California and then to Florida. In both places he experienced business failures. For a period he was director and chief engineer of the Detroit School of Trades. Buick died in Detroit, March 5, 1929.