Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant passages that can help answer the question.
Query: What was Buick's first car?
The Buick Model B was Buick's first model. It was built in Jackson, Michigan and was introduced in 1905 at the New York Auto Show. William C. Durant introduced the car himself at the exhibit, and took new car orders at the car show. It had a 2-cylinder, horizontally opposed engine – the world's first production OHV (overhead valve) engine – installed lengthwise within the frame, had a planetary transmission, with a cone clutch and two forward speeds and one reverse gear. The engine was rated at 21 bhp. In later years, it was renamed as improvements were made.
Walter Lorenzo Marr was an Automotive pioneer and talented engineer who worked with David Dunbar Buick perfecting the first Buick production automobiles. He worked with Mr. Buick a number of times around the turn of the century, building Buick's first two one-off vehicles. He was the Buick Motor Company's first Chief Engineer from 1904 through 1918 staying on as consulting engineer until 1923. He was also the founder of the Marr Auto Car Company in 1903 which produced the Marr Auto Car. The Marr Auto Car was one of the world's first automobiles with an overhead camshaft (OHC) engine.
There was also a rare “Stage 2” option produced. This was a dealer-installed package (known as a "dealer option"), first offered in 1969. It included a cam, headers, intake manifold, high compression forged pistons, hollow pushrods, and some calibration changes to the ignition and carburetor . In 1970(?) the Stage 2 package was designed for the 455 and included special round exhaust port Stage 2 heads, matching Kustom brand headers, a radical cam, high compression forged pistons, Edelbrock B4B aluminum intake, Holley carburetor #4781 850 cfm, and other equipment for racing. Few Stage 2s even exist and Buick only ever factory assembled 1 Stage 2 test unit, it was a factory GSX clone test mule with 4-speed manual transmission used for speed testing. That GSX test mule was equipped with 4.78 gearing and was driven on the streets and tracks on the West Coast. The Stage 2 package's existence was not made public until 1972 when the Stage 2 parts could be ordered in any combination. There is little documentation about any Stage 2 cars that were sold. Three are known to exist and all three of these cars were built as Stage 1 cars at the factory. One was owned by Kenne-Bell a factory backed Buick high performance specialist based in California . Sponsored by Reynolds Buick .This car was used as a test car in the development of the Stage 2 components in conjunction with Buick engineering . The second Stage 2 was known as the Jones-Benisek car. The Jones/Benisek car is known to have been delivered as a Stage 1 car .The Stage 2 hood and scoop was added later . The Stage 2 iron heads were purchased by the owner at a local Buick Dealer. The car had a very successful drag racing career with many wins and some world records also. The third Stage 2 is known as Wiley Coyote and as the Turner car. It was originally owned by Bob Thetford and campaigned as "Wiley Coyote" in the NHRA. Sponsored by Kenne-Bell and Dunn Buick in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Later it was owned by Jim Turner and was very successful in NMCA winning 5 National Records.
The first car sold from the house is a SUV, called DR5, with Chery components and Bosch electronic. This model was presented as a prototype at the 31º Bologna Motor Show in 2006.
Dr5 was the first DR model, launched in November 2007, and for the occasion Massimo Di Risio celebrated the moment with the symbolic gesture of punching the chassis number on the first car produced.
Buick-Electra Playhouseis a 90-minute dramatic anthology series produced by and aired on CBS from 1959–1960. It was sponsored by Buick Motors. There were a total of four episodes, all based on Ernest Hemingway's works, "The Killers", "The Fifth Column", "The Snows of Kilimanjaro", and "The Gambler, the Nun, and the Radio".
The Edward G. Budd Manufacturing Corporation, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was a major manufacturer of railroad cars, which resulted in significant experience in working with stainless steel. In 1930, the company made its first foray into the aviation industry by signing contracts to manufacture aircraft wheels & stainless steel wing ribs. A close friend of Edward Budd, Enea Bossi joined the company as the head of stainless steel research to supervise the design and construction of the 4-seat Budd BB-1 "Pioneer" – the first aircraft with a structure built out of stainless steel . Occurring in 1931, this was the first aircraft for the Budd Company. Built under Restricted License NR749, its design utilized concepts developed for the Savoia-Marchetti S-31 and was powered by a single Kinner C-5 motor.
All Electras were powered by Buick's 455 cu. in. (7.5 L) engine between 1971 and 1976. The 1971 model had , but that was reduced to by the 1976 model year; increasingly stringent exhaust emission limits reduced engine output, and an industry-wide 1972 change in rating systems reduced the horsepower numbers produced by any given engine. Even at its weakest state, the Buick-built 455 engine still produced of torque at 2000 rpm. The 455 was the standard engine on the Electra, but there were some built with Buick 350s during the GM strike, when 455 production halted. The 350 engine also came with a price rebate. The 455 engine disappeared after the 1976 model year, in favor of smaller, more efficient engines.
The legendary Ford Mustang, the first of the "pony" cars, was developed and introduced in 1964 under the guidance of Lee Iacocca (Lehigh Class of 1946), former general manager of Ford Motor Company's Ford Division. Still in production, the Mustang combined fun, performance and styling at a low price and had the most successful first year sales of any automobile. In its first two years of production, three Ford Motor Company plants produced nearly 1.5 million Mustangs, a record unequaled before or since.
An irony to the XR-400 story is that Budd tried to sell the idea to Ford first. In 1961, Budd combined a 1957 Ford Thunderbird body with a 1961 Ford Falcon chassis to produce a sporty convertible. When Ford turned them down, Budd shifted focus to AMC. Ford went on to base the Mustang on the Falcon chassis.
Cadillac is among the first automobile brands in the world, second in the United States only to fellow GM marque Buick. The firm was founded from the remnants of the Henry Ford Company in 1902. It was named after Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, who founded Detroit, Michigan. The Cadillac crest is based on his coat of arms.
The first four-barrel carburetors, with two primary bores and two secondary bores, were the Carter WCFB and identical Rochester 4GC simultaneously introduced on the 1952 Cadillacs, Oldsmobile 98, Oldsmobile Super 88 and Buick Roadmaster. Oldsmobile referred the new carburetor as the “Quadri-Jet” (original spelling) while Buick called it the “Airpower”.
It is generally acknowledged that the first really practical automobiles with petrol/gasoline-powered internal combustion engines were completed almost simultaneously by several German inventors working independently: Karl Benz built his first automobile in 1885 in Mannheim. Benz was granted a patent for his automobile on 29 January 1886, and began the first production of automobiles in 1888, after Bertha Benz, his wife, had proved – with the first long-distance trip in August 1888, from Mannheim to Pforzheim and back – that the horseless coach was absolutely suitable for daily use. Since 2008 a Bertha Benz Memorial Route commemorates this event.
On April 10, 1978, VWoA dedicated Westmoreland Assembly by driving its first car off the line, a two-door white Rabbit (in "Rabbit C" or mid trim level, as with all the initial production) — which had actually been assembled the week before and was shipped after the plant dedication to Volkswagen's Wolfsburg headquarters for its museum. Toni Schmücker, Richard E Dauch, James McLernon, U.S. Treasury Secretary Michael Blumenthal, Pennsylvania Governor Milton Shapp and 1,200 employees were on hand the day the first car came off of the line. In his remarks, Schmücker, CEO of Volkswagen AG, paraphrased Neil Armstrong remarks when stepping onto the moon, saying "this may be one small step for America, but it is a giant step for Volkswagen."
In 1879, Benz was granted a patent for his first engine, which had been designed in 1878. Many of his other inventions made the use of the internal combustion engine feasible for powering a vehicle. His first "Motorwagen" was built in 1885 in Mannheim, Germany. He was awarded the patent for its invention as of his application on 29 January 1886 (under the auspices of his major company, Benz & Cie., which was founded in 1883). Benz began promotion of the vehicle on 3 July 1886, and about 25 Benz vehicles were sold between 1888 and 1893, when his first four-wheeler was introduced along with a model intended for affordability. They also were powered with four-stroke engines of his own design. Emile Roger of France, already producing Benz engines under license, now added the Benz car to his line of products. Because France was more open to the early cars, initially more were built and sold in France through Roger than Benz sold in Germany. In August 1888 Bertha Benz, the wife of Karl Benz, undertook the first road trip by car, to prove the road-worthiness of her husband's invention.
Volkswagens were first exhibited and sold in the United States in 1949, but sold only two units in America that first year. On entry to the U.S. market, the VW was briefly sold as a "Victory Wagon". Volkswagen of America was formed in April 1955 to standardise sales and service in the United States. Production of the Type 1 Volkswagen Beetle increased dramatically over the years, the total reaching one million in 1955.
Sources point to different creations as the first electric car. Between 1832 and 1839 (the exact year is uncertain) Robert Anderson of Scotland invented a crude electric carriage, powered by non-rechargeable primary cells. In November 1881, French inventor Gustave Trouvé demonstrated a working three-wheeled car powered by electricity at the International Exposition of Electricity, Paris. But others regard the "Flocken Elektrowagen" of 1888 by German inventor Andreas Flocken as the first true electric car.
Ferdinand Porsche founded the company called "Dr. Ing. h. c. F. Porsche GmbH" in 1931, with main offices at Kronenstraße 24 in the centre of Stuttgart. Initially, the company offered motor vehicle development work and consulting, but did not build any cars under its own name. One of the first assignments the new company received was from the German government to design a car for the people, that is a "Volkswagen". This resulted in the Volkswagen Beetle, one of the most successful car designs of all time. The Porsche 64 was developed in 1939 using many components from the Beetle.
The first car race in Michigan took place on October 10, 1901 between Henry Ford and Alex Winton. The race track was owned by the Detroit Driving Club of Grosse Pointe, Michigan. It had been built in 1894 as a race track for horses. Fifty years later, in the small summer resort town of Petoskey, Michigan, 300 miles north of Detroit, the Petoskey Motor Speedway was born. The northern speedway came during the time of America's new post World War II craze with jalopy stock car racing. It was the same era that Parnelli Jones rose to fame. The track was a one-quarter mile, banked, dirt speedway located on a farm field, just south of Petoskey. For four years, 1954 through 1958, thousands of summer tourists and residents of northern Michigan attended the weekly races from June through September.
Dreamt up by John Bettini, the first Bullet car prototype was built in 1996 utilising a Mazda MX-5 body. The chassis was designed and fabricated by Barry Pearson; it consisted of a square-tube spaceframe onto which a 13B rotary powerplant from a Mazda RX-7 was fitted.
The SUV models generated higher profit-margins than passenger cars, and automakers introduced new luxury models during the late 1990s, starting with Lincoln Navigator in 1997, besides traditional models like the Grand Cherokee. For some manufacturers such as Porsche and BMW, luxury SUVs were the first SUV models they produced. Luxury SUVs catered particularly to the U.S. market where station wagons were unpopular, often being produced in North America (such as BMW Spartanburg) instead of the luxury marque's home country. Some of these models were a unibody construction, instead of the body-on-frame construction traditionally used by off-road vehicles.
Schwarzenegger was the first civilian to purchase a Humvee. He was so enamored by the vehicle that he lobbied the Humvee's manufacturer, AM General, to produce a street-legal, civilian version, which they did in 1992; the first two Hummer H1s they sold were also purchased by Schwarzenegger. In 2010, he had one regular and three running on non-fossil power sources; one for hydrogen, one for vegetable oil, and one for biodiesel. Schwarzenegger was in the news in 2014 for buying a rare Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse. He was spotted and filmed in 2015 in his car, painted silver with bright aluminium forged wheels. His Bugatti has its interior adorned in dark brown leather. In 2017, Schwarzenegger acquired a Mercedes G-Class modified for all-electric drive.
In 1984, Buick was the official car of the XXIII Olympiad. A reorganization split manufacturing & engineering from sales and marketing. The first pilot Buick is produced at "Buick City", a state-of-the art assembly center built inside the walls of Buick's home plant at Flint. Buick had its best model year sales to date with 906,626 vehicles sold plus Buick worldwide sales topped one million for the first time. To close out 1984, Lloyd Reuss ended his tenure as general manager of the Buick Motor Division.
The plant originated with Buick before the formation of General Motors. Other elements were built by early manufacturers and suppliers like Fisher Body. The Buick City concept represented a successful attempt by General Motors to experiment with just-in-time manufacturing methods in response to Japanese manufacturers. The experiment included successes: The 1989 Buick LeSabre built in Buick City was ranked the top car in the J.D. Power and Associates rankings for that year; it was the first American built car to appear on the list. In 1999, the year the plant was closed, Buick City won J. D. Power's Platinum Award for assembly plant quality . As of 2016, it is the only General Motors plant to win the award. The closing of GM's manufacturing plants in Flint, and its subsequent economic toll on the community was chronicled in Michael Moore's documentary film, "Roger & Me".
Buick named their six-cylinder cars "Buick 6" from 1916 through 1924, and in 1925, divided them into Standard 6 and Master 6. The Master 6 was renamed Series 121 and 129 in 1929 and Series 40 in 1930. All were powered by a Buick Straight-6 engine, with multiple body styles, and starting in 1926 used the newly established GM B platform, which it shared with Oldsmobile. Although Buick produced mostly four-cylinder cars in the teens and early '20s, as it had been doing, the new six=cylinder cars became more common. Buick first made six-cylinder cars in 1914, with a 331-cubic-inch engine, which was originally a racing engine, later used in limited production as the Series 50. The 331 engine was dropped in 1916 and replaced with the much smaller 40 series engine, starting with a 224-cubic-inch in 1916 and 1917, the 242 engine from 1918, increased to 255 in 1924, increased again to 274 for 1926 through 1928. The engine was increased again to 309 for the Series 121 and 129 in 1929 and Series 40 in 1930, after which all six-cylinder engines were suddenly dropped and all models of Buick were equipped with the legendary Straight 8, starting in 1931 and for decades thereafter.
In 1961, Buick introduced the first V6 engine installed in an American passenger car, called the Fireball V6 in the Buick Special, and three VentiPorts appeared on the side. This still was not tied to cylinder count however, as the V8 LeSabres continued to carry 3 Ports per side. Also during this era, Buick used what the '67 Buick GS brochure called "vertical VentiPorts" to describe trim details seen on the lower half of front fenders on the Skylarks and Wildcat lines. The specialty Riviera model had neither, akin to the '53-54 Skylark. VentiPorts were used on most models over the next 2 decades.