Ford 999
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The Ford 999 was a nameplate attached to two distinct but similar racers built by
Henry Ford Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American Technological and industrial history of the United States, industrialist and business magnate. As the founder of the Ford Motor Company, he is credited as a pioneer in making automob ...
during the early 20th century. Though they began as separate entities, they were virtually mechanically identical, and parts (and ultimately names) were swapped between them as needed, making the identities and legacies inseparable.


Creation

Henry Ford had an early interest in racing cars, having built and driven "Sweepstakes", a model that won a race against
Alexander Winton Alexander Winton (June 20, 1860 – June 21, 1932) was a Scottish-American bicycle, automobile, and diesel engine designer and inventor, as well as a businessman and racecar driver. Winton founded the Winton Motor Carriage Company in 1897 in Clev ...
and other challengers in 1901. It was from the proceeds of this race that Ford created the
Henry Ford Company The Henry Ford Company was an automobile manufacturer active from 1901 to 1902. Named after Henry Ford, it was his second company after the Detroit Automobile Company, which had been founded in 1899. The Henry Ford Company was founded November 1 ...
. In March 1902, Ford left this original company over disputes with his stockholders and
Henry Leland Henry Martyn Leland (February 16, 1843 – March 26, 1932) was an American machinist, inventor, engineer, and automotive entrepreneur. He founded the two premier American luxury automotive marques, Cadillac and Lincoln. Early years Henry M. Le ...
, taking with him $900 and schematics for a planned racer. In Ford's absence, Leland took over the company, and made it into the Cadillac Motor Company later in 1902. Henry Ford collaborated with bicycle racer Tom Cooper and a team of several assistants to create two similar racing cars that were as yet unnamed. They were painted red and yellow, respectively. The result was a huge
engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ge ...
with a bare
chassis A chassis (, ; plural ''chassis'' from French châssis ) is the load-bearing framework of a manufactured object, which structurally supports the object in its construction and function. An example of a chassis is a vehicle frame, the underpart ...
attached to it, with no bodywork whatsoever. Both of the cars were extremely heavily engineered, with an 1156 cu.in.(18.9 L) inline-four engine,
flywheel A flywheel is a mechanical device that uses the conservation of angular momentum to store rotational energy, a form of kinetic energy proportional to the product of its moment of inertia and the square of its rotational speed. In particular, a ...
, a bore of and a
stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...
of . Power was quoted anywhere from 70 to . There was no rear suspension, no differential, and
steering Steering is the control of the direction of motion or the components that enable its control. Steering is achieved through various arrangements, among them ailerons for airplanes, rudders for boats, cylic tilting of rotors for helicopters, ...
was controlled by a crude pivoting metal bar, similar to a straight handlebar on a
mountain bicycle A mountain bike (MTB) or mountain bicycle is a bicycle designed for off-road cycling (''mountain biking''). Mountain bikes share some similarities with other bicycles, but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in r ...
, but with upright handgrips at the ends to operate it. The total cost of the project was $5000. Though Ford's name was attached to the cars and the ensuing legend, he had sold his stake in them for $800 to
Barney Oldfield Berna Eli "Barney" Oldfield (January 29, 1878 – October 4, 1946) was a pioneer American racing driver. His name was "synonymous with speed in the first two decades of the 20th century". He was the winner of the inaugural List of American ope ...
and Cooper when the cars had refused to start during a test drive two weeks before the first race. Ultimately, Ford abandoned his share of the racing money, but reserved the right to promotions and publicity of the cars, which secured his image behind their eventual successes. He meanwhile built up the
Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational corporation, multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. T ...
, which surpassed Winton in terms of production by the end of 1903. In summer of 1902, Cooper and Oldfield carried out further work and got the red one working. The red one was named 999 for the Empire State Express No. 999. No. 999 was a type 4-4-0 American
steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...
which had allegedly set a world speed record of on May 10, 1893, making it the first man-made vehicle to exceed under its own propulsion. The yellow one was named Arrow for the connotations of a sleek
arrow An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers c ...
flying through the air.**


Racing career

Oldfield, despite having absolutely no driving experience, learned how to race the 999. In his October 1902 debut, a five-mile (8 km) race known as the Manufacturers' Challenge Cup, despite a strong challenge from Winton once again (which was the rematch for which Ford had originally planned), Oldfield easily won. The 999 set a course speed record at the track at
Grosse Pointe Grosse Pointe is a group of five adjacent suburbs in the Metro Detroit, Detroit metropolitan area on the shore of Lake St. Clair. From southwest to northeast, they are: *Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan, Grosse Pointe Park *Grosse Pointe, Michiga ...
, and went on to tour America and score many other victories. Cooper retained ownership of the car for its racing career, while Oldfield ultimately pursued a racing career with Winton, against whom he had raced at the outset.


Ice speed record

Arrow also had a successful racing career, but its most famous incident was to come. It was crashed in September 1903 during a race, killing the driver Frank Day. However, Henry Ford bought back the broken car and repaired it with the intent of performing a speed run on a frozen lake. He renamed it 999, as the original red car had been retired already, and the press referred to it as the "new 999," "Red Devil," or a combination of the two. On January 12, 1904, in New Baltimore, Michigan, Henry Ford personally drove the rechristened 999 with his mechanic Ed "Spider" Huff at the throttle. A new land speed record was achieved of on an ice track carved into Lake St. Clair's Anchor Bay. It stood for only a few weeks, but this was ample time to bring more good publicity for Ford's new company.


See also

*
Land speed record The land speed record (LSR) or absolute land speed record is the highest speed achieved by a person using a vehicle on land. By a 1964 agreement between the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and Fédération Internationale de M ...


References

{{More footnotes needed, date=April 2009
Henry Ford and Racing





Detailed replica of the 999

Automobile Topics of Interest - October 5, 1902
7th segment includes a detailed description of the 999.
999 999 or triple nine most often refers to: * 999 (emergency telephone number), a telephone number for the emergency services in several countries * 999 (number), an integer * AD 999, a year * 999 BC, a year Media Books * 999 (anthology), ''99 ...
Wheel-driven land speed record cars 1900s cars Motor vehicles manufactured in the United States