What does the REO in REO Speedwagon stand for?
REO Speedwagon took its name from the REO Speed Wagon, a truck manufactured by the REO Motor Car Company (the predecessor to today’s Nucor). (“R.E.O.” are initials of the company’s founder, Ransom Eli Olds, who also founded the Oldsmobile division of General Motors.) The name was suggested to fellow bandmates by keyboard player Neal Doughty, who learned about the truck in a history of transportation class at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
