Remembering REO

I think a lot of old-car people are like me: We have a handful of car brands that really fascinate us, a larger group we’re sort of interested in, and a whole bunch of cars we almost never think about. The Big Three makes and the larger independents have many strong advocates, but unfortunately a lot of lesser brands have become an afterthought, at least in my humble opinion.

Among these latter brands, REO comes to mind, because I recently saw a photograph of a good-looking, obviously mid-1930s American car and I couldn’t figure out what it was. It was a REO, of course —a 1936 Flying Cloud to be exact. When I discovered its year, I was surprised. I either never knew or had forgotten that REO was still building automobiles that late in the game. I’d thought by that point it had morphed into being strictly a truck builder. REO is one of those independent automotive companies that survived longer than most people know.

The reason Ransom Eli Olds used his initials as the brand name for his cars and trucks was because his former partners at Oldsmobile threatened to sue him if he called his new car or company the R.E. Olds Company, as he wanted, or any other name with Olds in it. Rather than risk the hassle of a suit, Olds settled on REO — it was a good name for a very good car.

Production at the new REO Motor Car Company began in October 1904, and the new REO car was displayed at the New York Automobile Show in January 1905. A two-cylinder, 16-hp, five-passenger detachable tonneau priced at $1,250, it proved an instant hit. A second model, a one-cylinder, 7½-hp Runabout priced at $650, soon joined the line.

From there it was almost straight up, with success following success. By 1906, REO was outproducing Oldsmobile by a good margin. In 1917, REO produced more than 25,000 cars. But once the Great Depression began, sales dropped precipitously. According to the industry trade paper Automotive News, in 1930 the company sold just 11,449 cars. REO had begun selling trucks in 1914 and had immediate success there as well, selling nearly 15,000 units in 1919. Trucks were very profitable, and although light truck sales sank during the Depression, REO’s heavier models continued to sell at a reasonable pace.

In the final decade of REO passenger car production, the company built some of the finest cars America has ever seen. The 1931 Royale 8-35 rode a stately 135-inch wheelbase and was powered by a big 358-cu.in. straight-eight engine generating 125 hp — more than three times what the Ford Model A produced. In 1932, the Royale was joined by a long-wheelbase sedan and a limousine on a 152-inch wheelbase. Just a handful of these breathtaking machines were built, because many wealthy people had lost all their money; the ones who hadn’t eschewed driving in ultra-expensive cars while their fellow Americans were standing in bread lines. Meanwhile, sales of the lower-priced REO models —key to maintaining sufficient sales volume — continued to drop, and the company’s car operation dripped red ink. Thankfully, REO’s heavy trucks continued to sell well, though light-duty truck sales fell as sharply as cars did.

By 1936 the end of the road had clearly been reached. The Royales were dropped and REO offered just two series of automobiles: Flying Cloud and Flying Cloud Deluxe, with prices beginning at $795. These were solid, well-built cars, as REOs had always been, but the public had no confidence in REO’s ability to survive as an automaker and few people wanted to buy a car that would likely become an orphan. Only about 3,200 1936 REO cars were produced before the line closed down for good.

But REO remained in the auto industry as a truck builder, and the onset of World War II reinvigorated the company, as it had for other independents, because the army ordered thousands of REO’s heavy trucks for the war effort.

In 1957 REO’s vehicle operations became a subsidiary of White Motors, which soon merged it with Diamond T to form Diamond REO Trucks. But growing competition eventually drove Diamond REO into bankruptcy and it was taken over by Volvo, which made little effort to keep the name alive. That said, REO’s run — from 1905 to 1975 — made it one of the longest-lasting independents.