David Buick, the pioneering car genius who died penniless

As inventors make their mark on history, David Dunbar Buick ranks among the best.

He came up with a lawn sprinkler system, a toilet flush device, and a way to glaze cast iron sinks and bathtubs – a process that is still used today.

But his biggest claim to fame was the creation of a vehicle that would become the base that would be used by one of the world’s largest automobile producers, General Motors.

More of 50 million vehicles They carried the Buick name in the last century.

But despite doing not just one, but two fortunes, I would end up practically penniless.

His story led a contemporary American businessman and philanthropist to say, “He took a sip from the cup of greatness and then poured out what it contained.”

But how did it come to that?

Business

Buick’s history suggests that he had the brilliance of an inventor but little business sense.

As a child, he moved from Arbroath, Scotland, to the United States in 1856, where he co-founded a plumbing business.

It was one of his only resounding successes, as it harnessed his inventive genius.

But Buick was not happy. At the end of the 19th century, he had found another obsession: the internal combustion engine.

He sold his share of the plumbing business for $ 100,000 (equivalent to $ 3.3 million today) and started his own car business.

Buick Auto Vim was going to create the rod engine, which is still used, but by 1902, it had only produced one car and its money had run out.

He was rescued by William Crapo Durant, who took over the Detroit-based business and later founded General Motors (GM), which until relatively recently was the world’s largest automaker.

GM has paid tribute to Buick, stating that “its importance to the modern Buick brand and General Motors cannot be understated.”

A spokeswoman said: “While the David Buick story itself is very complicated, without a doubt, if it hadn’t been for him, there wouldn’t be a Buick car.”

Buick would be pulled from the company a few years later with another $ 100,000 compensation, a fraction of what he could have earned if he had kept his shares in the business.

But he ended up squandering his second fortune by investing poorly in California oil prospects and Florida land.

In 1924, at the age of 69, he returned to Detroit without a job and practically penniless, unable to even afford to have a phone at home.

Eventually, he managed to find a job as an instructor at the Detroit School of Trades, but experienced health problems.

“Old man hunched over”

Ian Lamb, a retired journalist who lives in Arbroath, has campaigned for a statue to be erected in the city in honor of Buick.

“As he grew weaker, he was given a minor task at the information desk, where he was remembered as a lean, stooped old man who looked at visitors through thick glasses.”

In March 1929, he died of pneumonia at Harper Hospital in Detroit after an operation to remove a tumor in his colon. He was 74 years old.

In an interview shortly before going to the hospital, Buick said: “I don’t worry. The failure is the man who stays down when he falls, the man who sits and worries about what happened yesterday instead of jumping and thinking about what he is going to do today and tomorrow ”.

“That is success: looking to the future. I am not accusing anyone of deceiving me. It was the breaks in the game that caused me to lose out in the company I founded ”.

In June 1994, a commemorative plaque was erected on the walls of the former Masonic Hall in Arbroath, the only surviving building from the street on which he was born.

When the plaque was unveiled, Robert Coletta, a senior General Motors executive, said, “Buick has been one of the great names in American automobiles for virtually the entire 20th century.”

“It is certainly appropriate of us to honor this man, not only because his name identifies our cars, but because his genius and hard work formed the beginning of an unparalleled automotive success story that is still being written. “

Since then, the Buick star has faded and he appears to be at risk of becoming Arbroath’s forgotten son.

Two years ago, The New York Times reported that the Buick name was no longer stamped on the back of its North American models. In China, where most Buicks are sold today, the nameplate has already disappeared.

And despite the efforts of Ian Lamb and others, there are no plans to stamp Buick’s name in the history books with a statue in his hometown.

“Important advances”

All that remains of his legacy at Arbroath is the commemorative plaque on the side of a wall hidden from view of most local residents.

Ian Lamb says a statue would be a fitting tribute to the automotive pioneer.

“At David Buick we have someone who was responsible for major advancements in automotive development, advances that are still relevant around the world to this day.

“However, how many people know that this inventive genius was born here in Arbroath?

“Yes, we have a plaque marking the last remaining building on the street where he was born, but even most people who live in the city would find it difficult to locate it.

“Buick deserves to be remembered.”