Rio ~ 1902 Ford "999" Racer ~ # 69

  A vintage racer this week,  from Rio.  Very interesting looking car,  some history from the Rio info sheet.  In 1902,  Henry Ford,  who was interested in races, decided to build racing cars and built two cars called "999",  and "Arrow" which were almost identical.  Of these two only the 999 was preserved.  There was a large engine with four cylinders in line fixed on a couple of wooden beams reinforced with metal rods.  There was no gear box and the engine was always in direct drive while the clutch was made up by two wooden blocks placed inside the flywheel ; this flywheel was a monstrous object over 60 cm. 24 in. in diameter and in weight - 110 Kg. 242 lbs !  You can see in my photos that the drivers feet is dangerous close to this !  With this car the famous Barney Oldfield took part and won numerous races in the first years ;  Henry Ford himself drove this car on an ice covered lake breaking the speed record at an average speed of 147 Km per Hour - 91 mph.  The car was without break -  Yikes !    Days wen Men were Men !   

  What's Amazing about this model is the flywheel actual functions with the drive shaft and turns the rear wheels !    Made in Italy in 1978,  model features cast chassis and silver motor,  tan plastic body parts,  brass fittings, silver radiator,  maroon seat and spoked hubs, black tires.