MTFCA Forum

"Do you have any dates on the neighborhood street photos?" Alas, I don't. I wish I knew more about those two photos. A long shot, but does anyone recognize the neighborhood? The earliest clip I've found of Ford signaling his intent to enter the race was the 4/10/1909 Detroit (Evening) Times, with si...

Kenneth, these are great insights! Thank you for taking such a close look and going back to the start of the thread, too. Yes, Harper was an advertising copywriter. He had come from S.F. Bowser in Fort Wayne, though long before Bowser invented the automobile fuel pump. He got hired by Ford in the wi...

Dan, this is super helpful! Just want to make sure I understand ... since the early Ts did not have the removable cover on the crankcase that would allow you to remove the rod cap from below, replacing the connecting rod would have required taking out the one-piece/connected engine and transmission ...

Dan, that was really helpful — thank you! Especially the annotated photo in your second-to-last post. (Without that, believe it or not, I didn't quite realize the first time you posted it that I was looking at two parts of different widths, as opposed to the same parts angled differently.) And amazi...

"Again, the racers used wide track axles, best to utilize unknown pathways across America. Not only visible which is very obvious, but research prior by others in literature source given earlier from SAE author Curt McConnell of very good documented pub." Dan, thanks for the explanation and the pic ...

Hi everyone! Thanks so much for these replies, and please don't hesitate to continue to weigh in. Dan, thanks for confirming the wide track. Is that based on the visual appearance and proportions from the photos, comparing the axle yoke to spring perch hole on these versus standard Ts? Mark, I agree...

Hi everyone, long time! Almost two years, to be exact. I wasn't sure whether to revive this thread or start a new one, but I went with the former. It's been quite a journey, and life hasn't always cooperated, but I'm happy to report that I'm nearly done with the first draft of my book on the 1909 OT...

Wouldn't you know I just discovered that you *can* edit posts after the fact, thanks to the pencil icon. Keith, I just went back and fixed the dates. Really appreciate the attentive read.

Gratefully,
Eric

Keith, you're absolutely right! Thanks for catching that! I've been defaulting to 1909 so often while thinking of the race that I accidentally typed it instead of '08 in the dates above. The fire and the debut of the Model T in Boston both occurred on Nov. 13, 19*08*, not 1909. I'm a bit foggy, gett...

From Eric's Photo's & map I Google'd to find Today's location. Note the posts in front of the theater O2O pny2.png O2O pNY1.png O2O pny4.png -- -- The Nelson House across the street from the Opera House was a 50 room Hotel. There is a small park there with a Historical Marker about the Nelson House...

Now as to the Poughkeepsie photos I mentioned above ... Some of my favorite photos of the race were taken at the end of the first day in Poughkeepsie -- where the front desk of the Nelson House Hotel served as the first of 30 checkpoints in the race, and which also served as the first of six overnig...

Rob, may I ask where you found this? It's so cool to see! MTFCA - French article on race.jpeg I've searched for the race (articles and images) in as many online and brick-and-mortar places as I can think of or have access to, including newspapers.com, Genealogy Bank, ProQuest, NewspaperArchive, News...

This is a fantastic post. A wonderful read of many knowledgeable contributors. I cant wait to read the book. I am particulalry impressed by the pictures shared by Tom Rootlieb which were pictures I had never seen. Very much looking forward to reading more of this posty. Thanks so much, Warwick! I c...

Just digging out now after a full weekend. So many great posts here! I'm really grateful, and going to go through one by one. First, Dave, this one came in late Friday (early Saturday morning EST) just as I was writing my last post. I couldn't agree more! I definitely hope to take a renewed ride wit...

Eric, I've been interested in the O2O race for some time, in addition to being a great story in Ford history, but also because of my interest in Ford Model K and Frank Kulick. Rob, I'm so glad to hear from you! I had actually gone back through the search and read all of your Kulick posts a few mont...

Eric, My fondness for the # 1 Ford comes from having the opportunity to get a very nice and pretty correct replica of the # 1 Ford running, driving & taking it across the auction block of the Barrett-Jackson in 2015 in Scottsdale Az. I was impressed with the performance of the replica. Those short ...

Keith, I'm new here, but I can't resist a good search. Have you seen this? https://roadsterhouse.com/ray-nelson-car-collection https://roadsterhouse.com/history-gallery Apparently Ray used to loan his cars regularly to Hollywood for use in movies. The second link has a passage that says: "Tom Sparks...

Hi Eric, Just a thought because the # 2 Ford was eventually disqualified some attention to the # 1 Ford may be of interest also. As it was the real best performing Ford in the race. Craig. Craig, that's a great thought. Ford very much wanted the two cars to finish 1-2, with the specific expectation...

Been Here Before wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 08, 2022 2:08 pm

See AACA mag 1959.
Scan1909race1.jpg
Scan1909race2.jpg

George -- Thanks so much for sharing this! I had not come across it before, and it's great to see. I really appreciate it.

Tom, that's amazing that you went on the 75th anniversary run in 1984! Oh, how I wish I could have met Bert/Burt Scott's Jack, let alone Bert/Burt himself! Speaking of ... that nickname spelling is something I'm going to have to reconcile eventually. Scott's given name was Bernard William Scott. Asi...

And apologies for all the repeated uses of the word "terrific" above, lol ... I'm a sleep-deprived dad of two young children (my boys are 6 and 3) working on a book often in the late hours when the house is quiet, so sometimes the synapses aren't firing when it comes to synonyms (or anything else) o...

Dan, Tom, George -- this is all terrific! Thanks so much for all of this. Where to begin ... Dan -- what a pennant! Wow. And I agree, the account in Curt McConnell's Coast to Coast Auto Races of the Early 1900s is terrific; he really put in a lot of legwork, particularly studying newspaper microfilm...

Hi all, This is my first post, but I'm an enthusiastic reader/archival-searcher of the forum, as a writer and former newspaper reporter working on a book about the 1909 Ocean to Ocean Race. I'm wondering if any collectors or Model T historians here might have any photos, materials, or other ephemera...