Most of what I read about General Motors today is bad news, due to financial problems and falling sales in the US. So here's some good news, folks. Today, Sep 16, is the General's 100th birthday, and the company is still with us. General Motors came into existence thanks to the vision of William Crapo Durant, better known as "Billy." Durant bought a controlling interest in David Dunbar Buick's Manufacturing Company, reorganised production, led the company to second place in sales behind Ford. In 1908 David Buick, who was more of a tinkerer than a mass-production man, left the company. On September 16 of that year, Billy Durant founded General Motors, though it was then a one-make corporation. Oldsmobile was soon added, followed by Oakland (later to be replaced by Pontiac) and Cadillac.

The dynamic but not always far-thinking Durant departed the corporation after bringing several losing manufacturers into the group; returned again with racer Louis Chevrolet's new car in his portfolio. In the decades to follow General Motors twice changed the automotive world: first with Alfred Sloan's marketing concepts, in which buyers would move up from Chevrolet to Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick and Cadillac as their lifestyles improved, and then with the visions of designer Harley Earl, who knew how to turn dreams into reality. Seeking a car to best illustrate those 100 years, I've chosen the Chevrolet Volt, America's first plug-in hybrid. This is the future of General Motors... and yours and mine, too.