Gustav Otto Ludolf Heine was born near Boizenburg, Germany, in 1868, and emigrated to the United States in 1873 with his parents and seven siblings, settling in the Capay Valley.

[2] Following the earthquake, Heine restarted the piano business,[2] and offered federal troops the use of his tourer for transporting supplies, the wounded, and the dead.

[citation needed] Heine left after the earthquake for Milwaukee, where he arranged a deal to have a large number of vehicles produced under the Heine-Velox name.

The new vehicles would then be sold by the Heine Motor Car Company, located on Golden Gate Avenue in San Francisco.

The price tag of $17,000-$25,000 made it the most expensive American car of the era; a Rolls-Royce sold for less than $10,000, the most expensive Packard (a Twin Six Limousine) was $6,650 before options, American's highest-price model was $5,250,[8] the Lozier Big Six limousines and landaulettes $6,500 (tourers and roadsters were $5,000), and the Lozier Light Six Metropolitan tourer and runabout bottomed at $3,250.

[11] The Heine-Velox V12 had a low-slung appearance because the body was mounted to the frame from the sides, instead of the top, which also provided more structural rigidity and a low center of gravity.

An easy to spot interior innovation was the tilting of the dashboard to 45 degrees, which was supposed to be more comfortable for the driver and would hide the steering column, as well as positioning of the handbrake and gear selector which did not require leaning.

Heine's car had many other innovations, including an oil level automatically maintained by gravity, and a cold-weather start system operated from the dash.

Gustav moved to southern California, where he enjoyed playing and composing for the piano, and purchasing cars for his own amusement, until his death in 1959.

Known cars built: The Victoria, formerly on display at the National Automobile Museum in Reno, Nevada, was owned by a New York collector as of 2005.