Gray–Dort Motors

Gray-Dort Motors was a Canadian automobile manufacturing company in Chatham, Ontario, which operated from 1915 to 1925.

Formation

Gray-Dort Motors started as the carriage works of William Gray & Sons Company Ltd., founded in 1855 by William Gray. In the mid-1900s, William's father and president of the company, Robert Gray, began to build car bodies for the Ford [Motor Company|Ford] factory in Walkerville, Ontario, until 1912.
In 1915, Robert Gray obtained the Canadian rights to manufacture the Dort [Motor Car Company|Dort] automobile from manufacturer Josiah Dallas Dort, in Flint, Michigan. Later that year, Gray-Dort Motors Ltd. was formed. Gray-Dort produced two models in its first year of operation: the Model 4 roadster and the Model 5 touring car.
Throughout its lifetime, Gray-Dort manufactured around 26,000 automobiles. During this period, they also produced bodies for the locally built Chatham automobiles. Three body styles were offered: the tourer, coupe and the sedan.

Dissolution

In 1923, after several years of successful but stressful business, Josiah Dallas Dort left the business. A few months later, Dort died during a golf session. As the company's easy access to U.S. mechanical parts abruptly came to a close, Gray-Dort Motors began to lose money. They scrambled to find another U.S.-based partner to no avail. The last few years of the business were spent liquidating assets.