Kelley Blue Book celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2026, giving us an opportunity to look back at the last century in the automotive world. Today’s automakers almost seem more like tech companies than car manufacturers, but several American auto brands have histories that trace back well past the century mark. We’ve gathered a handful of the oldest American automakers here, but this is by no means a comprehensive list. Come with us as we take a trip down memory lane with some of the country’s most well-known brands.
Century-Old Auto Brands: Still Rolling
A timeline of American auto brands founded 100+ years ago and still in business today. Includes founders, founding dates, and notable models.
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is one of the country’s oldest continuously operating automakers, and many of today’s most popular innovations can be traced back to its early work. Ford revolutionized modern car manufacturing and has housed some of the world’s most storied auto brands over its more than 120 years in business. Jaguar, Land Rover, Aston Martin, Mazda, and Volvo all operated under the Ford umbrella at one point, though its stable is much smaller today, with Lincoln Motor Company as its primary domestic subsidiary.
Lincoln Motor Company
While it’s now part of Ford Motor Company, Lincoln began as a standalone brand in 1917. That independence didn’t last long, as Ford acquired the automaker in 1922. For a time, Lincoln was paired with the midrange Mercury brand, which ended in late 2010 when Ford shuttered the company. Lincoln has made its mark as a luxury competitor for America’s other luxury brand, Cadillac, with the Continental and Town Car standing as long-running sedan nameplates. The Lincoln lineup for 2026 consists of four luxury SUVs from compact to full-size, with nary a sedan in sight.
Cadillac
Cadillac grew from a dispute between Henry Ford and his investors, who left the Henry Ford Company and repurposed one of its factories to build cars in late 1902. Named after Detroit’s founder, the brand had humble beginnings, producing a single-cylinder-powered horseless carriage known for its reliability. It was the first automaker to build fully enclosed cars at volume, and it grew from there, building several Iconic models, including some early vehicles powered by a V16 engine. Cadillac became part of General Motors in 1909.
Chevrolet
Chevrolet was founded in 1911 by two brothers, Lewis and Arthur Chevrolet, and a former General Motors manager, William Durant. It took the automaker two years to debut its first production models, and the now-familiar bowtie emblem first appeared in 1914. Chevrolet became part of GM in 1918, when Durant purchased a controlling stake in the parent company. As it grew over the years, Chevy spawned popular models, such as the Corvette, the Impala, and the Bel Air. By the early 1960s, Chevy accounted for one out of every ten cars sold in the United States. Chevrolet remains GM’s volume brand today.
Buick
Buick is the oldest auto brand in the U.S., founded in 1897 as “Autocar,” and one of the oldest in the world, though there was some time between its beginnings as an automaker and its incorporation as Buick Motor Company, which happened in 1903. The company pioneered the overhead-valve engine, and a Buick won the first auto race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1909. Buick has been part of General Motors since 1908.
Dodge
The Dodge Brothers went into business in 1900, but they didn’t start producing complete automobiles until 1914, putting them behind Buick as the country’s oldest automaker. While it was known for its trucks and full-size cars, Dodge also cranked out some of the most popular muscle cars of the 1960s and 1970s before the oil embargo dampened fuel consumption and performance. Today, Dodge stamps its brand on a small lineup of vehicles within the Stellantis family.
Chrysler
Another sibling in the Stellantis family of brands, Chrysler got its start in 1925, but it has owned or had a significant stake in many other iconic automakers over the years. Eagle, Plymouth, and Lamborghini have all been a part of the Chrysler empire at one point or another, and the brand was once partnered with Daimler-Benz, forming the DaimlerChrysler Auto Group between 1998 and 2007. Before Stellantis became the umbrella company for several automakers, Fiat acquired a significant stake in Chrysler and, for several years, operated in the U.S. under the “Fiat Chrysler Automobiles” name. Today’s Chrysler shoppers can choose between two minivan models: The Pacifica and the Voyager.
