The History of General Motors One September evening in 1886, a young businessman in an old lumber town in Michigan hitched a ride in a friend's horse-drawn cart. The cart's spring suspension made it a more comfortable ride than usual--so comfortable, in fact, that the young businessman bought the rights to manufacture the cart, contracted with a carriage maker for production, and founded the Flint Road Cart Company. Here's the story of how Billy Durant's entrepreneurial spirit planted the seeds of the world's largest industrial corporation. 1899 - 1907: LITTLE BUICK BECOMES A BIG SUCCESS In 1899, Scottish-born David Buick turned from plumbing to making engines and went