Car Crazy: The Battle for Supremacy between Ford and Olds and the Dawn of the Automobile Age

by G. Wayne Miller

In Car Wars, G. Wayne Miller, author of Toy Wars: The Epic Struggle Between G.I. Joe, Barbie, and the Companies That Make Them and Men and Speed: A Wild Ride through NASCAR’s Breakout Season, takes readers back to the wild and wooly years of the early automobile era—from 1893, when the first U.S.-built auto was introduced, through 1908, when General Motors was founded and Ford’s Model T went on the market. The motorcar was new, paved roads few, and devotees of this exciting and unregulated technology battled with citizens who thought the car a dangerous scourge of the wealthy which was shattering a more peaceful way of life. As the machine transformed American culture for better and worse, early corporate battles for survival and market share transform the economic landscape. Among the pioneering competitors are: Ransom E. Olds, founder of Olds Motor Works, inventor of the assembly line (Henry Ford copied him), and creator of a new company called REO; Frederic L Smith, cutthroat businessman who became CEO of Olds Motor Works after Olds was ousted in a corporate power play; William C. “Billy” Durant of Buick Motor Company (who would soon create General Motors), and genius inventor Henry Ford.

The fiercest fight pits Henry Ford against Frederic Smith of Olds. Olds was the early winner in the race for dominance, but now the Olds empire is in trouble, its once-industry leading market share shrinking, its cash dwindling. Ford is just revving up. But this is Ford’s third attempt at a successful auto company—and if this one fails, quite possibly his last. So Smith fights Ford with the weapons he knows best: lawyers, blackmail, intimidation, and a vicious advertising smear campaign that ultimately backfires.

Increasingly desperate, in need of dazzling PR that will help lure customers to his showrooms, Smith stages the most outrageous stunt of the era: the first car race across the continental United States, with two of his Olds cars. The race pits the dashing writer Percy Megargel, a wealthy New Yorker, against Everyman mechanic Dwight B. Huss, a sturdy Midwesterner—men who share a passion for adventure and the new machine. Covered breathlessly by the press and witnessed by thousands in the communities they pass through, Megargel and Huss encounter marvel, mishap, conflict, and danger on their wild 3,500-mile race from Manhattan to Portland, Oregon, most of it through regions lacking paved roads—or any roads at all…Meanwhile, the Ford/Smith battle develops in the newspapers and courtroom dramas. Its outcome will shape the American car industry for a century to come.

Car Wars is a page-turning story of popular culture, business, and sport at the dawn of the twentieth century, filled with compelling, larger-than-life characters, each an American original

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Cars

368 pages, Hardcover

First published November 3, 2015

About the author

http://www.gwaynemiller.com/bio.htm

Reviews

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Before there was "Ford v Ferrari" there was Ford versus Olds.

I wanted to like this book more than I did. I thought the book was going to primarily be an account of Henry Ford's fight against the Association of Licensed Automobile Manufactures (ALAM) lawsuit that claimed Ford (and all automobile manufactures) owed the association royalties on all autos manufactured. The association owned the rights to a sketchy 1895 patent which claimed invention of the gas combustion auto: The Selden Patent. While that court case (which Ford won) was part of the book, the book is more a history of the auto industry from it's origins to 1909.

A large part of the book dealt with The rise of Oldsmobile under Ransom Olds and its fall under the leadership of Fred Smith, who also was the Executive director of the ALAM that sued Ford. A significant portion was devoted to a 1905 cross country race from New York to Portland between two Oldsmobiles. There is also a chapter on the horse-car battle. While there was plenty of things of interest in the book, but it felt disjointed rather than a tight narrative. It was if the author wanted to right either a book about the cross country race, or the Selden patent case, but didn't have enough information for a full book about either.

If you can find this book at the Dollar Tree, go for it.

[Cameron · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am giving this book a rating of four stars. This book came across to me as pretty interesting because I am so interested in the automobile industry today. It was nice being able to go back and see how everything started and how far we have come today. It was interesting reading about Henry Ford breaking the record for top speed by hitting 100 MPH, I can hit that speed in my SUV right now. Too think that a 100 MPH was fast at that time and now we are hitting speeds over 270 MPH. I am rating this book at four stars because although I liked reading it for the history, I was hoping to read more about races that they had competed in. There was a lot of back story and not enough action in my personal preference. It had a lot of interesting facts that were created back in the day. If you are one that is interest in the basic facts that came about from that time then you should read this book because it is heavy on the facts on who started what, who beat who, and who set this record and so on. So my final thoughts of the book is that, it was interesting but I would have added a few more action packed races or some head to head battles to spice the book up a little more.

[Amelia.S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Car Crazy: The Battle for Supremacy between Ford and Olds and the Dawn of the Automobile Age is a riveting deep dive into one of America’s most transformative eras the birth of the automobile industry. G. Wayne Miller brings history to life with narrative energy and journalistic precision, tracing the early rivalries that forged the modern world of cars and capitalism.

Through vivid storytelling, Miller chronicles the clash between visionaries like Henry Ford, Ransom Olds, and Frederic Smith each driven by ambition, innovation, and the thirst for dominance. The result is more than a chronicle of machines; it’s a study of character, risk, and reinvention at a time when technology was redefining what it meant to be American.

Part business saga, part adventure, and part cultural history, Car Crazy captures the spirit of invention and the tumult of an age in motion. It’s an essential read for anyone fascinated by how competition, ingenuity, and sheer human will reshaped both industry and identity.

[SHANKAR KRISHNAN · Rating 4 out of 5]

The car stories from more than a century ago are great. The epilogue was a bit flat, though.

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, well researched and presented. I learned a lot about the early car companies in the US, and, of course, especially of Ford and Olds. The court battle over the Selden Patent was ongoing during the period covered in the book, so the author uses it as an ongoing background story (meanwhile, back at the courthouse...). I enjoyed learning the names associated with early racing (done as promotion for the car companies), the legal issues with new cars, and their conflict with horse-based transportation. It is not a comprehensive history of all car companes from the 1890s into the 1900s, as the author focuses on Ford, Olds, and the Selden patent fight.

[Julee Anderson Varela · Rating 1 out of 5]

I kept reading thinking it would get better but the book kept jumping from the Selden patent lawsuit, to horse vs car, to cross country "race", to racing, to auto shows, to the beginning of the interstate system. All were interesting but no cohesiveness. I would have preferred a chapter on each rather than intertwined.

[Brucie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Every possible detail from the 1905 story of automobiles in USA. Some parts were interesting.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great details from the beginning of the Auto age with a concentration on the Selden patent. Also interesting are the marketing techniques adopted then & how they influence us today

[Indah Threez Lestari · Rating 3 out of 5]

251 - 2021