Roo, formally the Roo Motor Car Manufacturing Company was an Australian company set up to produce automobiles from Australian-sourced components. It was founded in 1917 by Rupert Jeffkins, a local car racing identity, and W. B. Foulis, a

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

-based engineer. Jeffkins had achieved international fame in 1912 as Ralph DePalma's

riding mechanic A riding mechanic was a mechanic that rode along with a race car during races, and who was tasked with maintaining, monitoring, and repairing the car during the race. The various duties included manually pumping oil and fuel, checking tire wear, ...

in the second annual Indianapolis 500. They led for 195 (of 200) laps before a conrod tore a hole in the

crankcase In a piston engine, the crankcase is the housing that surrounds the crankshaft. In most modern engines, the crankcase is integrated into the engine block. Two-stroke engines typically use a crankcase-compression design, resulting in the fuel/a ...

two laps from the end. Jeffkins and De Palma pushed the crippled car across the finish line in a futile endeavor that bought the crowd of 80,000 spectators to their feet. However, Indianapolis rules mandated that all entries move under their own power, so DePalma's final number of laps is recorded as 198, the push across the line bringing them only to the beginning of the final lap. They officially finished 11th. They received no prize money, but photographs of the dramatic push from the fourth turn to the finish line were published around the world. Jeffkins returned to Australia in 1914 with films of the first two (1911 and 1912) Indy 500s. He toured the country narrating the films and publicizing his other American automobile exploits. In 1917 Jeffkins and William B. Foulis built two prototype roadsters with minimalist two seater bodies, named by

Lord Mayor of Sydney The Right Honourable the Lord Mayor of Sydney is the head of the Council of the City of Sydney, which is the local government area covering the central business district of Sydney in the State of New South Wales, Australia. The Lord Mayor has be ...

Richard Meagher, proudly promoting that every component was locally made. These featured twin cylinder, air cooled, horizontally opposed engines that were designed and built by Foulis. Jeffkins and Foulis used the first ''Roo'' for test and promotional tours of the Eastern States of Australia, driving from Melbourne to Sydney and back, averaging between 45 and 50

miles per gallon The fuel economy of an Car, automobile relates distance traveled by a vehicle and the amount of fuel consumption, fuel consumed. Consumption can be expressed in terms of volume of fuel to travel a distance, or the distance traveled per unit volu ...

. The company purchased land in Burwood for a factory but this was never built. Once enough capital had been raised Jeffkins and Foulis planned to mass-produce two models, the "Raceabout" and a better equipped "Standard" that had more substantial bodywork and lower gearing. The "Raceabout" was meant to retail for the same price as a Model T Ford. A third Roo was under construction when the solicitor who was the major financial backer withdrew support, causing the collapse of the company. Jeffkins attempted to revive the concept in 1929, but it did not progress beyond the blueprint stage. Foulis produced the engines for the Southern Cross cars in the 1930s.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roo Motor Car Company Car manufacturers of Australia Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1917 Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1929 Australian companies established in 1917 1929 disestablishments in Australia

See also

References