Gordon McGregor
Entrepreneur. 1873-1922.
Gordon McGregor was the man responsible for bringing the Ford Motor Company to Windsor.
Born and raised in Windsor, Gordon began working at Walkerville Wagon Works, located near the foot of Drouillard Rd and Riverside Drive. The wagon works was owned by his father. Upon his father’s death, Gordon became the head of the business and having seen the potential of the newly emerging auto industry in Detroit, he decided building cars was in the company’s future. With a group of businessmen, he headed over to Detroit to meet with Henry Ford, who had just recently started the Ford Motor Company. McGregor proposed that Ford should set up a factory in Windsor. Henry liked the idea of setting up his business in Canada, as this would give his products access not only to Canada, but to the British Empire as well. Thus, on August 17, 1904, the Ford Motor Company of Canada was born.
Although Mr. McGregor never became the president of his new company, he was the Secretary and General Manager of the firm until his death in 1922.
Windsor soon after came to be known as the “Car Capital of Canada” through the efforts of Mr. McGregor and the subsequent influx of other auto companies into the Windsor area. Ford cars being produced here in Windsor were soon being sold throughout Canada and were being exported to places like India, Japan, South Africa, China and Barbados.
Sources:
Colling, Herb. Pioneering the Auto Age. Tecumseh, Ontario: Travelife Pub. Enterprises, 1991.