Henry Ford Company

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Henry Ford Company was an American manufacturer of racing cars in Dearborn and existed from 1901 to 1902.

description

The company emerged from the Detroit Automobile Company . This was brought into being on August 5, 1899 by Henry Ford with the support of several financiers. As early as January 1901, after only twenty vehicles were built and a loss of $ 86,000, the project ended in fiasco.

Henry Ford brought about a refinancing of 28,000 dollars, provided by fifteen investors, not least because of his success in car races. On November 3, 1901, the company was re-established as the Henry Ford Company . However, Ford disagreed with its investors about the future model direction of the brand: While they insisted on a more luxurious model with a correspondingly higher profit margin per unit, Ford intended to produce a car that was as inexpensive as possible and wanted to make it profitable in large numbers. This led to a dispute and Henry Ford parted ways with the company in March 1902 with a small severance payment and the assurance that it would change its name so that Ford could continue to build cars under its own name.

In August 1902 the management brought in Henry M. Leland as an expert to assess the company for liquidation. However, this recommended the continuation of automobile production. The company name was no longer considered appropriate. On August 22, 1902, the name was changed to Cadillac Motor Company in honor of the city of Detroit's founder, Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac .

The 'Sweepstakes' race in 1901

'Sweepstakes' racing car in the Henry Ford Museum

In October 1901, Henry Ford made automotive history when he managed to beat Alexander Winton with his Winton Bullett I in Grosse Pointe . Thirteen vehicles were supposed to take part in the spectacular race, but only three made it to the start and only Winton and Ford into the race. Ten laps had to be completed on an oval course approx. 1 mile in length. Winton competed as an experienced racing driver and one of the most respected automobile manufacturers of his time and was such a big favorite that the organizers asked him about his wishes for the design of the cup even before the race. His Winton “Bullett” developed 70 hp and yet Ford surprisingly won the race.

Ford's team consisted of 6 people (including himself as a driver), the racing car was designed in a hurry and completed within two months. The frame was made of reinforced ash wood with a wheelbase of 2438 mm and a track width of 1422 mm. The suspension was provided by two longitudinally attached full elliptic leaf springs per axle. As a drive, Ford specially designed a two - cylinder boxer engine with a gigantic displacement of 8833 cm³ and 19 kW (26 hp) at 900 rpm (according to the calculation formula at the time). The cylinders were cast individually and the huge flywheel alone weighed 136 kg - with a total weight of the vehicle of around 1000 kg. The engine was mounted on the side under the driver's seat. Instead of a carburetor, Ford used a "vaporizer" ("evaporator"), an early form of fuel injection . The power was transferred to a central chain via a two-speed planetary gear , which passed it on to the differential on the rear axle. Sweepstakes had 28-inch wire -spoke wheels .

Sweepstakes was sold in 1902 and returned to Henry Ford's possession in 1936. Two replicas were made for a restoration . The original is in the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn.

Ford '999' and 'Arrow'

Ford 999 with racing driver Barney Oldfield and Henry Ford (4 cylinder, 18.8 liter displacement)

The successor to the sweepstake was the 999 and the practically identical Arrow , both financed by Tom Cooper. Both were created in the summer of 1902. The name '999' goes back to the driver Barney Oldfield . It was the name of a well-known locomotive from the American Locomotive Company (ALCo). In addition to Oldfield, the '999' was also driven by Harley Cunningham, Ford's financier and partner Tom Cooper and Henry Ford himself.

The vehicles were designed and built by Henry Ford and the mechanic C. Harold Wills ; he was later a key person in the development of the assembly line production of the Ford Model T and himself a car maker . This time the engine was a water-cooled four - cylinder in - line engine with overhead intake valves and a monumental displacement of 18.8 liters. He received a battery- controlled double ignition developed by Ed "Spider" Huff . The petrol and water pumps were driven by the crankshaft via gears . The performance data fluctuate between 50 and the rather unrealistic 100 HP according to the calculation method used at the time; one source cites 70 hp.

In order to save weight, the vehicle consisted of only the bare essentials. There was neither a gearbox nor a differential , only front suspension and an effective brake had to be retrofitted first. A body had not even begin and although two people were needed for the trip, was just a seat for the driver available. The mechanic (at Ford it was mostly Huff) was doing gymnastics on the chassis. The tires were custom-made by Firestone . The jackets of the tire were screwed to the rim , there was no profile .

Barney Oldfield won the Manufacturer's Challenge Cup over 5 miles (approx. 8 km) with the '999' on October 25, 1902 , again in Grosse Pointe against four competitors - and again Alexander Winton's "Bullet" was beaten; this retired after 4 miles with ignition problems. With his time of 5 minutes and 28 seconds, he set a new US record for circuit racing. Again with the '999', Oldfield was the first to drive a mile in a minute on June 20, 1903 at Fairgrounds Speedway in Indianapolis .

World record

The 'Arrow' was meanwhile driven by Frank Day for Cooper, who had a fatal accident with it in September 1903. Ford rebuilt the wreck and made improvements. Because the '999' was no longer racing, it renamed the 'Arrow' to '999'. The car was also known as the 'New 999' or 'Red Devil'.

This leads to constant confusion regarding the world record that Henry Ford set with this car on January 12, 1904. On frozen Lake St. Claire , it reached 91.37  mph (147.046  km / h )

Shortly thereafter, Cooper sold both racing cars; Henry Ford managed to acquire the original '999' in 1936. It is now on display at the Henry Ford Museum. A replica was made in 1966.

literature

  • Beverly Rae Kimes, Henry Austin Clark: The Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942. Krause Publications, Iola / Wisconsin 1985, ISBN 0-87341-045-9 (new edition 1996, ISBN 0-87341-428-4 )

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b fomcc.de: Detroit Automobile Company and Henry Ford Company
  2. ↑ a b c downshiftautos.com: Ford 999
  3. ↑ a b c fomcc.de: Ford '999' and 'Arrow'
  4. ↑ a b conceptcarz.com: Ford '999'
  5. ↑ firstsuperspeedway.com: The First Mile-A-Minute Track Lap
  6. ↑ .mshf.com: Ford 999