Ransom E. Olds is the only man in automotive history to have two companies named after him, both surviving into modern times, and both making passenger cars, trucks and buses. After leaving the Oldsmobile company, Olds with a group of Lansing business men formed a new company in August 1904 and produced the first car only six months later. Reo commercial car production began in 1908 with the introduction of a truck on the single-cylinder 8 hp Model H chassis, this being continued through 1914. The first all-truck Reo came in 1911, having the 4-cylinder engine under the seat, chain drive and pneumatic tires. One of these carried the baggage and equipment for the 1911 Glidden Tour from New York to Florida.
Transit type (so-called "streetcar type") bodies were built by FitzJohn and parlor car bodies by Fremont, but a great many Reo chassis had bodies by other makers too. It is estimated that about 2400 Model W chassis were sold by 1927 when it was replaced by the FB and larger GB with kick-up frames. More than 1300 FB and GB chassis, mostly for buses, were sold by 1933.
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