The Ross was a

Brass era The Brass Era is an American term for the early period of automotive manufacturing, named for the prominent brass fittings used during this time for such features as lights and radiator (engine cooling), radiators. It is generally considered to ...

automobile A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...

manufactured in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

from 1915 to 1918 by the Ross Automobile Company.

History

John L. Ross of Ross & Young Machine Company entered the automobile field by incorporating his Ross Automobile Company in 1915. The Ross automobile had a

Herschell-Spillman The Allan Herschell Company was a company that specialized in the creation of amusement rides, particularly carousels and roller coasters. The company manufactured portable machines that could be used by traveling carnival operators. It was star ...

V-8 engine A V8 engine is an eight-cylinder (engine), cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V engine, V configuration. Origins The first known V8 was the Antoinette (manufactu ...

with body styles including sedans and town cars and were priced at $1,350 and $1,850, . The "Ross Eight" won fame briefly in 1916 for being the first automobile to climb

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

's famous

Fillmore Street Fillmore Street is a street in San Francisco, California which starts in the Lower Haight, San Francisco, California, Lower Haight neighborhood and travels northward through the Fillmore District and Pacific Heights, San Francisco, California, ...

hill in high gear, where grades reach a maximum of 25%.

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

capitalists Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by a n ...

took over the company in late 1916 and changed the car from an 8-cylinder to a

Continental Continental may refer to: Places * Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US * Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US Arts and entertainment * ''Continental'' (album), an album by Saint Etienne * Continen ...

six-cylinder A straight-six engine (also referred to as an inline-six engine; abbreviated I6 or L6) is a piston engine with six cylinders arranged in a straight line along the crankshaft. A straight-six engine has perfect primary and secondary engine balanc ...

. In 1917 the V-8 engine was reinstated, but not for long. The Company entered receivership and in February 1918, the Ross plant had been sold.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ross (Automobile Company) American companies established in 1915 Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States Defunct manufacturing companies based in Detroit Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Detroit Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1915 Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1918 1915 establishments in Michigan 1918 disestablishments in Michigan Brass Era vehicles 1910s cars Cars introduced in 1915 Cars discontinued in 1918