The Story of General Motors: From Buick to the Corvette

In 1886 a Flint salesman named William Durant borrowed two thousand dollars to build horse carts. This is the full story of the company he founded in 1908 and lost twice: Buick, Chevrolet and Cadillac, Alfred Sloan's ladder of prices, Harley Earl's tailfins, the 1955 Bel Air and the Corvette, the Flint sit-down strike, the last Oldsmobile, and the bankruptcy of 2009. It ends in Flint, where General Motors still builds trucks. Clear narration over photographs and film from open archives. This is an independent history, not affiliated with or endorsed by any company. Chapters 00:00 A Gold Chevrolet 01:34 The Road Cart 03:41 A Car Called Buick 05:23 General Motors 07:09 Chevrolet 08:49 The Second Fall 10:27 Sloan's Ladder 12:45 The Look of a Car 14:01 A Bowling Alley in Flint 15:49 Forty-Four Days 16:54 After the War 19:14 The Corvette 21:06 Losing Ground 23:41 The Last Oldsmobile 24:55 Bankruptcy 26:50 Back in Flint Pictures from Wikimedia Commons: MercurySable99 (CC BY-SA 4.0, 2 items); Alberryii (CC BY-SA 4.0, 1 item); Michael Barera (CC BY-SA 4.0, 11 items); Andrew Jameson (CC BY-SA 3.0, 2 items); ytrottier (CC BY-SA 3.0, 1 item); Greg Gjerdingen (CC BY 2.0, 4 items); Javi Guerra Hernando (CC BY-SA 4.0, 1 item); Trainguy1 (CC BY-SA 3.0, 1 item); sv1ambo (CC BY 2.0, 3 items); Iwao (CC BY-SA 2.0, 1 item); Mike Russell (CC BY-SA 3.0, 1 item); Sicnag (CC BY 2.0, 7 items); Charles (CC BY 2.0, 3 items); Vyacheslav Bukharov (CC BY-SA 4.0, 1 item); Maxq32 (CC BY-SA 4.0, 2 items); Loco Steve (CC BY 2.0, 1 item); Anthony22 (CC BY-SA 3.0, 1 item); Regushee (CC BY-SA 3.0, 1 item); Ermell (CC BY-SA 4.0, 1 item); Hennem08 (CC BY-SA 3.0, 1 item); JOHN LLOYD (CC BY 2.0, 2 items); CapCase (CC BY 2.0, 1 item); JLPC (CC BY-SA 3.0, 1 item); Kowloonese (CC BY-SA 3.0, 1 item); Rex Gray (CC BY 2.0, 1 item); thatlostdog-- (CC BY 2.0, 1 item); Jeremy (CC BY 2.0, 1 item); Vegavairbob (CC BY-SA 3.0, 1 item); Vegavairbob/Robert Spinello (CC BY-SA 3.0, 1 item); Mr.choppers (CC BY-SA 3.0, 2 items); Elise240SX (CC BY-SA 4.0, 3 items); Kevauto (CC BY-SA 4.0, 1 item); Spanish Coches (CC BY 2.0, 1 item); Ken Lund (CC BY-SA 2.0, 1 item); Joe Ross (CC BY-SA 2.0, 1 item); Xnatedawgx (CC BY-SA 4.0, 1 item); Sealy j (CC BY-SA 4.0, 1 item); Deathpallie325 (CC BY-SA 4.0, 1 item); Calreyn88 (CC BY-SA 4.0, 1 item). License texts: creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0.