A Road Well Traveled: Profiles of America's Great Automobile Pioneers Volume I profiles the following automobile pioneers: Charles and Frank Duryea, Ransom E. Olds, Freeland and Francis Stanley, David Dunbar Buick, Henry Ford, William Crapo Durant, Charles F. Kettering, Alfred P. Sloan, the Fisher Brothers, Charles W. Nash and Charles Goodyear. Narrated by Baron Ron Herron, this book is a primer for the qualities and characteristics that made the great automobile tycoons so successful in establishing an industry that in 25 years evolved from horseless carriages to a culture-changing institution that employed nearly one out of every eight Americans. Some of these pioneers amassed great fortunes; others died in obscurity, but they all had a splendid audacity. More so they had foresight.
The great American automotive pioneers were entrepreneurial inventors and visionaries who changed the American landscape and brought us a new national culture. The dawn of the automobile ushered away the ubiquitous horse-drawn carriages and the rutted, dusty and wash-boarded dirt roads they traveled on, and replaced them with cars powered by steam, electricity and gasoline. These pioneers lifted the veil of isolation that enveloped most pre-twentieth century Americans and made it possible for the average person to travel whenever and wherever he or she pleased. Automobiles changed the concept of transportation and more so, how and where we lived, worked and played. Many lessons can be drawn from these pioneers and the fascinating lives they led. They developed America’s largest industry in the space of one generation and demonstrated the skills and characteristics necessary to achieve such success. Their daring, determination, perseverance, work-ethic, and passion are unassailable. These pioneers were undaunted by any and all obstacles in their path. Their stories are instructive and absorbing.