Update on 1910 Ford Special racer, and other Ford racer tidbits

[Rob]

Just received these from Peter Fawcett's shop. They are beginning to fashion the seats, then putting together other remaining bits and pieces. Meanwhile, one of the Ford Special racers may have been sold by FMC back in 1912.

[Rob]

Meanwhile, I've found two 1912 records of a Batavia N.Y. Ford (and other makes) dealer buying the Ford Special racer that won and placed second in races at Syracuse N.Y. in 1910.

I enjoy sourcing these stories, and sometime the newspapers tie in historic events of the period with the cars we drive and rebuild. In this case, two iconic moments. First, the Ford Special winning and running in front in the 1910 N.Y.
races:

Also at the race, watching the little Ford overachieve, Teddy:

This 1912 Batavia N.Y. article mentions that Ford dealer Raymond M. Walker has purchased the same Ford racer. On the front page of th daily paper the Walker Racer article appears in?

Reports that the Titanic survivors have just arrived at Cunard Pier in New York:

Corroboration to the story, from a collection of local history about area residents of the time:

[Rob]

I've been trying to determine which of the Ford Special racers our motor "resided" in. I believe it's the same 300 cubic inch motor used in one of the two Fords that ran (and won) several races at the Mardi Gras Speed Carnival in New Orleans in late February 1911. It also may be the same one sold to Walker in 1912. Our motor was set up for no muffler, while the other Ford racers I've found pics of (4 or 5 of these machines existed) could be equipped with mufflers or side pipes. Because our motor was placed in a traditional Ford chassis, the fourth cylinder is actually behind the firewall, and so the exhaust manifold just has one large opening just behind the right side of the firewall. This photo shows what I believe is the same racer (engine), with a fake "tank" on the firewall hiding the 4th cylinder:

Initially the previous owners thought this motor was sold on one of The Henry Ford deacension sales held in the 1980's. However, some information obtained with the project indicates the motor was acquired by 1957, and I don't know that any FMC sales occurred prior to that (although they may have).

Much more to learn......

[jagiven]

Very nice! Would love to see some detailed images of the engine, is there anything special about the drive train.

Thanks for posting

[Wayne Sheldon]

I think it is wonderful that you are researching this. For so many years, several of the photos of these special cars had been believed by many to have been simply modified model Ts. Now, many of those pictures are recognized as the truly special cars they are. I remember discussions 40 years ago at club meetings, anomalies were notice, and generally explained away as placement of the T engine, or that "tank" was the coil box.
For years, these were modified Ts. Then became maybe a "special". Then two, then three. Now maybe as many as five such cars built by Ford in a couple years time?
If I recall correctly what I read some years ago, the two cross-country racers built in 1909 were built on the regular (non-moving) assembly line in 1909. I wonder if these cars may have been built the same way? I would suspect not, as there do not appear to be many recorded remembrances of such a construction. I suspect these may have been a "back room" build. Otherwise, their specific histories would have been better known. However, that is just a speculation and question on my part.
I find it interesting that one of the article clippings above mentions the race car as "20 hp". I suspect Ford (the man and the company) may have been deliberately evasive about which car was which.
I find all this VERY interesting!
Thank you Rob!

[John Warren]

Thanks Rob, I really appreciate you sharing all this with us.

[DHort]

I wish Peter would show us step by step how he upholsters the seat. He does one super job
with fabric.

Thank you for the pictures Rob.

[OLDTGUY]

Thank you Rob for posting the pictures and the update.
J Jonas

[KeithG]

Hi Rob, Thanks for keeping us up to date on your big engine Ford racer. Looking forward to seeing it maybe sometime this summer......

Keith

[Rob]

Thanks guys. A few answers, and things I don't know regarding your questions.

As pointed our by Hap and others in an earlier thread, there is at least one (about #162,000?) production T in the production records as racer for Kulick. Ford did race production T's in a few competitions such as the Elgin Road Race, and appeared to promote the Ford special racers as "stock chassis" racers. However, sometimes the racers specs are given. I'm still trying to find one article I've seen but evidently didnt save, where a reporter thought the racer possesed a six cylinder motor. He thought it was six cylinder because he saw plug wires going to six plugs. What he actually saw were six plug wire going to three cylinder (Bosch dual ignition mag), and the fourth cylinder was hidden because of the long motor protruding rearward beyond the firewall (false tank in the newspaper pic above).

I'll post a few more articles and pics a little later this afternoon.