-
Period: to
Gray-Dort Motors Operates in Canada
Gray-Dort motors starts out as a carriage works company, and from 1915 to 1925 is one of the most successful automakers in Canada. By the second year of production all parts used in making their cars were produced in Canada with no imported parts. -
Selling cars to Doctors
By the 1920s, cars were being marketed and sold directly to doctors as a way of making it easier for them to do their jobs, especially outside of the cities. In the picture in a 1923 "Doctor's Coupe that was made with a covered seating area to make them useful in all weather. -
Brooks Steam Automobile is introduced
Made in Canada, the Brooks Steam Automobile is introduced in 1923 at the Toronto Exhibition. Brooks cars were built partially of strengthened fabric. The Meritas brand cloth helped to make the car lighter in order to improve the power to weight ratio. Car sales never took off however, and the company closed production during the Great Depression of the 1930s. -
Chrysler of Canada founded
Chrysler of Canada is founded in Windsor, Ontario and the Plymouth Q-Four is the first Plymouth automobile manufactured in Canada. A total of 60,000 Model Q Plymouths were sold in North America in 1928, their first year of production. The image is a Plymouth Model Q. -
First Traffic Light
Cars had become more and more common and as a result there were more problems with car accidents and people not being sure what to do at busy spots were roads crossed. As a result, traffic lights were invented to help control traffic and make car travel more safe. The first one in Canada was installed in Hamilton, Ontario. Look at the picture to see if you can figure out where it was. -
McLaughlin-Buick makes cars for Royalty
Mclaughlin-Buick was a car company in Oshawa, Ontario. They made some of the best and most well-regarded cars in the world. As a result of this, the wealthy from around the world were buying their cars, including royalty (kings and queens) around the globe. Eventually McLaughlin-Buick would become the General Motors Company (GM) -
Auto Production Grows in Canada
In 1928, Canadian automakers produce 240,000 vehicles – just under half of these are for export to the United States and around the world. Canadians bought over 120,000 Canadian made cars! -
20% of Canadians have cars
Everyone was buying cars in the 1920s. By the end of the 1920s over 1 in every 5 people in Canada owned a car. At the start of the 1920s, travelling long distances was something only the rich did but with cars it was easier for other people. You could buy a used car for under $500 (under $6000 today). This also lead to more roads for the more than 1 million cars on the road.