Eric Moskowitz

I expected to enjoy this book, but not as much as I did. This was the fascinating story of Henry Ford and the Cross-Country Contest that Changed America.. "Officially they dubbed this The International Automobile Endurance Contest for the M. Guggenheim Trophy and a Motor Contest from Ocean to Ocean, rebranding it after the word race had caused convulsions in the auto world, although many still called it the Ocean-to-Ocean Race anyway." And what a race it was! Henry Ford was the driving force show more behind this race as he wanted to showcase his Model T automobile and he thought this race would prove it to be one of the finest cars on the road (although there weren't a ton of cars on the roads in 1909). The race was rumored to have approximately 75 cars expected in January, but by March only 3 companies showed up: Ford, Acme, and Shawmut. No worries, though - there was plenty of action to keep you interested. This isn't a book with just numbers and facts, dates and stats thrown at you, it gives you story after story about what happened on that long road, not only those of the drivers themselves, but also the people in the towns they passed through, and how they reacted to the race.

To be the first car to cross the finish line, the cars were stripped down as far as possible to lighten their weight, and the poor drivers, with no roof, windshield or windshield wipers to protect themselves, felt every bit of it. When the weather was bad, as it often was, mud was constantly flying up and landing on their goggles, making it extremely hard to see, especially when they drove at night. When I tell you that they were dedicated to coming in first, even when it meant driving on roads that were barely there and giving up sleep when necessary, I mean it. They were all good men, but it was hard not to root for the underdog, the Shawmut. There wasn't a moment in this race that wasn't exciting, in my opinion, because the first three cars, the 2 Ford Model Ts and the Shawmut, were constantly leap frogging between first, second and third places. There were some rules that they had to abide by, such as checking in at pre-determined points throughout the race, and not replacing certain parts on their cars if they broke (those parts were stamped with numbers before they left and these were checked when they got to the finish line, which ended up being a problem for the Model Ts), but other than that they were pretty much on their own. I honestly don't know how they did this, physically and mentally, because they had to deal with just about every type of obstacle you can think of in a cross country race.

All in all, I couldn't stop reading this book because the cars were so close together across the whole of the USA, and I couldn't wait to see what happened next. I found this story fascinating, and Eric Moskowitz's writing style made the story a very easy and quick read. I highly recommend this book to car lovers, and lovers of history, as well.

5/5 stars.

*** I would like to thank NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Eric Moskowitz for the opportunity to read and review this book. show less

No one alive remembers a time when motor vehicles weren’t an essential part of our lives, yet little more than a century ago they were largely considered more a novelty for the rich than a reliable means of transportation for the masses. Roads were either non-existent or made for horses or wagons. The Ford Motor Company was just one of many companies struggling to make a name for itself in the new market and newspaper reporters were as likely to mistakenly refer to its founder as Jack show more Ford, or J.K. Ford, as to get his name correctly.
All that changed in 1909 when Robert Guggenheim and the Automobile Club of America sponsored an ocean-to-ocean auto race to draw attention to the Alaska-Yukon Pacific Exhibition currently being held that summer in Seattle. Although fewer than half a dozen cars participated in the race, it had an impact on American life that we can still see today. Henry Ford, ever the astute businessman, saw the race as an opportunity to showcase his new Model T roadsters, and entered two of them into the race, convinced that the spectacle was the perfect way to convince Americans that the Model T was something they needed and that they could afford.

The stripped-down Ford cars were smaller and lighter than the other competitors and many considered them unlikely to survive the rigors of the rocky roads that existed at the time. But Ford, seeing the race as an opportunity to sell America on his light-weight, affordable cars, pulled out all the stops. Capitalizing on his nationwide network of Ford Company agents, a robust advertising campaign, and a willingness to occasionally ignore or break the rules, he set out to prove to the world once and for all that his automobiles were the best.

Thanks to diligent research by Eric Moskowitz, readers can follow along teams of drivers battled breakdowns, crashes, mud in Kansas and snow drifts in Washington to drive their cars across the country from New York City to Seattle. In the process, they left behind them a nation changed forever. The exponential auto sales that followed the race spurred the construction of roads, created new industries and suburban communities, innovations made possible due to the increased mobility offered by automobiles.

*The review was based on an advanced reading copy obtained from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

FYI: On a 5-point scale I assign stars based on my assessment of what the book needs in the way of improvements:
*5 Stars – Nothing at all. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
*4 Stars – It could stand for a few tweaks here and there but it’s pretty good as it is.
*3 Stars – A solid C grade. Some serious rewriting would be needed in order for this book to be considered great or memorable.
*2 Stars – This book needs a lot of work. A good start would be to change the plot, the character development, the writing style and the ending.
*1 Star – The only thing that would improve this book is a good bonfire. show less