Sheridan (automobile)
Parent General Motors | |
The Sheridan was a brand of American
History
Throughout his years at GM, Billy Durant was interested acquiring outside companies and new products to grow the GM empire, many times without great success. When Buick's D. A. Burke approached Durant about the idea of designing a car from the ground up,[4] and then marketing the brand in 2 ranges: one as a bridge vehicle between GM's established divisions of Chevrolet and Oakland (a four-cylinder range) and the other between Buick and Cadillac (an eight-cylinder [V8] range). Both engines were to be supplied by GM's Northway engine-making division. Durant approved the project and the Inter-State Automobile factory in Muncie, Indiana, which had been idle since 1918, was purchased.[5]
To market the Sheridan, Burke hired World War I flying ace Eddie Rickenbacker, himself an accomplished automobile racer in his own right. Through prosaic marketing, and Rickenbacker's endorsements, Sheridan officials felt the production target of 300 cars a day was not only achievable, but profitable as well.[3]
Just as production began to ramp up, Durant was fired for the second and final time from General Motors. Since the Sheridan was a Durant pet project, GM, now under
Despite a backlog of orders that went unfulfilled, production was wound down to begin production of the Durant automobile. Rickenbacker abandoned his role as the spokesman for the company, and the Sheridan ceased to exist by September, 1921.[2][1]
External links
References
- ^ ISBN 978-0-87341-428-9.
- ^ ISBN 1-57958-293-1.
- ^ a b TIME MACHINES: GM'S FORGOTTEN MARQUE on Autonet, 7 Jul 2013
- ^ The Strange Story Of EDDIE RICKENBACKER, W.C. DURANT, & THE SHERIDAN at Golden Era Automobile Association (archived, 26 Jun 2010)
- ^ Sheridan historia on Auto Pasión website