AUTHOR TALK The Hardest, Longest Race: Henry Ford and the Cross-Country Contest That Changed America

In 1909, America was home to 253 automakers, a landscape of visionaries, schemers, and would-be barons of the new century. But when playboy millionaire M. Robert Guggenheim announced an audacious coast-to-coast auto race from New York City to the Seattle World’s Fair, only three of those companies were brassy enough to show up at the starting line: Acme, Ford, and Shawmut.
Oddsmakers favored the Acme and Itala, a pricey import also joining the race, while dismissing the pint-sized Ford—a homely little number called the Model T—and the long-shot Shawmut, from a Boston company struggling to survive after a factory fire. In fact, many didn’t believe any of the cars would reach Seattle at all. But Henry Ford was intent on proving that the Model T could go the distance and beat out the muscular luxury cars—and he didn’t plan to leave it to chance. Indeed, a little over three weeks after the race began, a Ford crossed the line hours ahead of the Shawmut.
Except that victory was a fraud.
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This event will take place in the Auditorium and virtually through Zoom.
For more information, visit dearbornlibrary.org/calendar