Travel In 1904, near the corner of Granada and Route A1A, Flagler built his famousOrmond Garage as a tourist attraction − the area became known as“Gasoline Alley.”Numbered among the garage patrons was Henry Ford, who slept there in his car to avoid the high room rates at the OrmondHotel. Louis Chevrolet and Glenn Curtis (of later aeronautical fame) also used the facilities for “fine tuning” their machines. By 1908, Henry Ford could now afford to stay at the Ormond. His new machine “999,” driven by popular driver Barney Oldfield, became famous for never winning. Unable to break the record, it was believed that Ford was more interested in marketing the vehicle and ensuring that it was (slowly) visible to the wealthy folk who gathered to watch the races. Sadly, frequent accidents marred some of the events. Most notably, in 1907 Fred Marriott, driving a wickedly fast Stanley Steamer, decided to try and break the speed record on a day of high tide and windy conditions. He hit a bump in the sand and was sent catapulting into the surf, suffering many injuries as well as the loss of sight in one eye. The machine broke into several pieces with the boiler flying through the air to land beside him. As the years progressed, the racing machines became more streamlined; one of the most famous contenders was Captain (later, Sir) Malcolm Campbell in his Napier “Bluebird I.” In February 1928, Campbell broke the world speed record at 206.96 mph (333.1 km/h). Between 1928 and 1935, Campbell campaigned five of his famousBluebirdracing cars setting five world records, although his goal of reaching 300 mph (482.8 km/h) eluded him until he raced on the Salt Lake Flats in Utah. Interestingly, an early version of high technology was used to record the exact time at which Campbell crossed the finishing line. Trip wires were stretched across the course and attached to an electric clock in a special course-side wooden building. This system could record the time to an accuracy of 1/100th of a second! With the rapid growth of interest in racing, it soon became evident that grandstands would be needed so that all could enjoy the action. Erecting multiple stands along the straight nine-mile course was impractical so in 1936, beach racing moved to the first of the oval race courses held partly on the beach and on a closed section of Atlantic Avenue (A1A). Olds Pirate Henry Ford’s “999” Henry Ford’s “999” Winton Bullet 30 | www.snowbirds.org
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