On June 21, 1907, Ford Motor Company entered three cars in a 24 hour race at the Michigan State Fairgrounds. A total of ten cars entered, with the race beginning at 10:00 pm on the longest day of the year (June 21). At this time, Ford Motor Company was the largest automaker in the world, and produced more 4 cylinder, and 6 cylinder cars than any automaker in the world.
Several of the best drivers in the world entered, and were featured in advertising. Eddie Bald would years later be listed as the best driver of 1907. Herbert Lytle was a Vanderbilt Cup participant, and widely followed across the U.S.. Mongini was a famous Italian driver, who would later in 1907 win a 24 hour race himself. Kid McCoy was a well known former prize fighter. He would later become a Ford Agent in Pittsburg, and Charles Coey was a well known Thomas Flyer agent from Chicago, who would go on to produce the Coey Special, his own creation using a Thomas chassis. Cory also won a 24 hour race later the same summer.
The cars entered included a 50 hp Pope Toledo, as well as a 50 hp Pope Toledo special racer, with Lytle one of the two drivers. The well known Thomas Flyer. In this race, Coey ran two Thomas Flyers, one the same model as the Thomas Flyer that would win the 1908 New York to Paris race, as well as a special 60 hp Thomas racer.
McCoy and Eddie Bald teamed with a 40 hp Underslung. Mongini drove two Stevens-Duryea and also entered were Buicks and one Wayne.
While Frank Kulick was a nationally known driver, he wasn't listed among the headliners in the advertisement.
For 1907, ten sanctioned 24 hour races were held across the country. Lozier, Autocar, Thomas and Locomobile were winners in some of the other races. Five of the 24 hour races were single car, two driver affairs, and five were two car, two driver races, as was the one in Detroit. The reason for two cars was so the crowd would in theory always see five to twelve racers on the track at all times. However, the number of cars, pit crew, tires and parts required for two cars was also doubled, creating a major expense for dealers and sponsoring automakers. For the Detroit race, Ford entered a Model K (two cars) and two Model R (four more cars total).
Following are copies of a series of telegrams sent by FMC to dealers branch managers across the country as the race progressed. In addition, several evening and early morning newspaper editions carried updates of the race throughout the morning and afternoon of June 22. Initially, Henry Ford dictated that the Ford six should begin with a 40 mile per hour pace through the early morning dark hours. As the sun appeared (some reports read that first light came between 2 and 3 a.m. on this, the longest day and shortest night). The Ford six was initially in fourth place, behind the 50 hp Pope, Thomas Flyer and American Underslung. However, during the night, the American dropped out, and Kulick, driving the Ford, began to increase speed and gain on the other two leaders, the Thomas and Pope. The telegrams below were converted into an ad by the Cincinnati dealer:
This article shows that by the 14th hour, the Ford Six has taken the lead:
Next, to the victor, the spoils...........
115 years ago today, Ford Motor Company set their first stock automobile world record.
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Re: 115 years ago today, Ford Motor Company set their first stock automobile world record.
More wonderful details!
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Re: 115 years ago today, Ford Motor Company set their first stock automobile world record.
Eddie Bald was a test driver for Columbia in Hartford, CT.
No Fords here, although 24 Hour "Grinds" were also popular here in the east at the Brighton Beach track
at Coney Island, NYC, and at the Point Breeze track in Philly.
Photos below from the Peter Helck Photo Collection and show some of the action at pit stops in
these events. See more 24hr races and view more photos @ https://theoldmotor.com/?s=24+hour+Race 1907 Brighton Beach, NY 24-hour race. It was won by Montague Roberts, who along with the
crew are seen with the winning Thomas-Flyer 4-60. Roberts also drove the winning NY to Paris Race
Thomas Flyer here in the US. May 1910 Brighton Beach 24 hour event, Simplex Pit above, note the wooden "Quick Jack" in the Buick
pit below. "Quick Jack" in the Lozier pit helped Ralph Mulford win the fall 1908 Brighton Beach 24 hr race .
No Fords here, although 24 Hour "Grinds" were also popular here in the east at the Brighton Beach track
at Coney Island, NYC, and at the Point Breeze track in Philly.
Photos below from the Peter Helck Photo Collection and show some of the action at pit stops in
these events. See more 24hr races and view more photos @ https://theoldmotor.com/?s=24+hour+Race 1907 Brighton Beach, NY 24-hour race. It was won by Montague Roberts, who along with the
crew are seen with the winning Thomas-Flyer 4-60. Roberts also drove the winning NY to Paris Race
Thomas Flyer here in the US. May 1910 Brighton Beach 24 hour event, Simplex Pit above, note the wooden "Quick Jack" in the Buick
pit below. "Quick Jack" in the Lozier pit helped Ralph Mulford win the fall 1908 Brighton Beach 24 hr race .
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Re: 115 years ago today, Ford Motor Company set their first stock automobile world record.
Thanks David.
As the photos show, the 24 hour races were quite an affair. Each team had tents (pits) with parts, supplies, and everything (hopefully) to keep the cars on the track.
By the end of the race at Detroit, the Model K Ford had set a new world 24 hour record, traveling over 300 miles farther than the last record holder, a National. The Pope Toledo and Thomas both surpassed the record too. Lytle s Pope racer went through the fence in about the 11th hour, and Pope was allowed to press another Pope into action. As it turned out, Pope Toledo suffered two wrecked cars at the meet, as another had been wrecked during warmups prior to the race.
Newspapers and magazines throughout the U.S. and around the world reported on the race, and the Ford Six's spectacular win.
As the photos show, the 24 hour races were quite an affair. Each team had tents (pits) with parts, supplies, and everything (hopefully) to keep the cars on the track.
By the end of the race at Detroit, the Model K Ford had set a new world 24 hour record, traveling over 300 miles farther than the last record holder, a National. The Pope Toledo and Thomas both surpassed the record too. Lytle s Pope racer went through the fence in about the 11th hour, and Pope was allowed to press another Pope into action. As it turned out, Pope Toledo suffered two wrecked cars at the meet, as another had been wrecked during warmups prior to the race.
Newspapers and magazines throughout the U.S. and around the world reported on the race, and the Ford Six's spectacular win.
Last edited by Rob on Thu Jun 23, 2022 12:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: 115 years ago today, Ford Motor Company set their first stock automobile world record.
In two of the articles above, Ford advertised that they would sell any car directly from the track for list price. The reason for this was to demonstrate that the cars were stock models, not special racers, such as both one of the two Thomas and one Pope were specially built racers. However, some modern authors chose to view this in another light: from the late Beverly Rae Kimes book, 'The Cars that Henry Ford Built:".
"But Henry was only mildly impressed—sufficiently so to take promotional advantage of the victory, but in a rather backhanded way. He offered to sell thewinning car at the K's list price and "keep it in repair gratis for two years." Doubtless he didn t particularly want to have it around."
Meanwhile, Ford took advantage of the spectacular victory, advertising the win for months:
And Ford suppliers also got in the advertising "act."
Holley Magneto advertising promoted the unique magneto created by Ed Huff, patented to Henry Ford. The magneto was actually the worlds first CDI (capacitive discharge ignition) system used on a production automobile.
Even today, the Holley Foundation recognizes the magneto used by the Ford Model K in the 24 hour race held at Detroit. Unfortunately, the website doesn't mention the brand and model of car:
"But Henry was only mildly impressed—sufficiently so to take promotional advantage of the victory, but in a rather backhanded way. He offered to sell thewinning car at the K's list price and "keep it in repair gratis for two years." Doubtless he didn t particularly want to have it around."
Meanwhile, Ford took advantage of the spectacular victory, advertising the win for months:
And Ford suppliers also got in the advertising "act."
Holley Magneto advertising promoted the unique magneto created by Ed Huff, patented to Henry Ford. The magneto was actually the worlds first CDI (capacitive discharge ignition) system used on a production automobile.
Even today, the Holley Foundation recognizes the magneto used by the Ford Model K in the 24 hour race held at Detroit. Unfortunately, the website doesn't mention the brand and model of car:
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Topic author - Posts: 1431
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Re: 115 years ago today, Ford Motor Company set their first stock automobile world record.
Ford quickly capitalized on the record win with a publication of their own. Fortunately, several of these pamphlets describing the race exist today. Click on the link below to hear our own Bob Coiro narrate part of the Ford Motor Co. advertising pamphlet describing the 24 hour victory:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/p58sfoo1a28ft ... d.mp4?dl=0
Below, copy of the front cover of the pamphlet:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/p58sfoo1a28ft ... d.mp4?dl=0
Below, copy of the front cover of the pamphlet: