A Tribute to the Fossmobile – 1897
As a young boy, escalating up in Fort Chambly, Quebec, from time to time, I would listen to tales of George Foote Foss’ (my grandfather’s) creation. At instances, I would overhear these stories as my father shared the specifics with close friends and neighbours who have been visiting our property. Nevertheless, the tales that I most often read came directly from my grandfather, as we frequented him commonly. I remember fondly, sitting on a footstool around his feet as he sat in his significant, at ease chair, recounting the methods he took in tinkering, setting up and finally, building a gasoline motor auto, which was to be the 1st in Canada – afterwards dubbed: “The Fossmobile.”
In the early 1960s (I was only about age 7), I recall that all people all over me was conversing about a flurry of renewed desire in his accomplishment. It was then that he was presented with two honorary memberships: one from the Vintage Auto Club of Montreal (VACM) and the other from the prestigious Antique Vehicle Club of The us (AACA). Only two Canadians have at any time gained this latter honour. The other Canadian to receive this was Colonel Robert Samuel McLaughlin, who started off the McLaughlin Motor Car Enterprise in 1907, which was one of the very first key vehicle makers in Canada.
With these two initiatives, there arrived a swarm of media consideration and I can remember staying proven newspaper clippings, many of which I nevertheless have in my possession these days. Not only have been there images and articles or blog posts penned about his honorary memberships, but a lot of of the regional papers also reprinted his previously writing of: “The Accurate Tale of a Modest Town Boy,” originally printed in 1954, by The Sherbrooke Everyday Record.
Possessing a relative with historical significance meant that most of his descendants have ended up employing his invention tale and the several publications about it, as a subject matter for school projects. I try to remember utilizing his story as a subject for one of my faculty initiatives, the two of my two small children did, and just a yr back my 6-year-outdated granddaughter did a “present and convey to” at her school about her wonderful-great grandfather’s creation.
George Foote Foss (September 30, 1876 – November 23, 1968) was a mechanic, blacksmith, bicycle repairman and inventor from Sherbrooke, Quebec. In the course of the winter season of 1896, he formulated a 4-horsepower one-cylinder gasoline powered auto. In the spring of 1897, he completed his invention: the 1st gasoline-driven automobile to be crafted in Canada, which was, later on referred to as the “Fossmobile”.
It was in early 1896, through a trip to Boston, Massachusetts to invest in a turret lathe for his expanding machine shop, that my grandfather noticed his to start with cars. These vehicles, electrically pushed broughams, ended up rented out for $4.00 an hour. He paid the charge to have a journey, but sadly, immediately after a trip of only 50 percent an hour, the batteries died.
Returning to Sherbrooke, he decided to build an automobile that would deal with this problem. My grandfather drove his vehicle in and close to Sherbrooke, Quebec for 4 many years. He afterwards moved to Montreal, Quebec, where by the vehicle sat idle for a calendar year just before he bought it for $75 in 1902. He had beforehand turned down an present to associate with Henry Ford who went on to sort the Ford Motor Enterprise. He turned down the give, as he thought Ford’s Quadricycle auto to be inferior to the Fossmobile. He also turned down economic backing to mass-make the Fossmobile, citing his inexperience to do so, as he was only 21 decades outdated at the time.
I am typically questioned if I know if my grandfather had any regrets about not partnering with Ford or not mass-producing his creation. From all the things I remember listening to him say, he had no regrets. He loved a simple lifestyle and I read him say on extra than 1 event, that: “you do not stay a very long life with the stresses of running a large organization.” He passed absent at age 92, so most likely his concept was right, at minimum for him.
Recently, I re-opened the Foss household archives, to much better have an understanding of and precisely document my grandfather’s remarkable accomplishment. My objective has been to discover methods to share this historic Canadian party with automotive enthusiasts, historians and upcoming generations of Canadians. To this finish, I have established a business enterprise, as a signifies to create networks, foster collaboration and share crucial historic memorabilia.
As George Foss’ grandson, I have talked with some visionaries and I am seeking the help of other possible experts in “Vintage Vehicle Restoration,” for a quite specific venture. The aim is to use reverse engineering (the copy of an inventor or manufacturer’s solution), to make a “Tribute Auto,” emulating as closely as possible, the requirements of George Foss’ invention of the initial gasoline powered automobile created in Canada: the Fossmobile. There are no unique drawings, so the Tribute Car will have to be based mostly only on comprehensive scrutiny of first Fossmobile images.
I have begun the system of buying vintage areas from the period, with the hope of building this car, replicating sections only when it is unquestionably essential. I will give oversight for this approach and collaborate with car historians and experts. Along the way, the journey will be documented, though guaranteeing focus to element.
The hope is to honour my grandfather’s legacy and convey to higher gentle, this important chapter of Canadian record. With its completion, this Tribute Vehicle will be a tangible embodiment of the initial gasoline auto designed in Canada. There is a expanding desire in showcasing the finished Tribute Fossmobile in vintage automobile demonstrates. Nonetheless, it will ultimately be donated to a Canadian museum to greatly enhance historic instruction for latest and long run generations.
