The hardest, longest race : Henry Ford and the cross-country contest that changed America / Eric Moskowitz.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Moskowitz, Eric, Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Ford, Henry, 1863-1947.

Ford, Henry.

Ford Motor Company.

Shawmut Motor Company.

Automobile racing--United States--History--20th century.

Automobile racing.

Automobile industry and trade--United States--History--20th century.

Automobile industry and trade.

Genre:

Informational works.

Physical Description:

x, 355 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, map ; 25 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : St. Martin's Press, an imprint of St. Martin's Publishing Group, 2026.

Summary:

"From Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Eric Moskowitz comes the riveting story of the first true coast-to-coast automobile race in U.S. history, a fast-paced tale of the gritty and determined drivers who braved hostile terrain, mechanical failure, and, shockingly, sabotage, to take home the gold. 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 "Ocean to Ocean" contest from New York City to the Seattle World's Fair, only three companies were brassy enough to show up at the starting line: Acme, Ford, and Shawmut. Oddsmakers favored the Acme and Itala, a pricy import also joining the race, while dismissing the pint-sized Ford - a homely little number called the Model T- and the long-shot Shawmut, struggling to survive after a factory fire. In fact, many didn't believe any of the cars would reach Seattle at all, as they would need to forge a 4,106-mile course of mountain ranges, mud bogs, washed-out wagon bridges, and harrowing canyon trails, long before the era of asphalt highways, seatbelts, and service stations. 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. The Hardest, Longest Race is a colorful tale of ambition and subterfuge, but it is also a love letter to America at the turn of the Twentieth Century. As a seeming people's champion-a car for the masses-traverses the vast nation, Moskowitz brings to vivid life the diverse populace and landscape that it would soon transform"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

The starting gun

Up atuomobile row

A 'frenzied, foolhard speed terror'

Muscling through the Middle West

Guile at Glasgow

'Mud, water, and glue'

Captured in Goodland

Ford's man in the mile-high city

Beware the unexpected

'A damned crooked deal'

Broken down by Bancroft

No. 2 to the fore

The Shawmut charges back

A case of 'auto intoxication'

Henry, Edsel, and the crack train of the Northwest

'The greatest thrill of my life'

Going on nerve alone

Clawing through Central Washinton

Bearing up under the news

Snoqualmie Pass

Breaking the tape

A scrap in Seattle

Carrying on

Epilogue

Afterword

Acknowledgments

Notes

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781250282675

1250282675

OCLC:

1532409226