American Motors Corporation
In January 1954, Nash-Kelvinator Corporation began acquisition of the Hudson Motor Car Company (in what was called a merger). The new corporation would be called American Motors Corporation. (An earlier corporation with the same name, co-founded by Louis Chevrolet, had existed in New Jersey from 1916 through 1922 before merging into the Bessemer–American Motors Corporation.)
Northern (automobile)
Though the automobile industry was in its infancy, both of these men had already compiled a resume of automotive experience. Both had worked for R. E. Olds. King, who had an engineering degree from Cornell and had moved to Detroit in 1891, was the chief designer at Oldsmobile but left the company after the 1901 fire at the plant. Four years after moving to Detroit, he formed the American Motor League to promote good roads. His first car was created in 1896, and was immediately driven on the streets, much to the dismay of other travelers. The new contraption was loud (as were most other vehicles of the time) and disturbed the horse-drawn carriages. Henry Ford's first vehicle was built three months after King's.