HENRY FORD’S ONLY RACE – 1901 Sweepstakes
HENRY FORD WON THE ONLY RACE WITH THE BEST RACER OF THE DAY TO SECURE INVESTORS FOR HIS CAR COMPANY.

In 1901, the auto industry was in its infancy, with automobiles considered expensive novelties for the wealthy, not unlike today’s luxury, high-end automobiles. . The public imagination largely associated the automobile with auto racing that had begun to emerge, with clusters of unique high-speed vehicles designed for entertainment. Most people couldn’t dream of buying a car and still rely on other forms of transportation in their daily lives.

“SWEEPSTAKES IS FORD’S HISTORY. … IT’S THE BEGINNING. THAT’S FORD, RIGHT THERE.”
Test of Racers on the Grosse Pointe Racetrack in 1901. – test
Henry Ford wanted to change this situation by mass producing practical, reliable and affordable cars for everyone. He felt that someone should move the young but rapidly growing auto industry in this direction and wanted to be the person to do it. However, Ford was unable to attract investors to pursue his vision of a mass-market automobile. He was not yet well known outside of Detroit, and his first venture into automobile manufacturing, the Detroit Automobile Company, dissolved in 1900.

To remedy this situation, Ford turned to the world of auto racing. Car races are extremely popular and create a positive impression for the winners. Automobile companies and engineers often demonstrate the superiority of their ideas through the winning machines they install in these racing cars. So, despite having no racing experience, Ford and his associates decided to enter a “sweepstakes” race at Grosse Pointe Raceway’s 1-mile oval. As Ford himself said: “I never thought anything of racing, but the public refused to view the automobile in any other light than as a fast toy. So later [i.e., some time after the founding of the Detroit Automobile Company] we had to race.”

Ford’s opponent in this race is none other than Henry Winton, the top auto racer in the country and has a very good chance of winning. To beat Winton, Ford and his associates began work on what became known as the 1901 Ford “Sweepstakes” car, named after this particular style of racing. The sweepstakes features cutting-edge technology, including early fuel injection, a two-cylinder engine, hand-crafted ceramic insulated ignition coils (predecessors to spark plugs), and an estimated horsepower of 26 horse power. The car was recorded at 72 mph for more than half a mile, beating the existing world record of 65.79 mph.

On October 10, 1901, a ten-lap race was held at Grosse Pointe Race Track. The crowd was behind Ford because he was a hometown boy from Detroit and Winton was from nearby Cleveland. Ford himself operated the car with Ed “Spider” Huff as assistant mechanic. After three laps, Winton had built a lead of nearly 300 metres. As Ford became more comfortable driving, he began to gain ground, especially on the straights, to the increasing encouragement of the crowd. By the sixth round, he had taken a significant lead over Winton, making the home crowd even more excited. At this point, Winton’s car began experiencing serious mechanical problems with smoke coming from the exhaust. However, Ford’s use of ceramic insulators and his unique fuel injection system in the Sweepstakes engine were designed precisely to prevent this difficulty.

As a result, on the eighth lap, Ford took the lead for good, beating favored Winton in front of an ecstatic home crowd. A fan threw up his hat and when it fell, he stepped on it. Another guy stood up in his chair… shouting “I’d bet $50 on the Ford if I had it.” Immediately after the race, Ford retired from the race declaring “Once was enough.” Despite all the difficulties, the unknown engineer still defeated the world’s greatest racing driver.

Ford’s victory demonstrated his abilities as an engineer and made him famous enough to receive financial support. In 1903, eighteen months after the race, Henry founded the Ford Motor Company and made his dream of building mass-produced automobiles a reality – which was made possible by his one and only race, The 1901 sweepstakes.