Edsel Ford Speaks about Racing in America

Last night, I had the privilege of hearing Edsel Ford II, great grandson of Henry Ford, talk about his grandfather and also about a special new exhibit going up in the museum Henry founded. Racing in America will cover all forms of American auto racing, focusing on the theme of innovation.

Taking up 22,000 square feet in the museum, which is 10 miles west of Detroit, the exhibit will cover stock cars, open-wheel cars, sports cars, drag-racing vehicles, winged sprinters and land-speed-record cars.

The Henry Ford Museum itself is much more than just a car museum, although there are plenty of them in there. Its 250-acre campus features five unique attractions and contains more than 26 million artifacts that help teach visitors--and future generations--about the genius of ordinary Americans. More than 1.6 million people visit each year--including more than a quarter of a million school children.

I'll have to make of point of going as soon as I can get back there.

Mr. Ford told us about his great grandfather's race in 1901, in which he entered a lightweight but durable vehicle--called "Sweepstakes." By outlasting the competition and being piloted effectively by the first time racer. Mr. Ford himself, it won. Sweepstakes was discovered years later in the Ford collection and has been restored. That win helped launch support for the Ford Motor Company--and the rest is history.

Now, Mr. Ford is seriously seeking the glass punchbowl which was given to Henry Ford as the prize for his only race. If you know the whereabouts of the punchbowl, be sure to let the museum know.