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About Oakland
The Oakland was a brand of automobile manufactured between 1907-1909 by the Oakland Motor Car Company of Pontiac, Michigan and between 1909 and 1931 by the Oakland Motors Division of General Motors Corporation. Oakland's principal founder was Edward P. Murphy, who sold half the company to GM in January 1909; when Murphy died in the summer of 1909, GM acquired the remaining rights to Oakland.
Early history
As originally conceived and introduced, the first Oakland used a vertical two-cylinder engine that rotated counterclockwise. This design by Alanson Brush (inventor of the Brush Runabout) lasted one year and was replaced by a more standard 4-cylinder engine and sales increased to approximately 5,000 automobiles per year.
Under General Motors, Oakland was slotted above price leader Chevrolet and below the more premium Oldsmobile and Buick brand cars. Oakland initially flourished, however by early 1920 production and quality control problems began to plague the division. In 1921 under new General Manager Fred Hannum, a consistent production schedule was underway and the quality of the cars improved. One marketing tactic was the employment of a quick-drying bright blue automotive lacquer by Duco (a DuPont brand product), leading to Oakland being marketed as the "True Blue Oakland."
General Motors "Companion Make" Program
General Motors pioneered the idea that consumers would aspire to buy up an automotive product ladder if a company met certain price points. As General Motors entered the 1920s, the product ladder started with the price-leading Chevrolet marque, and then progressed upward in price, power and appointments to Oakland, Oldsmobile, Buick and ultimately to the luxury Cadillac marque.
