MTFCA Forum

This 1910 to '13 Ford Factory Model T racing car seat was in The Henry Ford collection for decades and was de-accessioned about 20 years ago in a parts sale; Glen Rand, an antique car parts dealer, purchased it. He later sold it to Bob Swanson of CT. It was purchased from Bob recently.

It has survived intact, minus the upholstery and the half-inch wide quarter-round trim piece at the bottom. The darker spots on the inside of the seat shell are an adhesive used for keeping the thin horse hair padding in place, and traces of the hair remain. It is not going to be restored, although a few repairs are going to be made to it. The surface rust will be stabilised with mineral oil (it is reversible) applied to it to prevent further rusting, and the wood will be re-glued. Please let me know of anyone who has 48" of this half-inch wide aluminum trim without holes in it in an aged condition like the seat they would sell so it can be installed as it originally was. Rob Heyden's research has revealed that the factory built five or possibly six T racing cars between 1910 to '13 with different-sized engines up to 410 ci to compete in various classes base on engine size in oval dirt track races and hill climbs and on a frozen lake. Apparently only the 1910 Ford Factory 390/410 ci Model T racing car has survived, it is in The Henry Ford collection. It appears that the only pieces of the racers that have survived are the 300 ci engine Rob has, a few other parts, and this seat, although he may know of other items that have. The seat had a hard life in competition use and has had a few repairs. It has no traces of paint on it other then the left-hand side that someone used for testing a spray paint gun maybe 60-70 years ago, which has been carefully removed. The inside quarter-round iron strap on the front of the left side has been cut short, and the rear portion of it has been replaced with flat stock and is attached with rivets and wood screws. The right side inner steel reinforcing strap has been replaced (there are two sets of rivet holes in the sheet metal,) and this second one doesn't align with the first set.

It is believed that the pencil mark on the entire middle of this seat visible in the photo above was placed there by a Ford shop worker to take accurate measurements for what appear to be new re-created seats used for the 1910 390/410 racer restoration.

After studying five or six of the photos of that Rob Heyden has found of Factory "T" racing cars, it appears none of the seats are exactly the same and were hand-made. The only differences are minor changes in the shape of the top of the front sides. This seat is one of three different styles constructed for these cars and this may be the only survivor (more on this later.) You might ask why this seat skin was made of steel instead of aluminum. When first constructed a few of the cars were not painted at all including the chassis, hood, seats, and gas tank and left in a bare metal burnished finish. Some of the period images of the race cars that had been out on the racing circuit and in the weather show dark stains on the steel components which isn't oil but is surface rust, and the contrast between the darker steel and the alloy pieces is visible (more on this later.)

I think it is great that folks like you and Rob not only save these historical pieces but research their history so not only do we get to see the piece of car or the whole car but we also get to know the background of them.

Rob Heyen

This is so great to see! And I eagerly await the " later" for "more".
I knew Bob has had that seat for some time. He knows a lot about early Fords and racing history in general!

I don't know much more than what I have read from Rob H and Bob S and a dozen other sources. However, I understand that all of those Ford Special racing cars were set up to quickly change certain characteristics to maximize efforts in different types of races and hill climbs. They had large and small gasoline tanks that could be swapped for weight reasons or larger tanks for longer races. They had both or either wooden wheels or steel wire wheels. The wire wheels about an inch larger size. The other often changed was the seats! The cars could have either one or two seats depending on race requirements or intermediate uses. I suspect the position of the seats could have been changed slightly as well. Most of the era photos I have seen show the cars a with two seats on them, however I have seen a couple photos showing only one seat.
I have often wondered if Ford used whatever seat was handy? Or were the seats specifically fit to an individual car or place? One can only wonder what races or exhibitions that seat may have been used in?

Neat stuff!

First off thanks to all of you for the kind words.

The image above is of Frank Kulick posing in the first "T"-based custom-built Factory 1911 390 ci, later 410 ci Racing car when it appears it was just finished. It is the only one of the five or so cars that has flat tops on the front sides of the seats.

Rob Heyen has dated the picture of Frank Kulick posing in a racing car below to late 1910, and it maybe the second car built? Of the five or so photos of the different Racing Cars this one has the same shape on the front sides of the seats as the surviving seat. Perhaps Kulick wanted more elbow room in tight corners and during fast moves?

Note the lightweight aluminum oil pan and crankcase used on some of the larger non-stock engines that is used in this machine. The engine is mounted lower in the rear than standard engines. Someone was thinking when this was set-up because it would end up with "straight-line" drive which would eliminate quite a bit of friction that lowers the amount of horsepower that gets transferred through a Ford metal on metal u-joint which runs at a considerable angle. Part of wining races is paying attention to any power losses in the drivetrain and eliminating them. Compare the Racing Car below that appears to have a stock non-angled oil pan and a sharper torque tube angle than the racer above.

"Rob Heyden has dated the picture of Frank Kulick posing in a racing car ..."

The man's name is HEYEN.

Jerry VanOoteghem wrote: ↑

Sun Jun 12, 2022 8:31 pm

"Rob Heyden has dated the picture of Frank Kulick posing in a racing car ..."

The man's name is HEYEN.

Jerry, thanks for catching my typo, and my apology to Rob.

Thanks for the pics and info. THF mislabels the first photo. It was taken after Frank Kulick and the last Ford Special, built during the late summer, made its first appearance in September 1911, defeating the fastest car in the world, the Blitzen Benz. The Benz, at the time held many of the circular one and half mile track world records from 1Km to 20 miles. The Benz also held the world straightaway speed record of 141 mph, a record that stood from 1911 to 1919.

The V nose racer, lowered, possessing a 410 cu in four cyl Ford Special racing motor, included a dual spark Bosch mag and dual plug ignition. It beat the Benz and a 200 hp Hotchkiss in a 1 mile match time race, making headlines around the world. Henry Ford famously stepped forward and awarded Kulick a $1,000 bill. Frank Kulick did not enter a track race again, although in 1912 he won the prestigious Algonquin hill climbs driving the same racer.

This racer was the last, snd mightiest of at least 6 Ford Specials raced between 1910 and 1912. Kulick also drove this racer to a 109 mph mile record on ice at Lake St. Clair in early 1912. Below, Frank Kulick with the last Ford Special 410 cu in racer at Algonquin in 1912. While this photo is watermarked, I have purchased rights to use for non profit educational purposes from the Elgin Museum, all rights apply:

For anyone interested, my two part article, edited by Natalie Weaver for The Model T Times awhile ago.

Part 1 link:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/o82q61ihwp7z6 ... 1.PDF?dl=0

Part 2:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/psrkq4h8v96bx ... 2.PDF?dl=0

Covers, part 1 and 2:

Rob, I'm interested in learning more details about this car, have you have been able to determine what size the engine in it was at the time the photo was shot?

David,
As always, thank you for your many articles, and the wealth of information you have, and continue to bring to the hobby. I wish I had the dimensions of the seat you've obtained earlier.......

Fortunately, there are several drawings at Benson LIbrary (THF) showing components/parts from the racers. My motor (and the car seen above) was drawn and listed as "M-III." Below is a drawing from "M-III."

The very first photo in the file is the one below. It's a great example for several reasons, one being it's one of the few with a date included on the drawing. The date is 6/6/14 (June 6th, 1914). This is one of the few drawings with a date. Why is this significant? The date is long after the time the Ford Specials raced. This photo (and a few others dated 1914) are of spokes on a 32 X 4 spoke wheel. The drawing also identifies the racer as "M-III." I believe the reason these drawings are dated is because FMC was updating (the degree of bend and thickness of spoke are changed) was because this likely was the specification used on one of Edsel's speedsters we've seen photos of (I'll try to find one later). But, that's an entirely different rabbit hole.....

This also tells us the M-III racer was fitted with wire wheels, and the size was larger than the standard T with a 32 inch wheel. The racer we see Frank Kulick seated on was taken at the Michigan State Fairgrounds, and the earliest example I've found of the photo was June 2nd, 1911 (news article). What I don't know is, how much earlier was the photo taken? Was it late summer/fall 1910 or prior to June 2nd in 1911? Looking at the vegetation seems to indicate to me (a guess) that it was in the spring of 1911, and not the fall of 1910, but again, purely speculation. What I do know is the M-III racer/motor was our engine, because the camshaft, valves and several other M-III drawing specs match those of our motor components/parts. Another "guess" based on photos showing these racers with both wood and wire wheels, this was an easy way to change gearing (switching from a 30 to 32 inch wheel). We also have photos showing one front wheel being wood, with the other three wire. This may have been because the wood wheel had the speedometer gear. It may have also been done sometimes if that helped hold the racer in tight left hand turns on one mile tracks, but that's just a guess on my part. Bottom line, we have pics with a mix of wire and wood wheels on these racers during competition.

Below is a link to my Dropbox file, with all the drawings I have (courtesy of FMC, all rights apply):

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/tmgiesefk0hn ... wRK-a?dl=0

The next reason I believe this is our motor/racer is the back "false tank" behind the firewall. One can see this is a "fake" container, used to hide the rear of the engine protruding through the firewall. This was done for a few reasons. The motor was simply too large to "fit" in the normal Model T engine compartment. A few other reasons I believe it's M-III is because we have fan component drawings for M-III. I know the V nose radiator 410 cubic inch racer did not have a fan (the racer still exists). The V radiator doubles as a method to push the engine forward of the hood, allowing the engine to be fully forward of the firewall. The M-III 298 cu. in. racer did not have this luxury (pushing the engine forward) because it used a fan, requiring the motor be pushed back of the firewall.

We also have the drawing below for M-III. What I suspect it may be, is a flange on the fake tank on the firewall of the racer seen in the photo with Kulick at the state fairground track. I don't know for sure, but it is referred to as a "dashtank" and I can't think of another racer component that comes close to matching this description. Labeled "M-III," we know it was for our motor/racer. The fact the flange uses wood screws tells me it's not on top of a steel gas or fluid tank, and the drawingto the left seems to imply it's mounted vertically. It would work well if it's a flange for the #4 cylinder exhaust pipe, and also may indicate the fake tank in the photo was made of asbestos, wood or some material other than metal (again, all these ideas are my best guesses, awaiting more evidence from additional photos, etc).
The next two photos show the exhaust pipes for the M-III motor, two straight and two straight. I made our exhaust pipes to these specs, and they allow the #4 exhaust to come out the side of a fake tank, as the photo showing Kulick on the racer seems to suggest (with the fake tank and motor protruding rearward of the firewall).
I'm sure there will be more to follow, but I need to get a little mowing done.....
Cheers,
Rob

Rob, For comparison purposes here, the Racer seat is placed next to an original one on a Mercer Raceabout; one of the cars, a Ford Racer, had a neck and neck battle with on a race track in the period that you have documented in the past. The two seats have the same interior width at the bottom front. The Ford front outside measurement is 16-3/4," and the inside is 15-1/4." The base is 17-1/2" long, and the backrest is 20" high.

Something else worthy of discussion, have you or anyone else viewed a photo or read an account of the condition the 400 ci Racer was in before Ford restored it? While studying old images, possibly taken at Greenfield Village at some point after it was restored, it had a worn and deteriorated look and had the appearance of it being a late pre-war or early post-war restoration. Something else of interest; since Kulick lived until 1965, is there any evidence that he had any input in the details of the car with the automaker when it was restored?

David, I’ll get back tomorrow with pics. The racer was originally white,,as were most of the “Specials.”

David,
A few responses (I'd say "answers," but it seems every time I think I know something regarding history, more information surfaces that proves some portions incorrect....... ).

Mentioning Frank Kulick's year of death reminded me that even that was a "moving target." One recent article writer on the Early Ford Registry wrote that Frank Kulick died in 1917. While that ones easily refuted (such as the photos of Kulick stamping the 15 millionth Model T motor in 1927), other historians use 1965 as his year of passing. He actually passed in 1968, in Florida at his and wife Mary's winter home. Small things, but a good example how items that should be easily confirmed become part of an alternate history or narrative in some cases.

While Frank Kulick and Henry Ford reportedly met in 1944 for lunch (Detroit newspaper, 1944), according to Frank's nephew, he (Kulick) didn't ever really develop a relationship again with Ford. The nephew said he drove Chryslers the rest of his life after leaving Ford, and I suspect the didn't help with restoration at Greenfield Village (purely speculation on my part). It's too bad Kulick didn't write a "Reminiscence" as many former Ford employees and acquaintances did during the 1950's. He did dictate an autobiography to his sister-in-law in 1935, but only one page of survives.

It appears to me most of the Ford Specials were white, or cream colored. Below are several photos of Ford Specials.

First, two of the earliest articles I've found using the photo of Frank Kulick in what I believe is the M-III racer (298 c.i.). The earliest is dated May 5, 1911, telling us the photo was taken prior to that, and therefore before any of the 1911 track events Ford participated in, except the February 1911 Mardi Gras races in New Orleans (Ford sent two racers, more on that below).
Another photo used in the Ford Times, taken at New Orleans in February 1911. I believe this is probably the smaller Ford Special (228 c.i.), although the angle may be such that we just don't see the fake tank behind the firewall, in which case it could be the larger 300 c.i. racer.


The same photo, as it appeared in the Ford Times. One is colorized, and appears to look like white. Notice the oil to the rear of the racer and on the wheels. These race motors had auxiliary exhaust ports with a slide, and when kicked open, the motors spew oil from the left side of the motor, covering the rear of the racer.

More photos

This is a photo of the Ford Special that raced in the Syracuse races in 1910, one of Ford's first after returning to track racing in 1910. Specs listed with races reported this motor was a 201 c.i.:

This is one of the few photos I've found of the opposite side of a Ford racer, taken at the same races:
Below is one of the few photos where we see two Ford Special racers in the same shot. Frank Kulick is seated on the 389 c.i. racer (I believe this evolved into the lowered, 410 c.i. racer later this year) that won it's class (301-450 ci ) at the 1911 Algonquin races, finishing 2nd overall to a 150 ci Benz. Behind (in the closeup) is the other Ford racer used in that race, a 228 ci racer that competed in the 161-230 ci class, also winner of it's class:
This closeup of the photo above shows the other Ford racer, with a good look at the outline of the rear of the racer's drivers seat back:

Last for now.........

A few pics of the last, largest, Benz beating 410 ci racer.

This photo was taken at the Ford Detroit Branch in the winter of 1911/12, still wearing it's #5 from the September race with the Benz:

While it's difficult to see, the big Ford at the Detroit races in 1911:

Frank Kulick racing up one of the two hills at Algonquin, 1912, with the big Ford racer. He won both hills and set records on both. Both trophy's are at THF, like the big Ford racer, off display:

Another photo of Frank Kulick at 1912 Algonquin (I posted this earlier, but this is higher resolution without the watermark. Courtesy the Elgin Museum, all rights apply):
This photo appeared in a fall Ford Times magazine in late 1911. This may be one of the photos used at THF when they decided to "strip' the paint on the racer. Currently the racer is stripped, with no paint, just bare metal. One thing that stands out, the Bosch dual spark magneto has not been moved back behind the firewall, as it was in the 1912 Algonquin shot, and is today:

Last one for now. I've found two times Ford racers made the front page of foreign magazines. Both times, this French magazine featured Ford. First, Henry Ford driving the six cylinder racer:


The second, in 1911, when FMC sent a Ford Special to France. French Ford agent Henri Depasse drove the Ford special (just under 3 liter motor) to a 2nd place over finish in the prestigious Mont Ventoux hill climb. The distance and grades on this mountain are almost identical to the Pikes Peak climb: