First Run Revival

Billy Durant may have created General Motors, but it was Alfred Sloan who made it the corporate powerhouse it became. At the heart of the Sloan conception of GM was the idea of “a car for every purse and purpose.” The divisional structure at GM was intended to push one up the corporate hierarchy as one’s means increased —when you worked in the mailroom, you drove a Chevrolet; by the time you made it to the boardroom, you owned a Cadillac.

The trouble was, back in the mid-1920s, there were some pretty significant holes in the GM lineup, including a big one between Chevrolet and Oldsmobile. Another gap existed between Olds and Buick, and a larger one came between Buick and Cadillac. A 1925 ad illustrates