If you walked past the corner of Christie and Dupont in downtown Toronto, you’d be forgiven for not paying much attention to the building on the northwest corner; an old concrete structure yet to be redeveloped into a ‘luxury condominium experience‘. But this is in fact an extremely important building in Toronto’s automotive history.
Opened in 1914 at the crest of modern industrialization, this building at 672 Dupont St in Toronto was purpose-built by the Ford Motor Company as more than a manufacturing facility. Each floor of the building served a purpose and was heavily reinforced. The first floor was a showroom for customers to check out the new Model T, the second floor received deliveries from the railroad behind the facility, the third floor was for repairs, the fourth floor for hand-assembly, fifth for paint, and the roof was a … test track!
The Ford building was used until 1925 when the company relocated to a new factory in Danforth Ave in Toronto’s east side. Following Ford’s departure, the building famously became the Planters Peanuts building, which it remained until 1987.
It has since become the Faema building, and significant Ford models assembled in Toronto, ones that helped Canada become an important industrialized nation, now merely serve as kitschy decorations in between the espresso machines.
Wow, such an amazing piece of Toronto’s history. I wonder if the test track is still there, at the top of the building.
Do they only sell coffee machines or can we go there for a cup of coffee?
Yeah…I really enjoy Toronto automotive history. My son Daniel found out there used to be an oval track 5 km from our home way back in the 1930s, How cool, right?
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The back half of 672 Dupont is all espresso machines for restaurants (and Richie Rich type people). The front half used to be the Faema Cafe, I went there all the time when I was young, dumb and living my best single-guy life in downtown Toronto. But the cafe closed for “renovations” 4 years ago…and will never re-open. But if you visit the Faema showroom, the smiling workers will give you a coffee while you check out the Model T and Model A cars used as decor.
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I got as high as the second floor, and I asked about the rooftop test track, but got no answers. You should go, Rubens. Tell them you’re the HVAC guy and need to inspect the rooftop unit.
Great article thanks for sharing 😀
Glad you liked it!