While little known today, the Russell Motor Car Company was a fledgling Canadian automaker that arguably was Canada’s first and only truly indigenous ‘mass’ builder of automobiles with its own in – house engineering and the capacity to manufacture most of its own components. Led by the company’s namesake, Thomas Alexander Russell, it began as an offshoot of Canada Cycle & Motor (CCM). It rapidly gained considerable prominence with the public and motoring press, enabling the company to play a significant role in the promotion of a nascent automobile manufacturing industry. From British Columbia to Nova Scotia, Russell motor cars established a reputation as premium, quality machines for the discriminating – machines that contributed substantially to the early ‘motorization’ of the country.

This online talk will take place over Zoom and is part of the Canadian Automotive Museum's Third Thursday lecture series. These online talks are free and open to the public, but registration is required. The Canadian Automotive Museum is a registered Canadian charity and a suggested donation of $10 goes toward covering the cost of hosting these virtual events. Donors who make an annual contribution of over $25 will receive a charitable tax receipt. 

About our speaker:

Jerry Petryshyn holds a Ph D from the University of Western Ontario. He taught history for over 30 years at the University of Alberta and Grande Prairie Regional College serving as an academic dean at the college. For a number of years, he represented Alberta on the Historic Sites & Monuments Board of Canada, chaired the 2005 Alberta History Centennial Project and was a member of the Alberta Press Council. He has published a number history titles including ‘Made Up TO A Standard’: Thomas Alexander Russell and the Russell Motor Car Company and continues to write a bimonthly column for Old Autos. A member of the Crime Writers of Canada, he has also penned two historical thrillers and two whodunnits.