Guest c.johnson Posted November 14, 2002 Share Posted November 14, 2002 Ok, you have all heard about bad looking cars, and cars with funny (stupid) names, but did the "C" in "William C. Durant" (look at car history if you have no idea who he was)really stand for "Crapo"? I've heard the rumor several times, but never seen his name spelled out completely.If this is true, I think I understand why the "C" was used in it's place.Just thinking out loud....cj Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BruceW Posted November 15, 2002 Share Posted November 15, 2002 Yes...Durant's full name was William Crapo Durant. William's middle name was pronounced as "CRAY-PO". You are absolutely right....since Crapo was his middle name, the letter "C" was used as his middle initial (most middle initials do match the first letter of the middle name).His middle name probably came from his maternal grandfather, who was named Henry Crapo. From what I have read, Mr. Crapo owned a lumberyard in Michigan in the late 1800s. Henry Crapo was governor of Michigan during the Civil War and for a term afterwards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Rohrbach Posted November 15, 2002 Share Posted November 15, 2002 I read his biography once. Middle name was Crapo. I can't remember the name of the book.But it was all about how he put together GM, lost it, got it back, lost it again, and ended up owning a bowling alley..of course my memory could be wrong on all of the facts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rawja Posted November 15, 2002 Share Posted November 15, 2002 Actually he ended up <span style="font-style: italic">managing</span> a bowling alley. His story is one of the most extreme rags to riches to rags to riches to rags stories I have ever heard of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1937hd45 Posted November 15, 2002 Share Posted November 15, 2002 Was "Cliff" Durant his son? He ran a good size INDY 500 team in the 1920's, Millers with Durant logos painted on the sides. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BruceW Posted November 15, 2002 Share Posted November 15, 2002 Yes, "Cliff" Durant...... whose full name was Russell Clifford Durant...... was William Crapo Durant's son and owned race cars.He owned quite a few race cars. In the 1923 Indy 500, he had 7 entries under his name. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1937hd45 Posted November 15, 2002 Share Posted November 15, 2002 Cliff was a Big Guy, if you look at the factory race car team photo, his car has one of the first "Wide Bodies" with bulges on the seat area to accommodate him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Lay Posted November 15, 2002 Share Posted November 15, 2002 Thanks, Bruce! I have always wanted to know about the pronunciation of Mr. Durant's middle name. I have heard it pronounced another way (the obvious one) and always wondered about this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest c.johnson Posted November 15, 2002 Share Posted November 15, 2002 Yes, thanks to all! A lot of interesting information. Best of all, now I can tell my neighbor he's pronouncing it wrong!! You should hear how he says "Chevrolet". cj Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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