Ransom Eli Olds

Olds, Ransom Eli (1864–1950), pioneer U.S. automobile engineer and manufacturer. His first powered vehicle was a steam-driven 3-wheeler (1886). He established the Olds Motor Vehicle Company in 1889, marketed the first commercially successful American car, an Oldsmobile, in 1901; and established the Reo Motor Car Company in 1904.