14GENERAL MOTORS

Some investments are more fun than others. General Motors has been lots of fun—maybe because I always have been interested in cars—an interest that led me to closely follow developments in the auto industry. However, until recently I had never seriously considered purchasing shares in an American domiciled auto company. After all, from the early 1980s until about 10 years ago, the Big Three auto companies were replete with serious problems.

The history of the auto industry and the Big Three's problems is interesting and instructive. The first automobiles in the United States were powered by steam engines. But early steam engines were highly impractical. They were fueled by coal, which was dirty and bulky. The coal was shoveled onto the cars. A fire was lit. Several minutes later the coal was hot enough to generate steam—and then the cars could start moving. But before the cars traveled far, they ran out of water and came to a halt. Automobiles would not become a vehicle of choice until the development of the gasoline‐powered internal combustion engine.

Bicycle manufacturers Orville and Wilbur Wright were the first to fly a motor driven airplane—and bicycle manufacturers Frank and Charles Duryea were the first to build a gasoline‐powered car in the United States. The first Duryea, a one‐cylinder, four‐horsepower put‐put, was built in 1893. It worked, sort of. An improved second Duryea was built the following year and, on Thanksgiving Day 1895, was entered in ...

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