1908 Buick Model F Touring

Entrepreneur William C. Durant took control of the fledgling Buick Motor Car Company in November 1904. With 'Billy' Durant at the corporate wheel, the Flint-based Buick soon became the most popular car manufactured in America.

This 1908 Model F Buick is powered by a horizontally opposed 2-cylinder engine originally introduced in the very first Buicks of 1904. Featuring Buick's patented overhead-valve (OHV) design, the engine made an impressive 22 horsepower. It rides under the body, at the center of the chassis (the fuel tank is under the hood). Buick built cars powered by this 159-CID engine through 1910.

The 1908 Model F Touring originally listed for $1,250. The current owner has owned this example since 1980. A painstaking and careful restoration has just been completed and the Buick now looks exactly as it did when new, 100 years ago.

During the 1908 season, Buick introduced a new, smaller car powered by an 18-hp OHV 4-cylinder engine. Selling for as little as $1,000, the popular new Model 10 would help Buick set a production record of 8,820 cars in 1908.

Basking in Buick's success, Durant set out to create a conglomerate that would blanket the auto market top to bottom, incorporated on September 16, 1908, his new company was called General Motors.