I never thought about looking into the origin of REO Speedwagon’s band name, but alas, coming across this old advertisement in The Washington Post from November 1919 answered the question that I never asked. And now, you have some great trivia to impress your friends when you’ve had a few too many beers next weekend.

So the band was named after this old automobile, which was the precursor to America’s favorite vehicle, the pick-up truck. For some more trivia, REO was the initials of Ransom E. Olds, the dude who founded Oldsmobile. Double down on some automotive trivia today folks!

Let’s complete this post with a great REO Speedwagon video.