A Tribute to the Fossmobile - 1897

As a younger son, growing up in Fort Chambly, Quebec, every now and then, I would personally listen to stories of George Foote Foss' (my grandfather's) invention. Sometimes, I would personally overhear these tales as my dad discussed the details with close friends and neighbors who had been checking out our home. Nevertheless, the tales I generally noticed emerged straight from my grandpa, as we visited him regularly. I recall fondly, on a footstool near his ft as he sat in the big, cozy seat, recounting the actions he took in tinkering, planning and ultimately, creating a gas engine automobile, which had been to be the initially in Canada - later dubbed: "The Fossmobile."

In the early on the 1960s (I had been only about age 7), I remember that everyone close to me was talking about a flurry of restored fascination with his fulfillment. It absolutely was then which he was presented with two honorary memberships: one particular from the Vintage Car Membership of Montreal (VACM) and the other from the esteemed Antique Car Club of America (AACA). Only two Canadians have at any time acquired this latter honor. The other Canadian to get it was Colonel Robert Samuel McLaughlin, who began the McLaughlin Motor Car Company in 1907, that was one particular of the very first significant automobile suppliers in Canada.

By using these two initiatives, there came a swarm of press interest and that I can recall getting demonstrated newspaper cuttings, many of that I continue to have in my thing today. Not merely are there photos and articles written about his honorary memberships, but many of the local paperwork also reprinted his previously composing of: "The Real Story of a Small Town Son," initially released in 1954, by The Sherbrooke Everyday Record.

Having a relative with traditional relevance meant that most of his descendants have ended up being utilizing his invention tale and the different periodicals about this, as a subject matter for college projects. I remember using his scenario as a subject for starters of my university jobs, equally of my two kids do, and simply a year ago my 6-year-old granddaughter performed a "show and told" at her college about her great-excellent grandfather's creation.

George Foote Foss (September 30, 1876 - Nov 23, 1968) was an auto technician, blacksmith, bicycle repairman and inventor from Sherbrooke, Quebec. In the course of the winter season of 1896, he developed a several-horse power single-cylinder gas-driven car. In the spring season of 1897, he accomplished his innovation: the first fuel-powered automobile to become integrated Canada, that was, later known as as the "Fossmobile."

It had been in early 1896, in the course of a trip to Boston, Massachusetts to buy a turret lathe for his increasing equipment shop, that my grandfather noticed his first cars. All of these cars, electrically powered broughams, were booked out for $4.00 an hour or so. He paid out the fee to possess a journey, but unfortunately, right after a trip of only thirty minutes, the batteries died.

Going back to Sherbrooke, he chose to build an automobile that would street address this challenge. My grandpa drove his car in and around Sherbrooke, Quebec for 4 years. He later relocated to Montreal, Quebec, in which the car sat idle for a year before he marketed it for $75 in 1902. He experienced earlier turned down a deal to companion with Henry Ford who went on to create the Ford Motor Small business typically. He unapproved the offer, as he believed Ford's Quadricycle vehicle to get inferior to the Fossmobile. He also rejected economic backing to bulk-generate the Fossmobile, citing his inexperience to do this, as he was only 21 years of age at the time.

I am frequently inquired basically if I determine my grandpa experienced any regrets about not partnering with Ford or otherwise not bulk-producing his innovation. From every little thing I remember hearing him say, he experienced no regrets. He enjoyed a comfortable life, and I also noticed him say on more than a single celebration, that: "you don't stay a long life with the stresses of operating a large enterprise." He passed aside at age group 92, so possibly his idea was right, at the very least for him.

Recently, I re-opened up the Foss family records, to higher understand and accurately file my grandfather's impressive accomplishment. My objective continues to be to find ways to share this Canadian historical event with car enthusiasts, historians, and generations to come of Canadians. To this finish, I actually have set up an enterprise, as a means to build systems, foster partnership, and discuss crucial traditional memorabilia.

As George Foss' grandson, We have talked with many visionaries, and I also am seeking the assistance of other potential experts in "Classic Vehicle Repair," for an extraordinary undertaking. The aim is to utilize reverse engineering (the reproduction of an inventor or manufacturer's item), to produce a "Tribute Car," emulating as tightly as achievable, the requirements of George Foss' invention of the first gas-operated vehicle integrated Canada: the Fossmobile. There are no authentic sketches, so the Tribute Vehicle will have to be based solely on a comprehensive analysis of authentic Fossmobile photographs.

I actually have begun the process of obtaining vintage elements from the period, with the hope of creating this car, replicating parts only once it is absolutely required. I am going to provide oversight for this particular method and work together with car historians and professionals. Along the way, the trip will likely be recorded, while making sure focus on depth.

The hope is to honor my grandfather's legacy and bring to better light-weight, this substantial section of Canadian historical past. With its conclusion, this Tribute Automobile is going to be a physical embodiment of the first fuel car built in Canada. There is an expanding fascination with showcasing the finished Tribute Fossmobile in classic automobile reveals. However, it will, at some point be contributed to a Canadian art gallery to improve ancient training for existing and generations to come.