Legends: Alexander Winton

On Oct. 10, 1901, Alexander Winton, an accomplished driver and experienced automobile builder from Cleveland, Ohio, challenged a 38-year-old unknown man from Detroit, Mich. It was 10 laps around the Detroit Driving Club in Grosse Point, Mich. And, if you’ve driven a Ford lately, you know Winton didn’t win.

During an era when automotive competition was fierce and reputations were fragile, historians will tell you that Henry Ford’s victory was just the right dash of confidence — not to mention financial support — Ford needed to get his business rolling. Eighteen months later, Ford Motor Co. was established. Before the race, Winton was well on his way to becoming a legend. The son of a farm-tool maker, he moved to New York City from Scotland on June 20, 1860 at age 20. Winton began experimenting with gasoline engines and in 1895 he put one on a bicycle. A year later, he announced his first gasoline car with a two-cylinder engine, an electric ignition and a weight of 1,000 pounds (450 kilograms). In an effort to drum up excitement for his car and the Winton Motor Carriage Company, Winton drove with a company employee to New York City from Cleveland in one of his prototypes. Two years later, he repeated the trip, but took a newspaper reporter along for the ride. That year, with the public keen on his concept and his vehicle splashed all over Scientific American magazine, Winton recorded his first sale for $1,000. It was the first time an American company sold a motor car. By year’s end, Winton sold 21 more. His vehicles were the first to use a steering wheel instead of a handle. The engine was in the front of the car and not under. By 1899, with more than 100 Winton automobiles delivered, he was the largest manufacturer of gasoline-powered vehicles in the United States. The same year Winton sold his first car, Henry Ford interviewed for a possible job. Winton was reportedly unimpressed and Ford went back to Detroit and in less than three years was beating Winton at his own game. Despite this, between 1910 and 1924, sales of his vehicles continued to flourish. But the business was rapidly changing. Soon, dozens of new automobile companies started up and rapid innovation led to intense competition. After refusing to acknowledge the trend toward less expensive cars and assembly-line techniques, Winton eventually quit making cars in 1924. His legacy, however, includes more than 100 patents instrumental in the early development of vehicles and engines.