8 Interesting Facts about General Motors

GM celebrates its birth date as Sept. 16, 1908, when the company was incorporated – but the spark that led to the creation of General Motors was the decision by William Durant, "king" of the Flint carriage makers, to take control of the tiny and almost bankrupt Buick Motor Company in Flint on Nov. 1, 1904. Durant formed General Motors in 1908 to act as a holding company for Buick and the string of other car manufacturers he would acquire over the next two years, including Oldsmobile and Cadillac, but the real beginning of GM was November 1, 1904, when Billy Durant agreed to take control of Buick.

In 1952 a team of GM scientists and engineers developed the mechanical heart pump that made possible the world’s first open heart surgery. The device was developed and donated by GM at no cost to the heart surgery team at Wayne State University in Detroit.

General Motors developed and delivered the inertial guidance and navigation systems for the entire Apollo moon program (including Apollo 11, the first manned landing, in 1969) and was also responsible for all mobility systems and components of the Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) that the Apollo 15 astronauts first drove on the moon in 1971.

The Middle East is a key market and is the only region outside North America where the GMC brand (affectionately known as the ‘Jims’) is offered. Kuwait’s GMC dealer, is the world’s largest standalone GMC dealer in sales volume.

In late 1909, Durant approached Henry Ford with the idea of purchasing Ford’s company. Henry Ford was willing to sell his stock in Ford Motor Co. for $8 million. Durant got the OK from GM’s board of directors, however, when Durant approached his New York bankers for a loan, they deep-sixed the deal.

General Motors worker's were building a lot more than just cars and light trucks in the 1950s. Their Electro-Motive Division developed the GM Aerotrain which made its public debut in 1956. Only two Aerotrain demo engines were produced and 10 passenger cars, and they were retired by 1966. Two miniature versions of the Aerotrain were also built, one was used at Disneyland in the late '50s and called the Viewliner, while another known as the Zooliner opened at the Oregon Zoo in Portland in 1958, and still transports visitors around the park today.

1939: GM created and installed the first automatic transmission system and Buick introduced the industry’s first standard-equipment turn signal.
1966: The GM Electrovan is credited with being the first hydrogen fuel cell car ever produced.
1972: GM debuted the first anti-lock braking system.

General Motors converted all of its production to the Allied war effort and delivered more than $12 billion worth of goods, ranging from airplanes to tanks, marine diesel engines, trucks, machine guns, and shells. No other manufacturer delivered as much material to the Allied forces.