In 1895, Ransom Eli Olds, a manufacturer of stationary gasoline engines, teamed up with Frank Clark, the son of a small carriage shop operator, to achieve what many believed impossible. They successfully produced a self contained, gasoline-powered carriage. Hoping to capitalize on the innovation, R.E. Olds and a group of Lansing businessmen invested $50,000 to create the Olds Motor Vehicle Company in 1897. At the first board meeting, Olds was named general manager, and the mission was set "to build one carriage in as nearly perfect a manner as possible." source: 1