They're not well known at all, but the moment you start to research the origins of the car in Canada they show up everywhere! A weird bit of trivia that doesn't get mentioned in the talk is that, very briefly in 1902, CCM was manufacturing electric, steam and gas cars at roughly the same time, the only company in Canada to do so.
I think it's worth looking at the demise of Russell in the context of Ford Motors. Ford started making the model T in 1908. By 1915 they were making half a million per year. They cost $700 in 1910 The trend in car manufacturing was to use assembly lines to produce cheaper cars. By 1915 Russell was hand building cars for thousands of dollars. It was going to cost them many thousands of dollars to retool and even more energy to rethink their approach. Easier to sell the rights to the engine and concentrate on other manufacturing. Incidentally, my grandmother was Tommy's sister, and I thought Jerry's book "Built to a Standard" was a through history of Tommy Russell and Russell Motors.
Absolutely, yes! In an era when other Canadian manufacturers like Tudhope and McLaughlin were switching over to mass production (successfully or otherwise), Russell's craft-production model only really worked if their cars consistently sold extremely well- but the failure of the Russell-Knights obviously prevented that from happening. Thanks so much for tuning in!
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Nicely done! I'd never heard of this company.
They're not well known at all, but the moment you start to research the origins of the car in Canada they show up everywhere! A weird bit of trivia that doesn't get mentioned in the talk is that, very briefly in 1902, CCM was manufacturing electric, steam and gas cars at roughly the same time, the only company in Canada to do so.
I think it's worth looking at the demise of Russell in the context of Ford Motors. Ford started making the model T in 1908. By 1915 they were making half a million per year. They cost $700 in 1910 The trend in car manufacturing was to use assembly lines to produce cheaper cars. By 1915 Russell was hand building cars for thousands of dollars. It was going to cost them many thousands of dollars to retool and even more energy to rethink their approach. Easier to sell the rights to the engine and concentrate on other manufacturing. Incidentally, my grandmother was Tommy's sister, and I thought Jerry's book "Built to a Standard" was a through history of Tommy Russell and Russell Motors.
Absolutely, yes! In an era when other Canadian manufacturers like Tudhope and McLaughlin were switching over to mass production (successfully or otherwise), Russell's craft-production model only really worked if their cars consistently sold extremely well- but the failure of the Russell-Knights obviously prevented that from happening.
Thanks so much for tuning in!