David Dunbar Buick (1854-1929) was born in Arbroath, Scotland.

• He emigrated with his father (Alexander Buick) and his mother to Detroit, Michigan when he was two years old.
• David was an inventor. He produced a lawn sprinkler and a method for permanently coating cast iron with vitreous enamel which allowed production of white bath tubs at lower cost.
• In the 1890s David developed an interest in internal combustion engines and spent most of his time developing them to a degree that his business Partner in the plumbing business dissolved their partnership and they sold the company
• In 1899 David set up the Buick Auto-Vim and Power Company. He invested heavily in R&D to the point that he ran out of money and only produced one car.
• In 1902 David set up another company, the Buick Manufacturing Company, to market engines to other car companies and manufacture and sell its own cars. Once again, all money went into R&D and only one car was produced that year.
• This R&D produced the Valve-In-Head overhead valve engine, a more powerful engine that the rival companies were producing.
• In 1903 David was forced to raise money via a loan from a fellow car enthusiast Benjamin Briscoe. With Briscoe's help, David formed the Buick Motor Company which would become the cornerstone of the General Motors Company.
• In 1906 David left the company he had founded with a severance package that included one share of the company. The president of Buick, William C Durant, bought this share from David for $100,000.
• David invested in California oïl and land in Florida and carburetor manufacturing, all of which were unsuccessful.
• In 1920 David returned to the auto business as president of short-lived Lorraine Motors.
• In 1923 he designed the Dunbar, an automobile prototype.
• After all these unsuccessful investments, David was broke.
• In 1928 he became an instructor at the Detroit School of Trades.
• To date, over 35,000,000 cars have been built in his name.

Sources

• Wikipédia
• David Dunbar Buick