2004 Event

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This is the 2005 Site
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Birthplace 2006 Stanley Website

2005 Site:

 
Re-enactment on 1/8 mile beach sand        

 
Press Release  Jan. 14, 2005

 2005 Birthplace of Speed celebrates world records, Ford’s legacy, and re-creates trotter horse vs. steam car showdown
 
ORMOND BEACH, Fla. – Three world records in 30 minutes, the legacy of a young inventor named Henry Ford and a showdown between a horse and a steam car will highlight this year's Birthplace of Speed Centennial, Jan. 28 and 29 on the hard-packed sands of Ormond Beach.

This year’s event will focus on the 100-year anniversary of Henry Ford’s first time trials in Ormond Beach, as a young inventor building his automotive empire that changed the world. 

Activities will include displays of antique and replica cars from the turn-of-the-century, beach time trials, strolling musicians, and a re-enactment of a historic race between a trotter horse and a steam car. The historic Ormond Garage, which opened in 1905, will also be remembered. 
  
The 2005 Centennial will bring together many early race cars with a colorful history of their own.  Many of the drivers will be decked out in period costumes. Fans will have a chance to watch some of the most famous antique race cars in the world, talk with the drivers and owners, and experience history first-hand.

Book signing:  On Friday, Jan. 28, the event kicks off with a book signing by, “Racing on the Rim,” authors Dick and Yvonne Punnett at 10 a.m. at The Casements, 25 Riverside Drive. 

Practice Trials:  Practice runs for the historic time trials will take place from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. on the beach, just south of the Granada approach. At 6 p.m., there will be a public reception and display at The Casements.

Walk the measured mile:  On Saturday, Jan. 29, there will be a measured-mile Walk-A-Thon at 9 a.m. (check in at The Casements).

Historic Time Trial re-enactments:  The main event, the Historic Ormond Time Trials, will take place on Saturday from 2:30 - 4:30 p.m. on the beach. The historic trotter horse versus the steam car race re-enactment will take place at 4:30 p.m.

Awards Banquet:  A participants’ dinner and awards banquet will be held at 6:30 pm. Saturday at the Anderson-Price building on north Beach St.

The 1905 races confirmed the worldwide reputation of the Ormond-Daytona beaches as the top proving ground for auto racers and manufacturers.  At least eight world land-speed records were set here in 1905, highlighted by the world record for the mile topping 100 mph and being shattered three times within 30 minutes on Jan. 25.

Many more American and world land-speed records were set on the beach over the next 30 years, building the city’s Birthplace of Speed reputation, which led to beach stock car races in Daytona Beach, the founding of NASCAR and the Daytona 500.

The first Birthplace of Speed Centennial, in March, 2003, celebrated the 1903 Challenge Cup Mile won by the Winton Bullet against the Olds Pirate.  Several thousand fans were on hand to watch a final showdown featuring Bill Barnes of Louistown, Pa. driving a 1906 Stanley Steamer that outran David North of Easton, Md. in his 1921 Mercedes.

The event is presented by Ormond Beach Leisure Services.  Major sponsors include: the Motor Racing Heritage Association, Carrabba’s Italian Grill, National Parts Depot and the Ormond Beach Historical Trust.

Contacts: Stefan Sibley, Events Coordinator, Ormond Beach Leisure Services, (386) 676-3241 sibley@ormondbeach.org
- Joe Radcliffe, Ormond Beach PIO (386) 615-7021 radcliffe@ormondbeach.org
- Dan Smith, Beach Race Director, (386) 676-3241  apes123@mybluelight.com
- Official 2005 Birthplace of Speed web site:  www.birthplaceofspeed2005.com

       
Early 1900's  Napier                                                                                                 Henry Ford & the '02 Ford 999   

The City of Ormond Beach Leisure Services Department and the Motor Racing Heritage Association, are pleased to invite you to participate in the Birthplace of Speed Centennial Celebration for 2005.

                                                                                         
Activities begin on Thursday, January 27th, 2005. See the Schedule. 100 years ago, the Napier and Henry Ford’s Model K were on our hard packed sands and made history!

Featured Cars For 2005

This is the original car that is in the Freemantle Motorsports Museum in Australia. Unfortunately it can NOT be here, but we wanted you to see it. (More Pictures)

"This extraordinary photo is shot at the end of January 1905 and shows the ace driver Arthur Macdonald, at the steering wheel of the Napier L.48, when competing in the Speed trials at Ormond Beach in Florida. The car is equipped with a 6 cylinder engine of about 848 cubic inches (6 x 5 inch), was rated 100hp. The Napier won several races during this event : the five miles race in 3 min 17 sec; the Bowden Cup -one kilometre- in 23 sec; the flying mile race. During this last one, the huge Mercédès of H.L. Bowden beat the world record in 34,2 sec but it was not accepted as the car, driven by two 60hp motors in tandem configuration, gave the car a weight of more than the 1000kg limit set by the Automobile Club de France. So, the Napier L.48 was declared winner as it only took one fifth of a second more than the Mercédès. A 20hp White steamer performed brilliantly in the one mile race -the Dewar Cup- being winner in a comparatively slow time of 43 sec. After that competition, the Napier was brought back to Europe in time to participate to the Gordon Bennett Cup held in the Auvergne region of France. But this is another story. Using some parts of the original Napier L.48, Mr.. Chamberlain in Australia built, some years ago, a very nice reconstruction of L.48. The car was at the 2000 edition of the Goodwood Festival of Speed and it also ran in various VSCC events.
 

Ormond 1905 was the setting for a new automotive speed record--a breathtaking 105 miles per hour. The Flying Dutchman II , a stretch Mercedes, raced across the sand on two 60-hp engines, with Bostonian H.L. Bowdin at the wheel. Scarcely slower was the Teakettle, a freakish 20-hp steam car. However, the event winner was a 1904-5 Napier.

FORD:
 

Join Us January 27-29, 2005
and help us Re-Live and Re-Make History