Fossmobile
Image of the original Fossmobile, without a motor.
Overview
ManufacturerGeorge Foote Foss
Production1896-1897
Sold (1902) for $75
Body and chassis
Body style2 seat roadster
Powertrain
Engine1 cylinder, 4HP, Gasoline
Transmission2 speed, chain driven (No reverse)
Dimensions
WheelbaseUnknown
Curb weightUnknown

The Fossmobile was Canada’s first successful internal combustion, gasoline engine automobile.[1] Manufactured by George Foote Foss in 1897, only one Fossmobile is known to have existed.[2][3]

History

The inside of George Foote Foss' machine shop where the Fossmobile was built.

The Fossmobile was designed and manufactured by George Foote Foss. He owned his own shop in Sherbrooke, Quebec, offering machining, blacksmithing, and bicycle repair. He became interested in automobiles after riding in an electric brougham while visiting Boston, Massachusetts.[4] During the winter of 1896, Foss worked on a four-horsepower, single-cylinder automobile that he completed in the spring of 1897. The vehicle was the first of its kind to be built in Canada.[4]

Foss drove his car in and around Sherbrooke, Quebec for four years.[5] He later moved to Montreal, Quebec, where the car sat idle for a year before he sold it for $75 in 1902. Foss had previously turned down an offer to partner with Henry Ford from the Ford Motor Company. He turned down the offer as he believed Ford's vehicle to be inferior to the Fossmobile.[6] He also turned down financial backing to mass produce the Fossmobile, citing his inexperience to do so.[5]

Vehicle specifications

George Foote Foss' brother Harry, on a trial run of the finished Fossmobile.

The "Fossmobile," as it was later dubbed, was different from other automobiles that were being built, as it had a front mounted engine.[2] Other automobile designers had placed their engines centered and beneath the seat. The Fossmobile's front mounted engine made maintenance easier and produced considerably less upward vibration through the seat.[2] The gear shifter for the Fossmobile was mounted directly on the tiller style steering column, something that was not done by other manufacturers for another 40 years.[5] The vehicle could travel up to 15 MPH (24 km per hour) and climb any of Sherbrooke's steep hills.[5]

Replica

A replica Fossmobile was built in time for the 125th anniversary, by a team in Burlington, Ontario, spearheaded by Foss's grandson Ronald M. Foss. It was shown in Sherbrooke, Quebec, and again at the Cobble Beach Concours l'Elegance in Kemble, Ontario, before being donated by the family to the Canadian Automotive Museum in Oshawa, Ontario in December 2022.[7][8]

Further reading

  • Recollections of Sherbrooke, The True Story of a Small Town Boy (George Foote Foss), Sherbrooke Daily Record (April 1954)
  • Automobiles of the World: The Story of the Development of the Automobile (Joseph H. Wherry), Chilton Book Company (1968)
  • Constructing the (Tribute) Fossmobile (Ronald M. Foss), White Paper

References

  1. ↑ Lantz, Larry (1 July 2017). "Birth of the automobile in Canada worth celebrating". Toronto Star. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 "He Told Henry Ford No". The Miami News. 11 June 1962. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
  3. ↑ Drunford, Hugh; Baechler, Glenn (1973). Cars of Canada. McClelland and Stewart. ISBN 9780771029578. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
  4. 1 2 "Canada's First Car". Montreal Star. 1960.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "The First Gas Driven Automobile". The Sherbrooke Record. 2 May 1979.
  6. ↑ "Man Who Built First Auto in Canada Dies". St Louis Post-Dispatch. 27 November 1968. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
  7. ↑ Ronald M. Foss (19 July 2021). "Resurrecting the Fossmobile". Reader's Digest Canada.
  8. ↑ "Replica of Canadian car predating Ford Model T unveiled in Ontario". CTV News. 27 April 2022.
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