AUTO HISTORY
Chatham’s Gray-Dort motor carriage was one of the most successful Canadian auto marquees ever.
Purely Canadian automobiles have been rare due to the strong United States influence and a small population spread over a vast area. This resulted in most cars built in Canada being based on American designs.
One of the most successful was the Gray-Dort of Chatham, Ontario. Like Sam McLaughlin of Oshawa, the Tudhopes of Orillia and others, the Gray family allied itself with a U.S. automaker, the Dort Motor Car Co. of Flint, Michigan.
The Durant-Dort Carriage Co. had been founded in 1886 and was successful enough to make William Durant and Dallas Dort millionaires.
Interested in the emerging automobile, Durant took over the failing Buick Motor Car Co. and used it as his base in incorporating General Motors Co. in 1908. With GM as a kind of holding company Durant acquired many car companies, soon parleying it into a huge automobile enterprise.
Dallas Dort was content to stay with horse-drawn vehicles until 1915 when he too entered automobile manufacturing. Although Dort Motor Car Co. wouldn’t challenge GM, Ford or Willys-Overland in sales, the Dort was a good quality light car.
The Grays of Chatham were also carriage makers. John Rhodes in his 1988 book; GrayDort – The Class Of The Light Car Field, records that blacksmith William Gray emigrated to Chatham from Scotland in 1853 and soon after established William Gray and Sons carriage company.
When William Gray died in a train accident in 1884 his 22year-old son Robert took over the operation. In spite of his youth he proved to be a good businessman and managed it so well Gray was soon reputed to be Canada's largest carriage maker.
Robert's son William Murray Gray was more interested in automobiles and influenced the company to begin manufacturing cars. They had already built bodies for several companies including the Chatham Motor Car Co., and Ford of Canada.
The Grays decided to build their own car, and like Sam McLaughlin they investigated several U.S. manufacturers which led to Dort in Flint. Dallas Dort and the Grays were quite compatible, a deal was struck, and Chatham-based Gray-Dort Motors Ltd. was established in 1915. Wood products like buggies, carriages and cutters continued being built by Gray–Campbell, a separate company in Chatham.
Gray-Dort started producing two 1915 models, the 5A Touring and the smaller Model 4 two-seater Roadster, both with four cylinder Lycoming side-valve engines. The patriotic Grays incorporated as much local content as possible, eventually reaching about 60 per cent. They adapted the Gray-Dort for Canadian conditions with modifications like a wider track, a feature later used on U.S. models.
An unusual Gray-Dort feature was a cowl-mounted gasoline tank with the filler spout inside the cabin protruding through the instrument panel. Ford’s Model A’s tank was also cowlmounted but the filler was ahead of the windshield.
The Gray-Dort proved to be reliable car. Its good reputation and wide distribution network the company had acquired in the 1907 merger with the Manson Campbell farm implement company, made Gray-Dort more popular in Canada than Dort was in the U.S. It sold in most provinces, being a particular favourite in Western Canada.
In 1918 when the Dort Motor Car Co. made a model change Gray-Dort found itself with an inventory of obsolete parts. Instead of scrapping them they were used to produce the GrayDort Special Touring at a very competitive price. It became the company's best selling product, including sales in the U.S.
Gray-Campbell had continued building carriages, cutters and other products but when Gray-Dort needed more production capacity to meet post-First World War car demand it took over GrayCampbell in 1919. The last horse-drawn vehicle was produced in 1920.
Gray-Dort improvements continued, including moving the fuel tank and filler to the rear in 1920. As one of the four most popular cars in Canada it outsold Chevrolet in Ontario for a period.
In 1922 a new Rolls-Roycelike radiator shape was introduced. The wheelbase was lengthened and improvements like disc wheels and front and rear bumpers were added. It even had an automatic backup light, claimed to be the first as standard equipment. Sales of this luxurious Gray-Dort soared. A Falls 45-horsepower overhead valve, six-cylinder engine came in 1923 and the future looked bright.
Then disaster struck when Dallas Dort announced his departure from the car business. With its U.S. supplier gone, Gray-Dort sales dropped like a stone as purchasers feared buying an "orphan."
The Grays arranged with Gray Motor Corp. (no relation) in Detroit to manufacture cars of Gray design. A few Grays were imported but production never got going. Perhaps it was just as well as the Gray Motor Corp. soon went out of business.
The Dort Motor Co. ceased operation in 1924. Gray-Dort struggled into 1925 selling leftover stock before leaving the Canadian automotive scene.