About

The Ralph R. Teetor Story

This is the story of one man’s dedicated leadership, courage and steadfast vision that shaped the course of the automotive industry and our future. Ralph R. Teetor, whose life spanned the entire development of the American automotive industry, overcame unimaginable odds throughout his life.

​Blind at age five, Ralph developed the fortitude to live his life as if he could see and to pursue whatever goals he set for himself. This film will reveal how Ralph Teetor forged through life with courage and iron-willed perseverance, and how he never let his blindness stand in the way of his vision to achieve the impossible.

At age 12, young Ralph and his cousin Dan Teetor, built a gasoline-powered motor car, with news reaching New York. During WWI, Teetor solved the problem of precisely balancing turbine rotors for torpedo boat destroyers, something top naval engineers failed to fix.

Known primarily for his invention of the “Cruise Control,” from his idea in 1936, he also was a crusader for his workers’ rights and stood his ground to the UAW during a perilous historic time in 1955. Teetor was further known for his philanthropy, establishing the Ralph R. Teetor SAE Educational Fund, and posthumous induction into the Automotive Hall of Fame in 1988.

Despite his loss of sight, Ralph Teetor never lost his fierce determination and extraordinary mental vision. This is a true American story about a fearless and inspiring visionary.