Welcome to Thursday Trivia where we offer up a historical automotive trivia question and you try and solve it before seeing the answer after the jump. It’s like a history test, with cars! This week’s question: What present-day automaker’s previous company eventually became part of one of its biggest competitors? If you think you know the answer, jump into the competition. Automotive companies come and they go. Over the century-plus of the automobile age, there have been plenty that have been born and then merged or bought-out their rivals, sending the loser’s name to the dustbin of history. Sometimes the companies go on, under new names, to become rivals of their former owners. From Wikipedia:

The Henry Ford Company was the second company for Henry Ford, founded June 16,1903. It resulted from the reorganization of the Detroit Automobile Company, his first unsuccessful attempt at automobile manufacture a year before. In March 1902, Ford left the company following a dispute with his financial backers, William Murphy and Lemuel Bowen. In a final settlement, Ford left with his name and 900 dollars; he went on to start the Ford Motor Company in 1903.

In August 1902, Henry M. Leland was brought in by the investors to appraise the plant and equipment prior to selling them. Instead, Leland persuaded them to continue in the automobile business. The Henry Ford Company reorganized that year as Cadillac in honor of Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, the founder of Detroit.

Leyland would of course eventually roll Cadillac into the growing amalgamation of brands that would be known as General Motors, selling the company for 4.5 million. Ford would also purchase a luxury marque, that being Lincoln, which he hoped would go head to head with Cadillac. That never was quite the case, much to Ford’s dismay, and today while Caddy thrives, Lincoln continues to scrabble at the edges of relevance. Still, $900.