September 16th, 2008. One of the nation’s largest corporations is 100 years old today. General Motors was the brainchild of William Durant of Flint, Michigan. Durant co-founded Chevrolet — named after noted European racing drivers Louis and Gaston Chevrolet — and he promoted Buick to prominence on early racetracks. Two times over the years, Durant headed — and then lost control — of General Motors. Besides Oldsmobile, GM has made several brands no longer around, including Marquette, Oakland and LaSalle. In 1908, when GM was founded, there was a total of 198,000 cars and trucks in the U.S. Now, there are more than 241 million motor vehicles on the nation’s roads.