The Maxmobile - the first 100% Canadian car. David Maxwell, a Watford, Ontario blacksmith, built the Maxmobile entirely by hand right down to the single cylinder engine and hickory wagon wheels. He drove it onto the streets of Watford for the first time in 1900. Dave Maxwell invented the first car designed and built entirely by one man. By hand. Many other “first” cars of the time were merely assembled by people who bought engines and other parts from around the world. Mr. Maxwell designed and built every part of the Maxmobile himself. He created his own carburetor, constructed his own radiator and even invented his own springs, selling the patent to an American man who made a fortune from it. Early automobile pioneers Henry Ford and Sam McLaughlin were eager to be in business with Dave Maxwell. Ford wanted Maxwell to be his partner but Mrs. Maxwell refused to move to Detroit and leave family and small town life behind. Maxwell reportedly told Sam McLaughlin of McLaughlin (later McLaughlin Buick) that cars were a passing fad and his future was with farm wagons. The Maxmobile should not be confused with the Maxwell car, made by Maxwell Briscoe Company of Tarrytown, New York, which came years later. Maxwell handmade several versions of the Maxmobile, constantly improving it. 109 years later, the Maxmobile still runs and is on display in the Watford Museum, restored for the town’s 1973 centennial.