1897 Fossmobile Replica, Part 2 cover art

1897 Fossmobile Replica, Part 2

1897 Fossmobile Replica, Part 2

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 Our bilingual audio tour explores less well-known stories from the collection, in the voices of the Museum’s volunteers, historians, vehicle experts and more.

Transcript:
I’m Ron Foss, the grandson of George Foss. My family has re-opened our family archives to document our grandfather’s remarkable motoring achievement and to share this historic event with automotive enthusiasts and historians.

We undertook the process of building a working replica of my grandfather’s automobile. The goal was to use reverse engineering to create a tribute to the Fossmobile; he left no blueprints, so everything we had was based on detailed examination of the original photos.

Vintage parts from the era were acquired, with a plan to build this automobile, replicating parts only when it was absolutely necessary. The engine, chassis, wheels and wood body are all from the period, as are some of the smaller parts, like the mixing valve, buzz coil and oilers. The parts aren’t all completely identical; George Foss built his engine from scratch, following diagrams in Scientific American, after all, but they’re as accurate as we can make them.

The Foss family is having Legendary Motorcar Limited resurrect the Fossmobile, using both period and fabricated parts. They have a team of professional craftsmen dedicated to the restoration of vintage and classic automobiles. Assembling the vehicle has required gathering hundreds of parts, from the wooden body, custom hand crafted wood seat and engine cowl, the hand-made seat cushions, to refurbishing the spoked wheels with solid rubber tires and completely new leaf-spring suspension. All these components were built by Canadian companies, with some shipped in from as far away as British Columbia.

This all-Canadian project exists not just to honour our grandfather’s legacy, but to shed new light on this significant chapter in Canadian automotive history, and its display at the Canadian Automotive Museum will benefit countless future generations of Canadians.
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