Just after WW I, American Auto Trimming Company Ltd. needed some new trucks for its Canadian plant serving Ford. As Mr. Brownyer commented, "New trucks were very expensive in Canada with the high import duty, since they came from the United States." So the company reasoned that if trucks were too expensive to purchase, why not build a few of its own"
American Auto Trimming employed a very good master mechanic at the Walkerville plant, and he said there would be no problems in assembling half a dozen or so trucks to meet the company's needs," Brownyer recalled. "He just went across the river to Detroit and picked up his engines from Hinkley, a few axles from Timken, and whatever else he needed. McCord had a radiator plat nearby at Walkerville, Ontario; and the frames came from the Canadian Bridge Company.
The trucks were assembled in a corner of American Auto Trimming's big Walkerville plant. "They worked out as well as any trucks the company could have bought on the open market," Brownyer added. "So, it was decided to build a few commercially for Canadian customers."
The original batch was built in the early summer of 1920. The first units for commercial sale were named the "G and J" after Benjamin Gotfredson and Frank Joyce, heads of American Auto Trim. A short time afterward, Benjamin's only son Robert showed up and headed the division before the operation was renamed the Gotfredson Truck Corp. Ltd.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1983708511742353&set=gm.2230733593865931&type=3&permPage=1
American Auto Trimming employed a very good master mechanic at the Walkerville plant, and he said there would be no problems in assembling half a dozen or so trucks to meet the company's needs," Brownyer recalled. "He just went across the river to Detroit and picked up his engines from Hinkley, a few axles from Timken, and whatever else he needed. McCord had a radiator plat nearby at Walkerville, Ontario; and the frames came from the Canadian Bridge Company.
The trucks were assembled in a corner of American Auto Trimming's big Walkerville plant. "They worked out as well as any trucks the company could have bought on the open market," Brownyer added. "So, it was decided to build a few commercially for Canadian customers."
The original batch was built in the early summer of 1920. The first units for commercial sale were named the "G and J" after Benjamin Gotfredson and Frank Joyce, heads of American Auto Trim. A short time afterward, Benjamin's only son Robert showed up and headed the division before the operation was renamed the Gotfredson Truck Corp. Ltd.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1983708511742353&set=gm.2230733593865931&type=3&permPage=1
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