David Dunbar Buick

1854 - 1929

Inventor and engineer. Born in Arbroath, Buick emigrated to the USA at an early age, settling in Detroit. Buick began in the plumbing supply business. He is credited with developing a method for bonding enamel to iron, for the production of baths and sinks. However his passion was the internal combustion engine and the motor-car. In 1903, he formed the Buick Manufacturing Company to make engines and cars, having sold his plumbing business to raise the money. However, poor financial management gave rise to significant debts and the business was taken over, and by 1908 incorporated into the General Motors (GM) conglomerate. Buick died, impoverished, but his name lives on as a significant US motor-car marque.

There is a plaque in his memory on the Milne Memorial Hall in Green Street, Arbroath.

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