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 Automobiles and prices varied
tremendously in the years prior to the Great War, with
smaller cars such as the Model T Ford selling in the
$500 range. The Russell-Knight, Canada’s prime entry
in the quality automobile field, sold for 10 times the
price of a Ford. Canadian Cycle and Motor, usually known
as C.C.M. and now more famed for its bicycles, entered
the automobile business with their Ivanhoe electric car;
when it became obvious that gasoline engines were the
coming thing, C.C.M. started the Russell Motor Car
Company, Limited, with offices in Toronto, Montreal.
Hamilton, Winnipeg, Calgary, Vancouver and Melbourne,
Australia and
the watchword, Made up to a Standard, —Not
Down to a
Price.
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In 1909, after three years of
production, the company obtained exclusive Canadian
rights to the revolutionary Knight sleeve-valve engine,
an American design which was being used by the finest
European makers (King Edward VII’s Daimler had a
Knight engine) and, in 1913, they produced this fine
example of automobile craftsmanship.
Swift, powerful and almost
totally silent, with lots of brass trim, real leather
upholstery and finely-polished hardwood, this
Russell-Knight exhibits in every part and assembly the
finest workmanship of the period, as one would expect in
a car selling for nearly twice
the price of the best Cadillac. Acetylene headlamps,
wooden wheels, lots of power and a gentle ride complete
the picture of one of the finest cars ever built in
Canada. Russell-Knights today are an extreme rarity.
This car was purchased new by Mr. George Kerr and later
sold to Mr. Findley McMartin of Franklin, who claimed it
was the closest thing to steam power, it ran so quietly.
Mr. Clarkson restored the well-preserved car to
nearly-new condition. T.A. Russell, after whom the car
was named, was general manager of C.C.M. |
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