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Finished three days at The Henry Ford and Detroit Public Library’s today. It was kind of a grab bag as it always is when looking for archival “treasures.” I came across photos from Ford’s Cape May competition in August, 1905. This was Ford’s second of three iterations of the six cylinder racer. The racer didn’t set any records, but in hindsight, was close to besting the top racers in the world.

First, the new photos, then a news magazine article and pics about the meet.

Henry Ford on the beach, with New York branch manager Gaston Plaintiff (left) and two other men. Ford has the goggles:


The six cylinder Ford motor:


Henry Ford testing the racer on the beach:


Results from the races. The Ford racer is mistakenly listed as “999:”


Tomorrow I’m driving home, about a 13 hour trip. I’ll get back to this after. Next are photos of Louis Chevrolet with his 120 hp Fiat and A. L. Campbell driving his 80 hp Darracq. They were Ford’s primary competition. Campbell would steal a world record from Ford and the six cylinder racer a week later, but that’s another story for another time.

Before getting on the road this morning:

A. L. Campbell with his 80 hp Darracq and Louis Chevrolet driving his 120 hp Fiat were faster than Ford at this meet. The fastest official speed was Campbell with 94.74 mph. Ford’s best came in at 90.45 mph. If one looks at the stock cars speeds, these speeds look significant. To put this in perspective, Henry Ford had set the world one mile record with 999 a year and a half earlier at 91.37 mph.

Campbell’s Darracq:

Chevrolet with his Fiat:

Back home from Detroit.

Motor Age had an article about the Cape May races that included the following photos, allowing identification of the photos above (they’ll be posted to the Detroit Public Library digital collection for online viewing):




Regarding the popular historical theory that Henry Ford was “forced” to build the 6 cylinder Model K, it should be noted Henry Ford began building the six cylinder racer in late 1904, racing between through 1907. Another fact is the last time we have record of Henry Ford driving a racer for time was a trial run of the six cylinder racer in September, 1907, but again, that’s another story.


Below is the three page article about the races that appeared in the August 31, 1905 “Motor Age” magazine:

A few weeks later, the Ford six racer ran on another New Jersey beach, setting the beach record, tying the 1 kilometer record, and making, then being denied, the one mile competition record. The six wasn’t finished yet.

Interesting cooling system on the Ford 6, never seen it in that way on the Big 6 racer, only the one with 'conventional' radiator in two versions :

Also found the cover of the Automobile Review with the Ford 6 racer, sadly could not dig up the article itself..

Only now it dawned on me... better put on my reading glasses, mixing up the different racers
The difference between a tiller and a steering wheel are not to overlook but i did...
And then there's the amount of cilinders, should have been obvious

Leo, good picks showing the progression of Ford’s racers. Thank you for posting them.

Below the progression between the first, and second (of three) six cylinder racers is shown. The first shows Henry Ford at the wheel of the first Ford Six racer on the sand at Ormond Beach, FL , early 1905. Longtime Ford employee Alex Degener is also in the photo:


For the beach races in late August and early September in N.J., the racer has been lowered with increased horsepower. Below is another photo with New York Ford Branch Manager Gaston Plaintiff on the left. Frank Kulick is carrying a monkey wrench as several men work on the racer:


A week later the racer runs at Ventor Beach, N.J., and sets a beach mile record while preparing for competition. The racer is about to set a record for the mile in competition, but the record doesn’t stand: