Transportation

Americans have always been a people on the move—on rails, roads, and waterways (for travel through the air, visit the National Air and Space Museum). In the transportation collections, railroad objects range from tools, tracks, and many train models to the massive 1401, a 280-ton locomotive built in 1926. Road vehicles include coaches, buggies, wagons, trucks, motorcycles, bicycles, and automobiles—from the days before the Model T to modern race cars. The accessories of travel are part of the collections, too, from streetlights, gas pumps, and traffic signals to goggles and overcoats.

In the maritime collections, more than 7,000 design plans and scores of ship models show the evolution of sailing ships and other vessels. Other items range from scrimshaw, photographs, and marine paintings to life jackets from the Titanic.

The National Museum of American History has a strong collection of early automobiles. The collection documents the great diversity of the early industry.
Description
The National Museum of American History has a strong collection of early automobiles. The collection documents the great diversity of the early industry. It includes electric-, steam-, and gasoline-powered vehicles and runs the gamut from unique one-offs like the Duryea to mass-produced vehicles like this 1926 Ford Model T.
When Henry Ford got into the car business in the late 19th century, he was one of a slew of inventors and entrepreneurs trying to break into the business. In the 1900s, there were hundreds of small companies making small numbers of cars for rich Americans. While large numbers of these early companies went out of business, the Henry Ford Motor Company dominated the U.S automobile market. More than 15 million Model T's were sold during its years of production (1908–1927), making it the most popular automobile of the time.
The Model T was cheap by comparison to other early automobiles and that, coupled with its availability, made motoring an option for many who had been initially priced out of the market. Price, and quantity of vehicles produced, reflected Ford's adoption of the moving assembly line and mass production techniques. The company's well-publicized success influenced the ways large American manufacturers produced goods of all kinds in the 20th century. Still, though Ford was a production leader, it was not an innovative marketer. In the 1920s, General Motors—afraid that the automobile market was hitting saturation point—introduced the annual model change, designed to encourage buyers to regularly trade in their cars for new ones. The strategy was successful and General Motors sales soared as Ford's plummeted. The company stopped producing Model Ts in 1927.
Date made
1926
founder of Ford Motor Company
Ford, Henry
maker
Ford Motor Company
ID Number
TR.333777
accession number
305326
catalog number
333777
George Selden's dubious claim that he invented the automobile cast a shadow on the early auto manufacturing industry. His claim rested on a patent application for a "road-engine" that he had filed in 1879.
Description
George Selden's dubious claim that he invented the automobile cast a shadow on the early auto manufacturing industry. His claim rested on a patent application for a "road-engine" that he had filed in 1879. A lawyer schooled in science, Selden was intrigued by the challenge of devising an engine light enough to propel a road vehicle. He designed a small, improved version of George Brayton's compression engine of 1872 and filed a patent application for "a liquid-hydrocarbon engine of the compression type" combined with broadly defined chassis components. Selden deliberately delayed issuance of the patent until 1895, when automobiles were attracting more attention. Soon a patent-pooling association of auto manufacturing companies demanded and received royalties from other manufacturers for the right to produce Selden's "invention." Henry Ford, then just entering the automobile industry, became locked in a highly-publicized legal battle with the Selden interests when his application for a license was turned down in 1903. Ford blasted monopolistic control and exploitation by the "automobile trust" and forever fixed his image as an independent businessman fighting a corporate Goliath for the good of all. Ford's victory in court raised his standing in the automotive industry and made him one of the best known businessmen in America. In 1911 the Selden patent was limited to vehicles with Brayton-type engines as modified by Selden, and his influence quickly faded.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1879
patent date
1895-11-05
inventor
Selden, George B.
ID Number
TR.252678
catalog number
252678
accession number
49064
patent number
549,160
In the 1930s, Dr. Claire L. Straith, a Detroit plastic surgeon who treated automobile accident victims, began a one-man campaign to eliminate head and facial injuries caused by steel dashboards, protruding knobs, and other car interior hazards.
Description
In the 1930s, Dr. Claire L. Straith, a Detroit plastic surgeon who treated automobile accident victims, began a one-man campaign to eliminate head and facial injuries caused by steel dashboards, protruding knobs, and other car interior hazards. He installed lap belts in his own car, and he designed and patented a dashboard crash pad. This example is the only remaining pad that Straith owned. In the 1940s, he unsuccessfully marketed an add-on dashboard pad that could be ordered by mail. Padded dashboards became standard equipment in 1949 Chrysler cars and in all cars by 1968.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2008.0073.01
catalog number
2008.0073.01
accession number
2008.0073
As America soared into the Jet Age, Chrysler touted the possible advantages of aircraft-style automobile engines over piston engines. In 1963 and 1964, Chrysler assembled 50 automobiles with turbine engines for consumer testing.
Description
As America soared into the Jet Age, Chrysler touted the possible advantages of aircraft-style automobile engines over piston engines. In 1963 and 1964, Chrysler assembled 50 automobiles with turbine engines for consumer testing. Special turbo motif bodies made by Ghia in Turin, Italy visually highlighted the futuristic promise of jet power. Three families in the Baltimore area and one in the Washington area took turns driving this car. The turbine engine was smoother and simpler than piston engines, but poor fuel efficiency, high emissions levels, and a peculiar lag when accelerating helped to kill the chances of a mass-produced turbine-engine car.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1964
maker
Chrysler Corporation
ID Number
TR.328002
accession number
272376
catalog number
328002
serial number
991245
This vehicle can navigate for itself, without a human in the driver’s seat or at remote controls.
Description
This vehicle can navigate for itself, without a human in the driver’s seat or at remote controls. The robot’s creators nicknamed the modified Volkswagen Touareg “Stanley.”
In a brief but spectacular racing career, Stanley beat twenty-two other robot vehicles for the $2 million prize in the Grand Challenge, held in October 2005 on a demanding 132-mile desert course near Las Vegas, Nevada. The goal of the race, sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), was to stimulate invention for a future fleet of driverless military ground vehicles. Congress funded the competition to support its directive that one-third of U.S. military ground vehicles be unmanned by 2015.
Stanley represents a promising research direction in artificial intelligence, or machine thinking. Through sophisticated programs in onboard computers, the vehicle decides how to navigate mapped terrain and unmapped obstacles in real time. It integrates a course map expressed in about 3,000 points of latitude and longitude, stored memory of past experiences, and new information about the road ahead gathered from roof-mounted laser sensors, video cameras, radar and GPS receivers.
Behind Stanley’s driverless accomplishment is the work of nearly 100 people at Stanford University and Volkswagen’s Electronics Research Laboratory (ERL), both in Palo Alto, California.
DARPA’s Grand Challenge of 2005 pitted autonomous vehicles against each other and a ten-hour limit on a punishing dirt course with steep cliffs, sharp turns, and countless obstacles. Only Stanley and four other competitors finished the course. The race’s experimental robots—all sponsored by businesses, universities and individuals—emerged from research for military purposes and demonstrated the feasibility of self-navigating vehicles.
Like the impact of integrated circuits, the Internet, and other technologies with strong military connections, the impact of the robot race is likely to be felt in other areas of American life, especially automotive safety.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
2004
maker
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.
ID Number
2008.0185.01
accession number
2008.0185
catalog number
2008.0185.01
This Pontiac No. 43 — that number was Richard Petty's hallmark, as No. 42 was for his father's cars — follows the 1984 design rules. Note the tubular space-frame, specially built body, racing wheels and tires, and safety gear in the interior.
Description
This Pontiac No. 43 — that number was Richard Petty's hallmark, as No. 42 was for his father's cars — follows the 1984 design rules. Note the tubular space-frame, specially built body, racing wheels and tires, and safety gear in the interior. Like current NASCAR racers, its engine is not fuel-injected but uses carburetion. The car carried Petty to victory in the "Firecracker 400" race at Daytona, on July 4, 1984. The car ran one more race that year, the Talledega 500 on July 29th, but did not finish, retiring with a broken differential immediately after its first pit stop. The car owner was Curb Motorsports, owned by Mike Curb, of the family owning Canon Mills and president of Curb Records. The car was repainted by the crew of Petty Enterprises, Randleman, before presentation to the Smithsonian in late 1984. The car is configured for the last time it ran, at the 1984 Talledega race, and has that engine installed. The tires, however, are Daytona tires.
A uniquely American type of auto racing is "stock car" racing. Bill France, of Daytona Beach, Florida, had witnessed the popularity of pre-war "beach racing." In the late 1940s, he organized beach races for car-owners who liked the idea of competing against each other with more-or-less "stock" automobiles. To help him set rules for stock-car racing, France created the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, NASCAR, in 1948. In 1953, France opened a new Daytona Speedway. NASCAR came of age in 1959, with the first running of the Daytona 500 - which was won by Lee Petty, Richard Petty's father, a three-time NASCAR national champion in his own right, during the 1950s.
Richard Petty, of Randleman, NC, began his racing in the early 1960s, winning his first Daytona 500 and first of seven NASCAR national championships in 1964. NASCAR racing in the 1960s consisted of many more top-rank (i.e., Grand National, Winston Cup, and now renamed Nextel Cup) races per year than today. The norm in the 1960s was some 50 or more such races a year. In 1967, Richard Petty won 27 of these (out of 48 races, which included winning 10-straight) to set an all-time record for the most victories in a season. Over his 35-year career, his record of 200 Grand National/Winston Cup racing wins is very likely never to be equaled. (In comparison, the driver with the second-highest total of wins in NASCAR races is David Pearson, with 105 over a 26-year career.)
By the 1980s, NASCAR race-car design rules had changed radically since NASCAR's first season in 1949. That year, NASCAR's series ran under "strictly stock" rules. Cars were - or were supposed to be - unaltered from production cars. But that idea ran counter to the decades-long "tradition" among auto racers of cheating under the hood and in the chassis, i.e., adding hidden changes to the engine and suspension to make the car a better performer. Bill France decided to allow certain modifications to both a car's stock engine and its chassis, and to enforce strict discipline against cheating by employing - to look over each car and its engine in detail before each race - a bevy of inspectors answerable to France. The race series was renamed the Grand National series in 1950, and occasional cheating was not, of course, entirely eliminated. Over the years, more and more departures from "stock" components were permitted by the frequently evolving rule changes - the objective of the rule changes, nearly every time, was to let the cars average faster speeds (which brought in more fans), while at the same time trying to eliminate unfair advantages among the cars (close racing, being more exciting, pleased the fans; a race season dominated by just a few drivers that could "run away from the field" in almost every race decreased both fan interest and the interest of other race-car owners to enter their cars).
By the 1980s, NASCAR race cars were no longer "stock" at all, being entirely purpose-built, with non-stock tubular space-frames eliminating the stock frame, specially designed springing, 700-horsepower engines in which only the stripped, basic block was "stock," and — significantly — added safety and fire-suppression equipment.
Only the basic shape of the hand-made body had to follow the lines of the stock model being represented. "Spoilers" - the lateral flap added to the rear of the "trunk" - used wind to keep the rear of the car down at high speed; headlights became decals; doors didn't exist (the driver climbed-in through the left-hand window opening). Today's NASCAR race cars have even dispensed with following a production car's body lines; the smoothly shaped front-ends of the race cars are designed to reduce wind resistance to a practical minimum. The NASCAR race-car design rules rigidly enforced today are, by far, the most complex of any motorsport; these rules are designed to equalize the cars as much as possible, to provide close, competitive racing.
Location
Currently on loan
Date made
1984
user
Petty, Richard
maker
Petty Enterprises
ID Number
1985.0009.01
accession number
1985.0009
catalog number
1985.0009.01
After earning his reputation as one of American open wheel racing’s best designers and mechanics during the front engine roadster era of Indy cars, Clint Brawner developed his first rear engine racer, the Brawner Hawk, in 1965.
Description
After earning his reputation as one of American open wheel racing’s best designers and mechanics during the front engine roadster era of Indy cars, Clint Brawner developed his first rear engine racer, the Brawner Hawk, in 1965. Several iterations of Brawner’s Hawks competed between 1965 and 1969. These speedsters not only were on the cutting edge of engine design and aerodynamics, but they also launched the career of racing legend Mario Andretti with five years of success behind the wheel of Hawks. Andretti drove a Hawk to a third place finish in the Indianapolis 500 with Rookie of the Year honors and continued to claim the 1965 USAC National Championship. The following year Andretti drove a Brawner Hawk to his second consecutive USAC National Championship. When Brawner’s Hawks were retired from competition at the end of the 1969 season, Andretti had driven a Hawk to his first Indianapolis 500 victory and a third USAC National Championship. At the 1969 Indianapolis 500, the STP Hawk No. 2 was designated as Andretti’s backup car, but when faulty hubs led him to crash his four-wheel-drive Lotus Super Wedge, his crew prepared the car that would be dubbed “The Cinderella Car” to race. Andretti took an early lead but soon fell back because the car was running hot. He drove on to lead 116 out of 200 laps, including the all-important last lap, and took the checkered flag. Andretti finished out the season driving the Hawk No. 2 and claimed the third of his four USAC National Championships. The STP Hawk No. 2 represents Mario Andretti’s only official Indy 500 win, STP CEO Andy Granatelli’s first Indy 500 win, and the mechanical tradition of innovation and excellence of the car’s creator, Clint Brawner. Most of the Indy cars had sleek, cigar-shaped bodies while the Brawner Hawk had a larger body with a flat bottom and the oil tank in front with the oil tubes running down the sides along the bottom, all of which created downforce. The STP Hawk No. 2 is one of the most iconic and significant cars in auto racing history. It represents cutting edge aerodynamics, innovative rear engine design, and the mechanical legacy of Clint Brawner.
Location
Currently on loan
date made
1968
maker
Ford Motor Company
Clint Brawner
Garrett Corp.
ID Number
TR.336463
accession number
1978.0418
catalog number
336463
In 1878, a Scottish immigrant named Alexander Winton arrived in New York City. By the turn of the century, he would be one of America’s best known automobile makers and race car drivers. The first Winton car was sold on March 24, 1898.
Description
In 1878, a Scottish immigrant named Alexander Winton arrived in New York City. By the turn of the century, he would be one of America’s best known automobile makers and race car drivers. The first Winton car was sold on March 24, 1898. Winton saw racing not only as a way to attract investors and customers but also as essential to developing and testing technologies for his production automobiles. He built the first of his three Bullet race cars in 1902. Winton built his second Bullet in 1903 to compete in the Gordon Bennett Road Race in Ireland. Built to withstand the rigors of 327 miles of rough Irish roads, Bullet No. 2 was more powerful and built with a heavier frame than the first Bullet. It had one of the first in-line, eight-cylinder engines, consisting of two in-line, four-cylinder engines bolted together. After a promising start, mechanical difficulties caused Winton to drop out of the race. Upon his return from Ireland, he announced his retirement from racing. Winton continued racing the Bullets with hired drivers behind the wheel. With Winton’s financial support, Barney Oldfield traveled across the United States performing automotive feats with a flamboyant style and his trademark cigar clenched in his teeth. On January 28, 1904, at the second Florida Winter Speed Carnival, Oldfield drove Bullet No. 2 a mile in 43 seconds, which was equivalent to 80 miles per hour and close to the world record at the time. In 1930 the Winton Engine Company donated Bullet No. 1, Bullet No. 2, and the first Winton sold to the Smithsonian Institution.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1903
restored
Stine, John
maker
Winton Engine Company
ID Number
TR.309603
accession number
105119
catalog number
309603
At the 1967 Indianapolis 500, STP CEO Andy Granatelli and his racing team unveiled one of the most innovative and controversial cars ever to race at the Brickyard. The STP Paxton Turbine Car was the first turbine-powered car to qualify for the Indianapolis 500.
Description
At the 1967 Indianapolis 500, STP CEO Andy Granatelli and his racing team unveiled one of the most innovative and controversial cars ever to race at the Brickyard. The STP Paxton Turbine Car was the first turbine-powered car to qualify for the Indianapolis 500. Vince Granatelli and Joseph Granatelli constructed the car in total secrecy but within all racing regulations. The car was propelled by a Pratt and Whitney turbine engine typically used in helicopters. During practice, onlookers dubbed the quiet vehicle Silent Sam while others called it the Whooshmobile, mimicking the whooshing sound it made passing by. The car featured four-wheel drive, a centrally located fuel tank, and a side-by-side design that placed the driver beside the mid-mounted engine. Andy Granatelli promoted his racer as the world’s first truly space age car. Racing legend Parnelli Jones manned the cockpit and dominated the race, starting from the first lap and leading 171 laps. With only three and one-half laps left to victory, a transmission bearing failed, and Jones coasted into the pits while A.J. Foyt took first place. “Silent Sam” lost the race but succeeded in shaking up Indy car racing. The STP Paxton turbine car launched a brief period of turbine Indy cars marked by intense debate and controversy. Many people welcomed turbine cars as innovations while others wanted them banned from competition. The 1968 Champ Car season saw several turbine racers brought by STP, Lotus, and Shelby. By 1969 racing regulations made turbine cars noncompetitive at Indy, and dual overhead cam engines became the sport’s mainstay.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1967
maker
Granatelli Enterprises
Paxton Corp.
ID Number
TR.336464
accession number
1978.0418
catalog number
336464
In 1878, a Scottish immigrant named Alexander Winton arrived in New York City. By the turn of the century, he would be one of America’s best known automobile makers and race car drivers. The first Winton car was sold on March 24, 1898.
Description
In 1878, a Scottish immigrant named Alexander Winton arrived in New York City. By the turn of the century, he would be one of America’s best known automobile makers and race car drivers. The first Winton car was sold on March 24, 1898. Winton saw racing not only as a way to attract investors and customers but also as essential to developing and testing technologies for his production automobiles. He built the first of his three Bullet race cars in 1902. On September 16, 1902, on a Cleveland horse track, Winton drove his Bullet ten miles in ten minutes and 50 seconds, averaging 55.38 miles per hour. On March 26, 1903, Alexander Winton in the Bullet and H. T. Thomas in Ransom Olds’s Pirate competed in the first Florida Winter Speed Carnival, though in separate classes. Winton drove his Bullet a mile in 52.2 seconds, averaging 68.96 miles per hour. On the Carnival’s last day, Winton and Thomas faced off in the first Ormond Challenge Cup. It was a close race, but Winton won by a fraction of a second. After the Carnival, many declared the beaches of Ormond and nearby Daytona to be perfect for racing. Ormond Beach soon became known as the “Birthplace of Speed.” On October 25, 1902, Winton and his Bullet suffered defeat to one of Henry Ford’s automobiles and met the man who would become America’s first celebrity race car driver. Barney Oldfield had made a name for himself racing bicycles and setting records across the country. Henry Ford knew of Oldfield’s racing talent and hired him to drive his new racer. Winton and Oldfield raced against two other competitors, Oldfield driving Ford’s 999 and Winton driving the Bullet. Winton fell back in the race when the Bullet started misfiring, and Oldfield lapped everyone to take the victory. Winton recognized Oldfield’s talent and soon hired him to race his cars, paying him $2,500 a year plus travel expenses and winnings. In 1930 the Winton Engine Company donated Bullet No. 1, Bullet No. 2, and the first Winton sold to the Smithsonian Institution.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1902
maker
Winton Engine Company
ID Number
TR.309602
accession number
105119
catalog number
309602
This plastic cup holder was manufactured for installation in General Motors sedans such as the Buick LeSabre, Oldsmobile Delta 88, and the Pontiac Bonneville.
Description
This plastic cup holder was manufactured for installation in General Motors sedans such as the Buick LeSabre, Oldsmobile Delta 88, and the Pontiac Bonneville. Its spring-loaded design allowed for two cups of various sizes to fit snugly at the center console.
In the 1940s and ‘50s, prior to the in-car cup holder, drivers typically consumed beverages when the vehicle was parked at places like drive-in theatres or restaurants. There, a restaurant employee would hook a tray holding food and drinks on the driver’s window; passengers had to hold their drinks or set them on the floor of the car. Since then, manufacturers have developed various devices to facilitate eating and drinking while on the go.
One big idea for keeping beverages upright in automobiles was introduced around 1955 and involved the glove compartment door. With two shallow wells for cups, the inside surface of the door created a tray when the glove box was opened. This design was effective in a stationary vehicle and was used until around 1980. In the meantime, during the 1960s and ‘70s, motorists tried using coffee mugs designed with wide, flat, rubberized bases that could be set on the dashboard without sliding around or tipping over. Around 1980, the in-car cup holder became an important feature in new automobiles. Since then designers have created a variety of models, placing them in convenient locations, like the center console and the door arm rests.
As more motorists were eating on the go and drive-thru dining became a more frequent choice among commuters and busy families, Americans wanted their cars to accommodate those changes. Cup holders had to be easily accessible and as spill-proof as possible so motorists could enjoy beverages while driving. It was not until the mid-1990s when manufacturers felt they had created a cup holder that could grip nearly every drink imaginable with the spring loaded designs that changed to fit the size of the drink. The number of cup holders a car contained became a huge selling point for new cars, and cup holders are now found in all areas of the vehicle interior. The functionality and convenience of cup holders has become a distinctly American obsession, reflecting the desire of Americans to do much more than drive and listen to music. The cup holder has helped the American car become an extension of the American home.
Ref: “Driving: Forget Options. Where Do I Put My Coffee?” The New York Times, July 19, 2002
“Driven to Drink,” Los Angeles Times, April 13, 1997
“Dinner at 70 MPH,” Los Angeles Times, June 10, 2007
“Cup holders paved way for interior car design,” msnbc.msn.com
date made
1992-1999
ID Number
2012.0135.01
catalog number
2012.0135.01
accession number
2012.0135
A funny car is a high-powered, computer-controlled dragster with a lightweight, molded body that somewhat resembles a production car. Bruce Larson and his crew designed and assembled this car in Dauphin, Pennsylvania.
Description
A funny car is a high-powered, computer-controlled dragster with a lightweight, molded body that somewhat resembles a production car. Bruce Larson and his crew designed and assembled this car in Dauphin, Pennsylvania. The body, which is made of carbon composite fiber, resembles an Oldsmobile Cutlass but weighs only 165 pounds. The chassis frame is made of chromoly (chromium molybdenum alloy) tubing. The aluminum engine burned a mix of nitro-methane fuel and alcohol and developed almost 4,000 horsepower. Larson won the National Hot Rod Association’s World Championship with this car in 1989. His top speed in the Finals was 278.55 miles per hour.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1988
maker
Oldsmobile Division of General Motors Corporation
ID Number
1989.0755.01
catalog number
1989.0755.01
accession number
1989.0755
From board tracks to the Indianapolis 500, auto racing in the 1920s attracted national and international attention.
Description
From board tracks to the Indianapolis 500, auto racing in the 1920s attracted national and international attention. Harry Miller's handcrafted race cars were the most sought-after entries because of their exquisite mechanical designs, outstanding performance, speed records, and sleek, aerodynamic beauty.
By 1926, as speeds increased, Indy authorities had reduced engine displacement to 91 cubic inches. Miller compensated by adding a supercharger and perfecting front-wheel drive, eliminating the drive shaft and lowering the car's profile. But a ban on superchargers and the onset of the Depression ended Miller's dominance. This car, one of two in existence, captures Miller's mastery at its peak.
date made
1929
driver
Hepburn, Ralph
Duray, Leon
ID Number
1991.0889.01
catalog number
1991.0889.01
accession number
1991.0889
In 1952, Leon Hurd extensively modified this 1932 Ford coupe, beefing-up the frame and installing stronger springs, and installing a 1942 Ford "59A"-block "flathead" V-8 engine.
Description
In 1952, Leon Hurd extensively modified this 1932 Ford coupe, beefing-up the frame and installing stronger springs, and installing a 1942 Ford "59A"-block "flathead" V-8 engine. Initially the car ran without fenders, during the short time that was permitted by the Atlantic Racing Association racing rules. (NASCAR was in its infancy.)
Hurd raced in New England from 1952 through 1955, winning more than 100 races in that time. The car carried racing number "00." In 1979, Hurd did some minor restoration on the car.World War II period saw a relative explosion of motor racing on both sides of the Atlantic and a proliferation of distinctly American types of racing with no counterparts in Europe. One such uniquely American type was "stock car" racing. Popular interest was whetted by races run with cars that were entirely like - or mostly looked like - those for sale in the showrooms or on the used-car lots. Fans could cheer for cars that looked like the cars they drove in everyday use.
Most auto racers preferred two-door coupes: a smaller, two-door car was lighter for better acceleration yet could house a powerful engine; and a coupe had a roof, which helped protect the driver in roll-overs, which were not uncommon in the pell-mell anarchy of beach races. To help him set rules for stock-car racing, Bill France created the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, NASCAR, in 1948; NASCAR's first season was 1949. Then France had another idea: too many spectators could enjoy his beach races without paying the admission charges for his viewing areas closer to the course. So why not build a modern oval race track away from the beach, surrounded by bleachers, and thus configured so that any and all spectators had to pay to see the races - and far more spectators at that?
It was an old idea, actually. In the US from about 1910, the dominant money in the early years of auto racing came from entrepreneurial track owners (many of whom had previously owned bicycle tracks or velodromes). Track owners knew that strict control of access to the racing venues was the key to maximum income from spectators. And oval tracks gave by far the best view to the most customers, also a motivating factor for ticket buyers. (In contrast, Europe and Britain never developed such enclosed oval tracks. Very wealthy car-owners and manufacturers have always controlled auto racing there, and such elite car-owners and manufacturers have strongly preferred open-road courses as more sporting - and also more likely to help improve auto design technology. Thus modern European closed tracks still follow the "open road" idea, with lots of turns and curves.)
Bill France saw the success of the paved oval track built at Darlington, SC, in 1950. So, with his business model in hand based on droves of paying race fans, France began raising money in 1953 and, a few years later, opened a new Daytona Speedway. NASCAR came of age in 1959, with the first running of the Daytona 500.
"Stock-car" racing found a home quickly in the South, where "moonshiners" or "rum runners" during Prohibition had been modifying ordinary-looking cars with "souped-up" engines (i.e., modified for greater power) and stiffened suspensions -- and hidden tanks for booze -- to outrun federal marshals on backwoods roads when necessary to elude arrest. But organized stock-car racing on closed courses -- beginning in the late 1940s -- found eager fans as well in the Northeast, Midwest, and Far West; the South had no monopoly. Sponsorship money, particularly from local auto dealers, became more plentiful; "win on Sunday, sell on Monday" soon became a byword among retail car dealers. The cheaper, individually owned stock cars -- coupes that were often referred to as "jalopies" -- raced on local and regional dirt tracks. Well-sponsored cars fielded by wealthier owners with funding and engineering assistance from Detroit manufacturers raced at larger, paved oval tracks with extensive bleachers for the fans.
Track owners set the pattern for organized stock-car racing. Bill France, of Daytona Beach, Florida, had witnessed the popularity of pre-war "beach racing" (see Web entry on the racing automobile, Winton 'Bullet' No. 1). In the late 1940s, he organized beach races for any local car-owners who liked the idea of competing against each other with more-or-less "stock" automobiles.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1952
maker
Hurd, Leon H.
ID Number
1992.0029.01
accession number
1992.0029
catalog number
1992.0029.01
Dirt oval tracks, speeds of 90 miles per hour or more, and the relatively light weight of sprint cars combined to produce a spectacular racing style. Drivers maintain top speeds on turns, letting the rear wheels slide while balancing throttle and steering.
Description
Dirt oval tracks, speeds of 90 miles per hour or more, and the relatively light weight of sprint cars combined to produce a spectacular racing style. Drivers maintain top speeds on turns, letting the rear wheels slide while balancing throttle and steering. Stapp Enterprises built this car in Brownsburg, Indiana. It has a Chevrolet V-8 engine, spring front, and torsion bar rear suspension. The transmission has only one speed, but the rear axle contains a quick-change section that allowed the mechanic to change the final gear ratio in the pits. This car raced on dirt tracks, primarily in Ohio and Indiana but as far south as Florida and as far east as Pennsylvania. Its most successful driver was Duane “Pancho” Carter, who won the 1974 United States Auto Club (USAC) championship. Other drivers include Johnny Rutherford, Jackie Howerton, and Terry White.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1973
maker
Stapp Enterprises
ID Number
1981.0814.01
accession number
1981.0814
catalog number
1981.0814.01
Few private owners, and only extremely wealthy ones, campaigned cars in the top sports car races in Europe.
Description
Few private owners, and only extremely wealthy ones, campaigned cars in the top sports car races in Europe. As a result of the European influences toward more specialized engineering for the best sports cars, the "prototype" racing classes emerged in the US for the fastest, most powerful US and European-built sports cars - none of which were street legal by any stretch.
In this context, professional sports car racing became more popular by the 1970s. Later, organizations such as the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) organized professional races for prototype sports cars and high-powered "GT" sports coupes.
The Corvette ZR-1 No. 92 was built specially by Tommy Morrison Motorsports in 1990 for racing in the IMSA "GTO" class. General Motors provided backing and technical services; the major financial sponsors were Mobil Oil and EDS. The car is one of several built "from the ground up" as race cars. The tubular space frame resembles that of a modern NASCAR racer; the body follows the Corvette ZR-1's lines exactly but was designed to fit the custom-built frame. The modified Chevrolet V-8 engine was developed by the Mercruiser Corp. The all-independent suspension is that of a production ZR-1 Corvette, with special springing and shock absorbers for racing.
No. 92 placed 4th in class in the 1991 Daytona 24-hour endurance race, on Daytona's "road course" that uses multiple corners on the big track's infield combined with part of the high banking used by NASCAR racers. The 92 also placed 6th in class in the 1991 Sebring 12-hour endurance race, held at the historic sports car track in Sebring, FL, that still uses a portion of a World War II-era concrete airfield in its circuitous course. Even finishing these endurance races is an accomplishment, and 4th and 6th places, out of the large fields of competing cars, are regarded as highly successful.
Another of Morrison's ZR-1's set the world speed record for a 24-hour run, averaging some 174 mph.
Sports-car racing was a post-World War II phenomenon in the US. While racing by stock cars, sprint cars, and dragsters attracted fans of generally middle-class and more modest means, sports-car racing attracted young car-owners and fans primarily of wealthier means. This relationship stemmed from the pronounced cachet that went with European automotive engineering from the late 1930s through the 1960s.
Ex-servicemen who had been based in England began bringing British sports cars to American soil in 1948. Auto dealerships selling such makes as MG, Triumph, and Jaguar - and Porsche from Germany and Alfa-Romeo from Italy - opened in the US for the first time. These cars were typical of European engineering for two-door performance cars: light, agile, many with small or medium-sized engines compared to general US custom, and right at home on curving, twisting roads where a driver could test his or her cornering skill. Many sports cars were relatively small (by American passenger-car standards) two-door convertibles, and a few were low-slung, two-door coupes. Organized racing for sports cars sprang up immediately. Since no oval track could bring out the qualities of sports-car agility, local organizers often marked out multi-cornered courses with rubber cones and hay bales on the abundant pavements of abandoned military airfields. Organized races through city streets were sometimes approved by local officials.
Soon enough, paved race tracks—with hilly, twisting layouts emulating courses in continental Europe for "Formula" and sports cars—began appearing in the US. And variations on sports-car racing also quickly took root: endurance races (of two, six, 12, and 24 hours), together with numerous classes (so that less-powerful MGs and Triumphs, for example, could race in different classes than, say, Jaguars, Ferraris, or Maserattis). And "autocrossing" was organized locally in towns all over the US—wherein one car at a time competed for the shortest elapsed time over short, twisting courses often marked off temporarily on large, open macadam parking lots.
Before long, America got its first sports car: the Chevrolet Corvette, introduced tentatively in 1953. By the late 1950s, a re-engineered Corvette took its place as a competitive sports car, both in the showrooms and on sport-car race tracks.
The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) organized sports car races in the US and also licensed amateur drivers, after an on-track skills test with a well-experienced driver. Regional championships were competed-for in many classes, including hand-built sports cars intended only for the track. Through about 1960, a top amateur competitor could file an entry and drive his production sports car to a sports car race, tape-up the headlights (to keep broken glass from flying too far in an incident), remove a few excess parts such as mufflers and bumpers, paint-on an assigned race number to the car temporarily, and go racing. By the early 1960s, such a cavalier approach became passé, and serious sports-car racers prepared their cars as fully as stock-car and sprint-car owners. The SCCA responded to the change by loosening the design rules for its "production" classes to include a variety of engine and other performance modifications - although the car still had to be "street legal," meaning it still had to comply, off the track, with passenger vehicle licensing requirements for use on public roads. The SCCA "modified" classes became more so, including exotic cars intended only for the most serious racing.
Europeans, meanwhile, developed sports car racing after World War II to a level of sophistication in cars and organization of races almost equal to that of Formula 1 "Grand Prix" racing. And in both types of racing, factory teams were by far the majority of participants.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1990
maker
Morrison Motorsports, Inc.
ID Number
1997.0120.01
accession number
1997.0120
catalog number
1997.0120.01
As high-speed, limited-access highways were built across the nation in the 1960s, exploring America in a "king of the road" like this 1967 Pontiac Grand Prix convertible became the ultimate driving experience.
Description
As high-speed, limited-access highways were built across the nation in the 1960s, exploring America in a "king of the road" like this 1967 Pontiac Grand Prix convertible became the ultimate driving experience. In 1967 Guenther and Siewchin Yong Sommer set out to see America and visit as many natural and historic sites as possible. During the next 32 years they drove this car 150,000 miles, visiting 251 national parks, monuments, memorials, forests, historic sites, historic parks, seashores, recreation areas, historic trails, and scenic areas. They stayed on the road as long as a month at a time, sometimes sleeping in the car. The Sommers drove to all 49 continental states, including a trip to Alaska on the old Alaska Highway. Mrs. Sommer donated this all-original Pontiac to the Smithsonian in 1999.
More horsepower, style, comfort, and the pleasures of driving-these were the qualities that appealed to owners of "performance cars" like the Pontiac Grand Prix in the 1960s. Americans were devoting more time to leisure activities on and off the road, and fast, sporty luxury cars became popular among drivers of all ages. Pontiac's performance models helped define this market. The Grand Prix typified this era with its sleek shape, rakish fenders, and optional 428 cubic-inch V-8 engine, as well as the race car heritage of its name. Pontiac manufactured the Grand Prix convertible only in 1967.
date made
1967
maker
General Motors Corporation
ID Number
1999.0328.01
accession number
1999.0328
catalog number
1999.0328.01
Hot rods first appeared in southern California in the late 1930s and became popular in many other places after World War II. Oval track racing combined speed and spectator enjoyment.
Description
Hot rods first appeared in southern California in the late 1930s and became popular in many other places after World War II. Oval track racing combined speed and spectator enjoyment. Dick Fraizer, Floyd Johnson, and Hack Winniger built this competition track roadster in Muncie, Indiana. It has a 1927 Ford Model T body, a 1928 Chevrolet chassis, and a Ford V-8 engine. Fraizer set a one-lap speed record of 84.23 miles per hour with this car at the Winchester Speedway in Indiana. It also ran at Soldiers Field in Chicago with Andy Granatelli’s Hurricane Racing Association and on tracks as far east as Virginia.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1948
maker
Anderson, Donald
ID Number
1992.0028.01
accession number
1992.0028
catalog number
1992.0028.01

Our collection database is a work in progress. We may update this record based on further research and review. Learn more about our approach to sharing our collection online.

If you would like to know how you can use content on this page, see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use. If you need to request an image for publication or other use, please visit Rights and Reproductions.