Council looking at naming Oshawa street
By Courtney Bachar/The Oshawa Express
Oshawa City Council is looking at naming a street in Oshawa in honour of the Fossmobile, which was invented in 1897.
Ron Foss, the executive director of Fossmobile Enterprises in Burlington, Ontario, is looking for the city to name a street in Oshawa for two reasons – the history and the relevance of the original build of the vehicle as the first gasoline automobile in Canada, as well as trying to build the legacy of the Fossmobile and how it came to be remembered for Canadians.
“It had many firsts,” says Foss, who spoke at a recent city council meeting. “It was not only the first built in Canada, but it was the first with the engine mounted in the front.”
He notes most engines were under the seat in the early vehicles.
The Fossmobile, Foss says, was an air cooled engine, and it had gear shifting on the steering column.
“That was repeated by automobile manufacturers until the early 1930s,” he says.
Foss says most people will say the first car in Canada was a Ford and he’s trying to change that narrative.
As far as its legacy goes, Foss has been fundraising, with a goal of $35,000, to have a tribute car built.
“It really means it’s not the Foss family that’s building this tribute car, it’s Canadians,” he says.
Foss says there will also be a story in the encyclopedia regarding the Fossmobile, all the original family artifacts have been donated to the Library and Archives Canada for perpetuity to be properly maintained and available for Canadians, and he’s also approached Canada Post and Canadian Coin and Currency with applications to have the Fossmobile recognized as a tribute on a stamp or coin.
In terms of the tribute car, Foss says virtually every aspect of it, such as the gear shifting, field delivery, and parts will be “pretty much identical” to how it was originally built.
Foss says he chose Oshawa to have a street named in honour of the Fossmobile because, once built, the tribute vehicle will be housed at the Canadian Automotive Museum.
“We see it as supporting the Canadian Automotive Museum, which is a huge undertaking within your city and we’re very proud to become part of that,” he says.
Foss says the plan is to get the vehicle into the museum in the fall of this year on loan, and then be able to use it or take it from the museum, with their support, to various venues previously planned for the purpose of showing and sharing the story.
The vehicle will be back at the museum permanently by the fall of 2022.
Council referred the item back to staff for a report.