Quote:
Originally Posted by rotorwrench
Although it never went into production, the 999 race car was quite a feat of fabrication in 1902. It was a monster at 1156 cubic inches with 7.25" X 7" bore & stroke. The suction intake valves were likely not going to be reliable for any length of time but it worked well enough to win races and set records. The Arrow and 999 cars were actually only a product of some of Henry Ford's ideas as well as other fabricators and they didn't belong to Ford directly since he was only an investor in those cars. Henry Ford later built a race car developed from two model A engines in effect making it a 4-cylinder. He also raced a much modified model K until it was destroyed in a crash.
Just about any design was modern in those early years but quickly became obsolete as new ideas were brought forth to improve things for further reliability.
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Don't forget the one-off Model N that Henry had hopped up by adding 2 more cylinders. The car still exists in running condition and has been discussed here on Fordbarn. Apparently he was quite the street racer, according to a newspaper clipping from back in the day.