Durant Motors Inc. was established in 1921 by former General Motors CEO William "Billy" Durant following his termination by the GM board of directors and the New York bankers that financed GM.

Corporate relationships

Durant Motors attempted to be a full-line automobile producer of cars and fielded the Flint

Flint (automobile)

The Flint was an automobile marque that was assembled by the Flint Motors Division, Flint, Michigan between 1923 and 1927. Flint Motors was a wholly owned subsidiary of Durant Motors Company .-Assembly:...

, Durant

Durant (automobile)

The Durant was a make of automobile assembled by Durant Motors Corporation of New York City, New York from 1921 to 1926 and again from 1928 to 1932. Durant Motors was founded by William "Billy" Durant after he was terminated as the head of General Motors...

, and Star

Star (automobile)

The Star was an automobile marque that was assembled by the Durant Motors Company between 1922 and 1928. Also known as the Star Car, Star was envisioned as a competitor against the Ford Model T...

 brands which were designed to meet Buick

Buick

Buick is a premium brand of General Motors . Buick models are sold in the United States, Canada, Mexico, China, Taiwan, and Israel, with China being its largest market. Buick holds the distinction as the oldest active American make...

, Oldsmobile

Oldsmobile

Oldsmobile was a brand of American automobile produced for most of its existence by General Motors. It was founded by Ransom E. Olds in 1897. In its 107-year history, it produced 35.2 million cars, including at least 14 million built at its Lansing, Michigan factory...

, Oakland

Oakland automobile

The Oakland was a brand of automobile manufactured between 1907–1909 by the Oakland Motor Car Company of Pontiac, Michigan, and between 1909 and 1931 by the Oakland Motors Division of General Motors Corporation. Oakland's principal founder was Edward M...

 and Chevrolet

Chevrolet

Chevrolet , also known as Chevy , is a brand of vehicle produced by General Motors Company . Founded by Louis Chevrolet and ousted GM founder William C. Durant on November 3, 1911, General Motors acquired Chevrolet in 1918...

 price points. Billy Durant also acquired luxury car maker Locomobile of Bridgeport, Connecticut

Bridgeport, Connecticut

Bridgeport is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Located in Fairfield County, the city had an estimated population of 144,229 at the 2010 United States Census and is the core of the Greater Bridgeport area...

, at its liquidation sale in 1922; in theory Locomobile gave him a product that would compete against Rolls Royce

Rolls-Royce Limited

Rolls-Royce Limited was a renowned British car and, from 1914 on, aero-engine manufacturing company founded by Charles Stewart Rolls and Henry Royce on 15 March 1906 as the result of a partnership formed in 1904....

 and Pierce-Arrow

Pierce-Arrow

Pierce-Arrow was an American automobile manufacturer based in Buffalo, New York, which was active from 1901-1938. Although best known for its expensive luxury cars, Pierce-Arrow also manufactured commercial trucks, fire trucks, camp trailers, motorcycles, and bicycles.-Early history:The forerunner...

. Durant Motors had a relationship with the Dort

Dort (automobile)

The Dort was an automobile built by the Dort Motor Car Company of Flint, Michigan from 1915 - 1924. Dort used Lycoming built engines to power their vehicles....

, Frontenac

Dominion Motors Frontenac

Durant Motors of New York, New York first used the Frontenac marque in 1931 on vehicles built and sold in Canada. The Canadian Durant firm was acquired by a group of Canadian investors and renamed Dominion Motors Limited. The firm continued building Durant and Frontenac cars...

 and DeVaux

De Vaux

The De Vaux was an automobile produced by the De Vaux Motors Company of Grand Rapids, Michigan and Oakland, California ....

 automobile name badges. The Rugby line was the export name for Durant's Star Car line. However, from 1928 to 1931 Durant marketed trucks in the US and Canadian markets under the badge Rugby Trucks. The Princeton, a model aimed at the Packard

Packard

Packard was an American luxury-type automobile marque built by the Packard Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan, and later by the Studebaker-Packard Corporation of South Bend, Indiana...

 and Cadillac

Cadillac

Cadillac is an American luxury vehicle marque owned by General Motors . Cadillac vehicles are sold in over 50 countries and territories, but mostly in North America. Cadillac is currently the second oldest American automobile manufacturer behind fellow GM marque Buick and is among the oldest...

 price point was planned, but never realized; also planned was the Eagle car line but it never made it off the drafting tables.

Production

Durant co-founded a truck-making subsidiary, Mason Truck

Mason Truck

Mason Truck, founded by A.C. Mason in cooperation with William C. Durant, was a U.S. truck manufacturer based in Flint, Michigan. As a subsidiary of Durant Motors, Mason Truck built Road King Speed Trucks in the early 1920s....

, and also acquired numerous ancillary companies to support Durant Motors. In 1927 the Durant line was shut down to retool for a brand new modernised car for 1928, re-emerging in 1928 with Durant, Locomobile and Rugby lines in place, and dropping the Mason Truck and Flint automobile lines and top-selling Star car in April 1928. In 1929 Locomobile went out of production.

Initially, Durant Motors enjoyed success based upon Billy Durant's track record at General Motors where he assembled independent makes Chevrolet, Oakland, Oldsmobile, Buick and Cadillac. However when sales failed to meet volumes sufficient to sustain Durant Motors holdings, the firm's financial footing began to slip. As a result, Durant Motors began losing market share and dealers. The final models, produced under the Durant brand, rolled off the assembly line in 1931 but continued in Canada as Durant Frontenac.

Subsequent history

The Lansing, Michigan

Lansing, Michigan

Lansing is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located mostly in Ingham County, although small portions of the city extend into Eaton County. The 2010 Census places the city's population at 114,297, making it the fifth largest city in Michigan...

, Durant plant on Verlinden Avenue opened in 1920. After the demise of Durant, it remained closed until GM purchased it in 1935. It restarted production for GM's Fisher Body

Fisher Body

Fisher Body is an automobile coachbuilder founded by the Fisher brothers in 1908 in Detroit, Michigan; it is now an operating division of General Motors Company...

 division, later becoming the Buick-Oldsmobile-Cadillac factory. It was finally combined with another Lansing plant to become Lansing Car Assembly

Lansing Car Assembly

Lansing Car Assembly was a General Motors automobile factory in Lansing, Michigan. It contained two elements, a 1901 automobile plant in downtown Lansing, and the 1920 Durant Motors factory on Lansing's Far Westside....

. That factory was closed on May 6, 2005.

Billy Durant died nearly broke at age 85 in 1947, the same year as Henry Ford, age 83.

See also

• Star (automobile)
  Star (automobile)
  The Star was an automobile marque that was assembled by the Durant Motors Company between 1922 and 1928. Also known as the Star Car, Star was envisioned as a competitor against the Ford Model T...
  
  
• Flint (automobile)
  Flint (automobile)
  The Flint was an automobile marque that was assembled by the Flint Motors Division, Flint, Michigan between 1923 and 1927. Flint Motors was a wholly owned subsidiary of Durant Motors Company .-Assembly:...
  
  
• List of defunct United States automobile manufacturers