MTFCA Forum

120 years ago today (Wednesday, October 18th, 1905), newspapers around the country (U.S.) ran the story "No Dewar Cup Race."
The trophy, donated by Sir Thomas Dewar of England, was awarded to the winner of the fastest competition mile in the United States. The rules stipulated that the trophy could be competed for twice a year, and was first awarded to L. S. Ross, driving his steam race car in the 1905 Ormond Florida races held in January 1905.
Note: to read articles or for higher resolution photos, click on the attachment to open the file.
Henry Ford challenged Ross for the Dewar Cup as stipulated by the rules, and Walter Christie, inventor and driver of the Christie Special soon joined the challenge in the spring of 1905. Ford had hoped to challenge for the trophy as well as world mile record at the Ormond (Daytona) Beach Races in early 1905, but a broken crankshaft prevented him from participating in the races with his new six cylinder racer.
Initially Ford hoped the trophy race would be sanctioned at the upcoming New Jersey Beach Races, held at the end of August (Cape May, New Jersey) and first week of September (Ventnor Beach, Atlantic City, New Jersey). The Dewar Trophy race wasn't sanctioned, but Ford, as well as Walter Christie with his Christie Special, Louis Chevrolet driving a Fiat, and A. L. Anderson driving a Darracq did attend the beach races. During the second race at Ventnor Beach (Atlantic City), Ford beat the Darracq in the competition mile (the same race the Dewar Trophy was sanctioned for), setting a new world's record. However, the record was disallowed by the racing committee because the Ford six cylinder racer crossed the start line ahead of the Darracq (these were rolling start races, with the cars starting out 1/2 to 1 mile ahead of the start line, in order to be at or near full speed when reaching the mile start). While the record was not allowed, it showed that Ford with his six cylinder racer was capable of beating the time set by Ross earlier that year at Ormond:
Again Henry Ford applied for sanction of the Dewar trophy race, this time with the race sanctioned to occur on the
18th of October, 120 years ago,

To be continued................

This article places into context what Henry Ford was challenging for in June 1905. This July 1905 article ran in major and local newspapers, explaining the significance of the mile competition record as well as the the world record time at that point. It also brings into context the significance of Fords six cylinder racer running well under the record time at the New Jersey beach races later in the summer of 1905: