Early battery car once electrified Chatham

By GLEN WOODCOCK (reprinted by permission - original post - Saturday November 5, 2011 - The London Free Press) Thanks to William Gray's grandson D'Arcy Fallon for bringing the article to my attention.

The Gray family of Chatham, Ont. switched from making horse-drawn carriages to become among the most successful of Canada’s automotive pioneers. About 23,000 of their popular Gray-Dort cars were manufactured from 1915-25.
Gray-Dort Motors was the city’s biggest employer and all was well until its American partner, J. Dallas Dort, decided he’d had enough and closed up his Flint., Mich. operation in late 1923. With Dort gone, Canadian buyers were afraid of being stuck with an orphan car. A suitable new U.S. partner couldn’t be found and receivership quickly followed.
While Gray-Dort Motors had sold thousands of Canadians on the merits of its cars, there was one person it couldn’t win over - the matriarch of the wealthy Gray clan. The company slogan was “Own a Gray-Dort - you will like it,” but obviously Margaret Gray had other ideas.
Margaret was the wife of company president Robert Gray, but like many women of her day preferred electric cars to gasoline-powered vehicles. They were quiet, easier to start and cleaner to operate.
Another woman who thought this way was Henry Ford’s wife, Clara. While Henry was bringing home the bacon (lots of bacon!) by selling his Model T, Clara was the owner of three Detroit Electrics from 1908-19.
Margaret Haldane Gray followed in Mrs. Ford’s tire tracks and in 1920 ordered a Model 82 Detroit Electric Brougham - popularly known as “Cinderella’s Coach.” It was shipped to her husband’s factory in Chatham, where it became the city’s first electric car.

Detroit Electrics (1907-39) were America’s most popular electric cars and by 1920 had adopted a fake hood and radiator grille to make them look more like their gasoline-powered competition. Mrs. Gray’s car, No. 12578, was one of 95 Model 82s built and was powered by a 4.3 hp, 84 volt DC motor with direct shaft drive, tiller steering, two-wheel mechanical brakes and a 100-inch wheelbase. Top speed was about 20 mph (32 km/h) and company advertising claimed a reliable range of 80 miles (130 km) before the batteries needed recharging.

This advertisement was for a 1912 Detroit Electric

According to RM Auctions, which sold the car on Oct. 7 at its Hershey, Pa. event, the Gray family owned the Detroit Electric for many years. A letter written by Mrs. Gray’s son, William, says it was sold “in perfect shape” when his mother turned 90 in 1952.
Since then the car has been owned by a number of prominent Canadian and American collectors and was auctioned in Hershey for the estate of Texas lawyer John O’Quinn. In restored condition, the pre-sale estimate was for $80,000-$100,000. So it appears to have been a real bargain, being hammered down at just $44,000 US. It was purchased by a Canadian collector and will be returning to this country..
At the same sale, the world’s oldest operating motor vehicle also was offered by the O’Quinn estate. And it brought almost double its pre-auction estimate of $2.5 million. The 1884 De Dion Bouton et Trepardoux Dos-a-Dos Steam Runabout, made in France, sold for $4.62 million US - a record for an early motor vehicle sold at auction.
Commissioned by Count de Dion, and named “La Marquise” after his mother, the 127-year-old vehicle got a standing ovation from the packed house as it drove onto RM’s auction stage. Bidding started at $500,000 then quickly rose to $4.2 million. The selling price of $4.62 million includes a 10% buyer’s premium.
At just nine feet in length, it is powered by twin compound steam engines, has “spade handle” steering and seats four back-to-back (dos-a- dos). La Marquise participated in the world’s first automobile race in 1887, where it reached a speed of 59.5 km/h on the straights. (No doubt with the operator hanging on for dear life!) In more modern times it has successfully completed four London to Brighton runs and in 1997 was a double winner at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.
The new owner is just the fifth in the famous vehicle’s history.