Fossmobile
{{short description|Internal combustion}}
{{Infobox automobile
| name = Fossmobile
| image =File:Fossmobile With No Motor.jpg
| caption =Image of the original Fossmobile, without a motor.
| manufacturer = George Foote Foss
| aka =
| production = 1896–1897
Sold (1902) for $75
| model_years =
| assembly =
| designer =
| class =
| body_style = 2 seat roadster
| layout =
| platform =
| related =
| engine =1 cylinder, 4HP, Gasoline
| transmission =2 speed, chain driven (No reverse)
| propulsion =
| wheelbase = Unknown
| length = {{convert|NNNN|mm|in|1|abbr=on}}
| width = {{convert|NNNN|mm|in|1|abbr=on}}
| height = {{convert|NNNN|mm|in|1|abbr=on}}
| weight = Unknown
| predecessor =
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| sp = us
}}
The Fossmobile was Canada’s first successful internal combustion, gasoline engine automobile.{{cite news|last1=Lantz|first1=Larry|title=Birth of the automobile in Canada worth celebrating|url=https://www.thestar.com/autos/2017/07/01/birth-of-the-automobile-in-canada-worth-celebrating.html|accessdate=7 April 2018|publisher=Toronto Star|date=1 July 2017}} Manufactured by George Foote Foss in 1897, only one Fossmobile is known to have existed.{{cite news|title=He Told Henry Ford No|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/302098524/|accessdate=7 April 2018|publisher=The Miami News|date=11 June 1962}}{{cite book|last1=Drunford|first1=Hugh|last2=Baechler|first2=Glenn|title=Cars of Canada|date=1973|publisher=McClelland and Stewart|isbn=9780771029578|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X7skAAAAMAAJ&q=cars+of+canada+1973|accessdate=7 April 2018}}
History
File:George Foss Metal Shop.jpg
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.{{cite news|title=Canada's First Car|publisher=Montreal Star|date=1960}} 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.
Foss drove his car in and around Sherbrooke, Quebec for four years.{{cite news|title=The First Gas Driven Automobile|publisher=The Sherbrooke Record|date=2 May 1979}} 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.{{cite news|title=Man Who Built First Auto in Canada Dies|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/140122187/|accessdate=7 April 2018|publisher=St Louis Post-Dispatch|date=27 November 1968}} He also turned down financial backing to mass produce the Fossmobile, citing his inexperience to do so.
Vehicle specifications
The "Fossmobile," as it was later dubbed, was different from other automobiles that were being built, as it had a front mounted engine. 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. 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. The vehicle could travel up to 15 MPH (24 km per hour) and climb any of Sherbrooke's steep hills.
(Tribute) Replica
A (tribute) 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. {{cite magazine |url= https://www.readersdigest.ca/cars/classics-sports-cars/fossmobile/ |title= Resurrecting the Fossmobile |author= Ronald M. Foss |magazine= Reader's Digest Canada |date= 19 July 2021 }} {{cite news |url= https://www.ctvnews.ca/autos/replica-of-canadian-car-predating-ford-model-t-unveiled-in-ontario-1.5879599 |title= Replica of Canadian car predating Ford Model T unveiled in Ontario |date= 27 April 2022 |publisher= CTV News }}
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
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.fossmobile.ca Fossmobile website]
- [http://townshipsheritage.com/article/george-foote-foss-1876-1968-and-fossmobile George Foote Foss and the Fossmobile] - Township Heritage WebMagazine
Category:Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of Canada