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In the Beginning |
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In the Beginning |
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William
Bulmer
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At the turn of the century Windsor began life with the auto industry, enduring both the pain and the joy of birth... the years of discovery and experimentation... the uncertainty of adolescence. In the grey dawn of the Automotive Age, Windsor's future was no more promising than her past. That changed dramatically when a few enterprising businessmen enticed the Ford Motor Company, then in Flint, Michigan, to cross the border and sink new roots in a small town called Walkerville. Few people realized the importance of the car and the impact it would have on everyone, everywhere, in the years ahead. In that respect, Windsor and a clutch of remarkable visionaries were on the cutting edge of a new age. Windsor has been home to more car and truck manufacturers than any other city in the dominion, churning out an astonishing array of vehicles to meet a variety of needs. There is little question that Windsor put Canada on wheels. Many of the car and truck companies that sprang up throughout the city are still household names: Ford, Studebaker, Packard, Dodge, Chrysler, McLaughlin-Buick, Hupmobile. Others are little more than faint memories of another era. How many still remember Menard, Gramm, Reo, Gotfredson or Tate? There were no guarantees, no warranties, for the people who gambled on a dream. Fortunes were made and lost in a real-life game of winner-take-all. Some companies lasted decades, others a few years. Some never got off the ground. At the end of the day, though, they all contributed to the colourful industrial mosaic of this community. As the intense competition took its toll, smaller companies vanished or were absorbed, until only the Big Three remained. From the mid-1920s, Windsor has been the only Canadian city able to boast the presence of GM, Ford and Chrysler--giving added credence to the city's reputation as the Automotive Capitol of Canada. * Herb Colling with Carl Morgan. "Pioneering the Auto Age." Windsor, Ontario. 1993.
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