Replica of Canadian car predating Ford Model T unveiled in Ontario

CTV National News: Rebuilding automotive history An Ontario man is recreating the 'Fossmobile,' the first gasoline-powered vehicle in Canada, built by his grandfather in 1897.

It had a top speed of around 24 kilometers an hour, had no seat belts and no brakes.

It also drove around on the streets of Sherbrooke, Que., for more than a decade before Henry Ford unveiled his famous Model T.

Yet most Canadians have never heard of the Fossmobile -- something Ron Foss really hopes to change.

At an event on Wednesday in Burlington, Ontario at the auto club Hagerty Garage and Social, the grandson of a Canadian automotive pioneer unveiled a replica of the Fossmobile.

It was the first car in Canada to successfully run on gasoline, and was powered by a one cylinder 3 1/2 horsepower engine.

"Some people's lawnmowers are more powerful than this car is," Foss said.

The replica was built as a tribute and a way to spread the word about a piece of largely forgotten automotive history.

"He did something slightly earlier than Ford and he was Canadian. And I think Canadians should celebrate that," says Foss.

George Foote Foss was a bike mechanic and blacksmith who ran a shop in Sherbrooke, Que.

On a trip to Boston he drove an early electric vehicle. The battery lasted 20 minutes instead of the promised couple of hours. So he set out to improve on the design. He figured he could go further using a gas-powered engine.

The creation was quite the spectacle, as it drove on roads alongside horse drawn carriages.

“Scaring children, getting stuck in the mud, petrifying the horses,” said Foss’ grandson. "Some people I think thought he was demonized in some way because it looks like a buggy running down the streets with no horse.”

The car reportedly ran pretty smoothly, save for one mechanical issue.

"The only difficulty he had are sometimes the chain would pop off the sprockets and you'd have to jump under the car and put them back on again continue on his way,” Foss said.

The car was never mass produced, and Foss even turned down an offer to partner with Henry Ford.

In 1902, he sold his one-off vehicle for $75 dollars. It was never seen again.

In later years, the family tried to find it without success.

"We searched sheds and garages and barns along the various routes between where we lived just on the south shore of Montreal ... down into the Eastern Townships a little bit, but there's never been any evidence and it's never surfaced," Foss said.

So, after enlisting the help of local tradespeople, a reproduction was built at the Legendary Motor Car Company in Halton Hills, Ont.

There were no blueprints, so the Fossmobile was reverse engineered using photos. They found period correct parts and restored what they could.

More than $55,000 for the project was raised on GoFundMe, and the project has been supported by the federal government, the province of Quebec and city of Sherbrooke.

Foss said his grandfather was very low key and didn't seek the limelight.

"And I think he would have thought this is a lot of fuss, for what?” Foss said.

But deep down he said his grandfather would be proud of the effort to make the replica, which unlike the original can’t be driven.

It will eventually be displayed at the Canadian Automotive Museum in Oshawa. But first, it will make an appearance in Sherbooke this August to mark the 125th anniversary of its invention.