FOSS VFORD-Realigning Canadian Automotive History

Inventors can affect future generations and often change our way of doing things and define historic times. The story of the inventor’s achievements, and the story of their life, is of interest and endorsement for posterity. Historians look for evidence and facts so that the work of these inventors is accurately reflected in the documents stored in libraries, archives and museums.

While attending two recent events, I was able to casually ask the general public who invented Canada’s first petrol car. It may not come as a surprise to hear that most of the people we surveyed believed that Ford was Canada’s first car maker. Of course, Ford has the advantages of brand awareness and longevity. But Ford wasn’t Canadian and didn’t build the first petrol car in Canada.

The latest release of the Academy Award-winning film, Ford v Ferrari, reaffirmed in the mid-1960s that the Ford brand was a worthy force. The momentum of the film has created an opportunity for the Foss family to uncover some of Canada’s often overlooked history. As you can see, the inventor of Canada’s first petrol car wasn’t Ford, but it was actually the lesser-known Foss. Foss manufactured Foss Mobile in 1897, about the same time that Ford invented the four-wheeled bicycle in the United States. Ford’s first car wasn’t distributed in Canada until the early 1900s. So in the late 1800s, it was Ford vs. Foss.

Approval for this groundbreaking part of Canadian history has somehow been buried and lost in the shadow of Ford. The Foss family has recently rekindled among Canadian historians and vintage car enthusiasts. It is interested in celebrating the work of George Foote Foss, the first inventor of Canada’s first successful petrol car.

The Ford-Ferrari rivalry, along with vision, personal beliefs and collaboration, shows how competition can make great strides in automotive innovation. As seen in the movie, in the mid-1960s, American car designer Carroll Shelby collaborated with his precision-focused friend, British racing driver Ken Miles. Together, they embraced the goal set by Henry Ford II to defeat Ferrari by making faster race cars. They embraced the collective vision of challenging the physics of the racing world and carefully avoided corporate intervention to build Ford Motor Company’s innovative vehicles. The plan was to face the Enzo Ferrari race car in person. 24 hours in Le Mans, France. After years of Ferrari rule, their vision came true. The Ford GT40 won in 1966, winning three podiums: 1st, 2nd and 3rd.

The Fossmobile story may not have the pizza needed to plot a blockbuster movie, but it’s worth noting because of its historical relevance. Long before Ford sold cars in Canada, the original Fossmobile was built in 1897 by George Foote Foss at a small dusty old bicycle repair and machine shop in Sherbrooke, Quebec. Like the protagonist of the Ford vs. Ferrari movie, he had a foss vision and personal beliefs. He sought out Sherbrooke’s Iron Works Company, which helped make the first casting of the engine he designed, with the help of three workers. He designed the parts from scratch, combining his intuition to think outside the box with his machining and bicycle repair skills. Foss worked hard to put together something that could be driven in the hills of Sherbrooke.

His four-year driving of this invention is well documented before other cars appeared in the area. George Foss met Henry Ford many times to discuss the idea of ​​building a car together. Eventually Foss turned down Ford and felt that the two had different personality styles and visions.

The Foss family continues to raise awareness of Foss, Canada’s first inventor of petrol vehicles, by speaking at events and hosting information booths. Their biggest and most important project to date is the rebuilding of the original Fossmobile tribute / replica. This project involves a large amount of funding to realize this vision.

Most of the people we talked to at recent events were disappointed to hear that Ford thought that Canada’s first car was somehow responsible. This underscores the need to go beyond the now well-known Ford vs. Ferrari heritage and look beyond the former Ford vs. Foss heritage, at least here in Canada. In the last paragraph of the preface to the Cars of Canada book, Durnford / Baechler (1973, McClelland and Stewart Limited):

“A universal mistake is the claim that Ford was the first Canadian car producer. For years, John Moody falsely claimed to have imported the first car into Canada. Many sacred Legend has proven to be groundless. “

About 47 years later, these myths, especially Ford’s, seem to continue. There is no doubt that Henry Ford and Ford v Ferrari proudly belong to American history books. But here in Canada, the person to be recognized as the original builder is George Foote Foss. This retelling of this important historic Canadian heritage may eventually dispel the myth that Ford had the first petrol car in Canada. Our responsibility as Canadians is to embrace an important part of this quiet builder’s Canadian car history and ensure that the Ford giant does not surpass his legacy.

The original Phosmobile tribute / replica has been carefully and carefully crafted to help shed light on this historic feat. The Foss family has taken on a huge task of overseeing this project. A team has been formed to carry out all the details and the project has been successfully completed. The goal is to place this tribute / replica car in a Canadian museum to give visitors more opportunities to evaluate this important Canadian achievement. Fossmobile Tribute cars and their support souvenirs will help to more clearly modify the history of Canadian cars and reestablish that they were Foss vFord as Canada’s first petrol car maker.