1914 REO The Fifth

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1913 1914 1915

Ransom Eli Olds was successful in selling his Curved Dash Oldsmobile, but when he resisted dropping it in favor of a more modern, expensive automobile he was forced out of his own company. A few months after leaving he created his own company named R.E. Olds Company. The name was later changed to REO Motor Company, using his initials, after Olds' principal investor, Samuel Smith, complained.

The REO Company manufactured automobiles and trucks from 1905 through 1936. Their first car was completed in October of 1904 and shown a few months later at the New York show in January 1905. The model lineup consisted of a sixteen-horsepower twin-cylinder car that had a base price of $1,250 and a single-cylinder car priced at $650. This put them in the Olds Curved Dash price range which made management at Olds nervous, as the REO was a lot more car. By 1906, REO sales surpassed Oldsmobile's.

REO would continue to produce passenger cars until they were abandoned in 1936 to concentrate solely on trucks.

Ransom Olds introduced his 'farewell car' in 1912. At the age of 48 years old, he seemed to be growing tired of the quickly evolving automobile business. He had founded two automobile companies, Oldsmobile and Reo, and had worked hard to introduce competitive and sophisticated new vehicles. His 'Fifth' represented the best car that he could build and his farewell from the industry.

'The Fifth' could be ordered with a self-starter as optional equipment. The shifting was done with a center-mounted lever, and brakes were operated with foot pedals. Pushing the service brake halfway down threw the clutch out and pushing it all the way applied the brake.

By Daniel Vaughan | Sep 2017