After his first auto business failed, Henry Ford turned to racing to restore his reputation. The 1901 ‘sweepstakes race’ was not just Mr Ford’s first, it became the race that restored his credibility and encouraged lenders to back him in his next venture, The Henry Ford Company.


The 1901 Sweepstakes at The Ford Museum

In the summer of 1901, Henry Ford (38) was in hard times. His first car venture, the Detroit Automobile Company, had shut down after producing only about 20 vehicles in 2 years.

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His financial partners had begun to to question his skill as an engineer and prowess as a businessman. Mr Ford reasoned that building a fast and reliable race car will re-establish his credibility and his day came on October 10, 1901.

His one and only race at Grosse Pointe, Michigan against top racer Alexander Winton became a world changer by paving the way for an eventual establishment of The Ford Motor Company.

Ford had a strong backroom team. His lead designer was Oliver Barthel. Ed “Spider” Huff worked on the electrical system, Ed Verlinden and George Wettrick did the lathe jobs, and Charlie Mitchell was the blacksmith.



The car they produced was ahead of its day. The induction system was a crude form of mechanical fuel injection, patented by Ford. The spark plugs may have been the world’s first to use porcelain insulators which Ford had a Detroit dentist make for him. The insulators were to reduce inconsistent sparks which causes misfiring, a common problem for the early cars.

Ford also had a vision for the automobile as a mass-produced, inexpensive, reliable vehicle. At the time, that the automobile was a luxury machine for the rich and far beyond the reach of the average worker.

Henry Ford poses with a later model of his car

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Total U.S car production then was about 4,000 from more than 50 automobile companies. The industry had no clear direction and the major source of motor power was steam.

Mr Ford was certain that someone will enlarge the industry to the mass-automobile market he envisioned. He was eager to be the one who did it.

That’s why Ford and his team built their race car and named it “Sweepstakes” though it co-incidentally bore the same name with the race.

Automobile manufacturers had already started using racing to demonstrate the worth and superiority of their products.

Mr Ford entered Sweepstakes in the race event promoted by the Detroit Driving Club, to be run on the afternoon of Thursday October 10, 1901 on the club’s one-mile dirt oval in Grosse Pointe Michigan, just east of Detroit.

According to the published entry list, 13 of the race drivers were from Detroit. Others were from as far away as Buffalo, Pittsburgh and New York, but the favorite was Alexander Winton, from Cleveland.

An established, automobile builder, Winton was said to be the most famous and successful racer in the United States at the time.

The 10-lap race had a cut glass bowl trophy plus $1,000 prize for the winner.

The media and over 8,000 spectators were ready and so was Henry Ford and his ‘Sweepstakes.’

With an estimate of 26 horsepower, Ford and Barthel claimed the car peaked 72 mph (115.87 kmph) during its road tests. As at 1901, the official worldwide top speed for automobiles was 65.79 mph (105.88 kmph).

Many of the race cars had multiple issues; one even developed a mechanical fault on the start line. Soon the contestants had dwindled down to two.

The race was now between Henry Ford and Alexander Winton...

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Winton as usual was confident and his car, the “Bullet,” with about 70 horsepower, and a line of winning records gave him enough reasons to be so.

Henry Ford meanwhile had never raced before and his car produced just 26 hp. He was the undisputed underdog and the 8,000 spectators with the enthusiastic news media were almost certain who the winner will be.

It looked as though Winton would have a cheap win. He pulled away at the start and opened up a lead of as much as a fifth of a mile. Ford trailed by almost 300 yards. His inexperience was obvious; letting off the gas into the turns, while his opponent drove through turns with speed.

However, Ford improved his driving and slowly began to close the gap after 5 laps. On lap seven, Winton’s car suddenly developed fault and slowed down with sputter and smoke..

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