The story of R.E. Olds' life, who was an early automotive pioneer and how he developed his passion for yachting. Using family stories, family photographs and excerpts from unpublished biographies, the book covers his early days as an automotive pioneer, his growing interest in yachts, engines and their design. Each of his many yachts are discussed in detail as to their style and function. After Olds sold the yachts, the author traces their ownership often finding that the yachts went on to be owned by famous, and occasionally infamous, people.

Pioneers of the U.S. Automobile Industry uses four separate volumes to explore the essential components that helped build the American automobile industry - the people, the companies and the designs. This volume uses more than 450 photos to help weave the story of the risk-takers who helped shape the automotive industry from the very beginning. Pioneers and companies covered in this edition include: Charles and Frank Duryea Studebaker The Pratt Family and the Elcar Motor Care Company Joseph Moon Russell Gardner Louis Clarke George Pierce and Charles Clifton Packard/Joy/Macauley and the Packard Motor Car Company Edwin Thomas Ransom Olds Peerless Fred and August Duesenberg Kissel Brothers Hupp / Drake / Hastings / Young and the Hupp Motor Car Corporation Walter Flanders Chapin / Coffin / Bezner / Jackson / Hudson / McAneeny and The Hudson Motor Car Company Harry Stutz Harry Ford Graham Brothers Charles Nash

Upon the dedication of a new Capitol building in 1879, the city of Lansing was just beginning to emerge from the swampy wilderness of its recent past. As industry began to take root along the banks of the Grand River, Ransom Eli Olds brought his father's motor shop to national prominence with advancements in gasoline and steam engines, and then horseless carriages. By the early 20th century, Oldsmobile became the world's first mass producer of automobiles and Olds had moved on to found a second car company, making Lansing the first Auto City. Through these efforts, Olds rose to become one of the nation's greatest industrialists and entrepreneurs. Using primary documents and historical images, this book traces the industrial history of the Capital City within the context of one of the 20th century's greatest entrepreneurs, R.E. Olds.