REO

[Guest ThatOneDude]

:cool: Hey, I am from Bettendorf High School and I'd like to know if anyone has any information on the REO car company that went out of business around 1975.

[Rusty_OToole]

REO was quite an interesting company. It was started by Ransom Eli Olds the same guy who started the Oldsmobile company, maybe you heard of it ? lol

After he sold Oldsmobile he got back into the car business but could not use the Olds name as he had sold the rights to it with the company. So he used his initials, R. E. O.

They made a good medium priced car, the Flying Cloud, and a slightly smaller car called Wolverine.

Their big car was called the Royale. It had a big straight eight engine and was in the Cadillac or Packard class. They made some beautiful and powerful cars. They were known to run for very high mileages and to be one of the toughest, most long living cars on the market.

REO also made trucks. Their most famous model was the REO Speedwagon. It was the first truck to feature pneumatic tires and would go 50 MPH, in those days trucks were very heavy, had hard rubber tires like a fork lift and would only go 20 or 25 MPH. The Speedwagon was something new, it was a 1 1/2 ton truck but the company claimed it would do the work of a 5 ton truck because it could make deliveries so much faster.

The Speedwagon was a favorite with big bootleggers in Prohibition. They could unload a boat in the dark of night and move a big load of whiskey fast.

After about 1937 they dropped the cars and made trucks exclusively.

PS one of REO's early cars was called REO the fifth. In an advertisement Olds called it My Farewell Car. He described how he had been in the car business from the very beginning of cars and how this new REO embodied everything he had learned in 15 years in business. He did not see how anyone could build a better car, or how the average motorist could need anything better. Therefore, he said, this car marks my limit. He meant to go on making that model forever.

This was in 1912. Funny to think 100 years ago, one of the best minds in the auto industry did not believe there was any more progress to be made.

Edited November 22, 2013 by Rusty_OToole (see edit history)

[rocketraider]

In brief- REO was an offshoot of Oldsmobile, forrmed when Ransom Eli Olds fell out with his Olds Motor Works majority stockholders and started his own car and truck business. The REO's were great cars but a little expensive, and the car end of the business didn't survive long past the Great Depression. The truck end survived on as REO, Diamond REO, and Diamond T trucks till the end.

R.E.'s legacy lives on at the http://reoldsmuseum.org/ in Lansing MI.

The Oldsmobile Clubs in Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota host the Quad States Oldsmobile Meet every year and it is often in the Davenport-Moline-Bettendorf area. You might even see a REO Flying Cloud or REO the Fifth at that show, and a lot of Oldsmobile folks also play with REO trucks.

[alsancle]

I'm a member of the REO club and it is fairly active for a small make that stopped car production in 1936. The REO Royale is of particular interest to me and was supposedly the first car designed in a wind tunnel. Production ran from 1931-1933. Styling for 1931 was definitely a few years ahead of the time with a V radiator grill and skirted fenders.

[oldcarfudd]

The earliest REOs were one- or two-cylinder cars. The engines were under the seat, and they were hand cranked from the side of the car. Final drive was by chain, like a motorcycle. They were quite powerful for their time (1904-1910) and are popular now with collectors. There are a lot of them on one-and two-cylinder tours, and the two-cylinder REOs are fast enough to run well even on the tours for big brass-era cars.

[Guest cben09]

And I was told he left behind in Daytona,,a retirement center,,a final gift,for the people

Archetctually outstanding,,Ben

[Guest Drew Kreidelcamp]

Here are some photos of a Reo Royale that were taken at a museum in Forman, North Dakota.

[alsancle]

Auburn speedster body?

[Guest Drew Kreidelcamp]

The car parked behind this Reo is an Auburn, but it is a sedan in very good condition. I talked to the owner of the car and he wasn't sure how this Reo ended up with a boat tail body. He decided it was best not to make any changes to either car.