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Ransom E Olds was born on this day in 1864

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REO (REE-oh)

A car company founded by Ransom E. Olds in 1904
Common clues: Old Olds; Classic car; Vintage auto; Old wheels; Antique auto; ____ Speedwagon; Stutz contemporary; Popular '20s auto; New car of 1904
Crossword puzzle frequency: 8 times a year
Video:
R.E.Olds – The Man Behind the Wheel


The Reo Motor Car Co. Ltd. was a United States based company which produced automobiles and motor trucks from 1905 to 1975.



Reo automobiles from 1917 magazine ad


Reo was founded by Ransom E. Olds in 1904 (the name of the founder also lived on in the Oldsmobile). The name is often spelled in all capitals, as REO, although the company's own advertising shows that this capitalization is not necessary.




Reo manufactured automobiles from 1905 to 1936, including the famous Reo Speed-Wagon, and ancestor of the pickup truck, which gave its name to the 1970s rock group REO Speedwagon.



Reo Speed-Wagon (the truck), from 1917 ad


Reo's moment in automotive history came with the introduction of the Reo Royale 8 of 1931. This was the car that introduced styling changes that were the precursor of true streamlining to the American market. The model continued to be made until 1933.

The company continued manuacturing trucks under the REO name and was acquired by the White Motor Company in 1960. Several corporate reorganizations followed and the last trucks were manufactured as Diamond REOs when production was halted in 1975. Meanwhile, the corporate shell reorganized in the 1930s after a bankruptcy and the end of automobile manufacturing went through a series of transmutations into the nuclear medicine and prefabricated housing businesses before becoming today's steel company Nucor.


This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Reo".