Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611

  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
The Hardest, Longest Race: Henry Ford and the Cross-Country Contest That Changed America

The Hardest, Longest Race: Henry Ford and the Cross-Country Contest That Changed America

Moskowitz, Eric

Hardcover

Motor SportsAutomobiles20th Century United States History

Publisher Price: $31.00

ISBN10: 1250282675
ISBN13: 9781250282675
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: Jun 2 2026
Pages: 368
Weight: 1.29
Height: 1.28 Width: 6.49 Depth: 9.49
Language: English

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.

Also in

Motor Sports

View All