Porch Notes
That '80s Rock Band? Named After a Michigan Truck
Cars and driving
When you hear “REO Speedwagon,” you probably think of “Keep On Loving You” or “Can’t Fight This Feeling” blasting from a radio. But the name has nothing to do with rock and everything to do with Lansing, Michigan.
The band formed in 1967 at the University of Illinois. Founding keyboardist Neal Doughty walked into his History of Transportation class one day and saw “REO Speed Wagon” written on the blackboard. He liked it. The name stuck.
So what was an REO Speed Wagon? It was an early light delivery truck — an ancestor of the modern pickup — first built in 1915 by the REO Motor Car Company of Lansing. And “REO” stands for Ransom Eli Olds, one of the giants of early American automaking. Olds founded Oldsmobile, then left it and started a new company. He wanted to call it the R.E. Olds Motor Car Company, but his old firm threatened to sue over the similar name — so he used his initials instead. (Yes: Oldsmobile and REO both trace back to the same man, and Lansing was a “Motor City” before Detroit fully claimed the crown.)
So the band picked their name as a bit of Midwestern humor, off a truck named for a Michigan car pioneer. The pronunciation even differs: the truck company said “REE-oh,” but the band spelled it out, R-E-O.
Where to see it
The R.E. Olds Transportation Museum in downtown Lansing tells the full story of Ransom Olds, Oldsmobile, and the REO Motor Car Company, with historic vehicles on display.