The name E-M-F was gleaned from the initials of the three company founders: Barney Everitt (a custom auto-body builder from Detroit), William Metzger (formerly of Cadillac), and Walter Flanders (who had served as Henry Ford's production manager).

He was one of the first car salesmen, a buyer and reseller and, in the late 1890s, established possibly the first United States automobile dealership, in Detroit.

He was a key figure in the Association of Licensed Automobile Manufacturers, and also promoted early races at Grosse Pointe.

In 1902 he became affiliated with the Northern Motor Car Company and the same year helped organize Cadillac before taking orders at the New York Automobile Show in January 1903.

[8] Brothers Nels E. and Alex Swanson of Stromsburg, Nebraska took it upon themselves to make a miniature version of an existing car in order to gain notoriety for their skills as automotive engineers.

[10]: p.70 [11] To remedy the damage done by E-M-F, Studebaker paid mechanics to visit each unsatisfied owner and replace the defective parts in their vehicles at a cost of US$1 million to the company.

In 1909 E-M-F placed fourth (producing 7,960 vehicles) in total US automobile production, behind that of Ford Motor Company, Buick, and Maxwell, with Cadillac fifth.

On June 20, 2005, the E-M-F (and previously Wayne Automobile) Detroit plant on Piquette Avenue and John R. Street caught fire and within a few hours it was gone.