This is the single greatest honor in the motor vehicle industry, intended to honor a career and/or lifetime achievement. To become a "Hall of Famer" the nominee must be either retired or deceased. Recipients must have significantly impacted the development of the automobile or the motor vehicle industry. Typically, four to eight individuals are inducted each year.
Like so many auto pioneers of his day, Alexander Winton’s roots were in the bicycle business. Winton, a Scottish immigrant, came to New York at the age of nineteen in 1878 and worked for several years as an engineer on an ocean steamship. Soon tiring of the maritime life, he moved to Cleveland, Ohio, for no other reason than that his sister lived there with her husband. He immediately found work as a superintendent at a Cleveland iron factory.
Toward the end of the nineteenth century, there was a tremendous interest in and demand for bicycles. The horse and carriage was still the primary mode of travel, but the bicycle was gaining popularity, particularly among the well-to-do, for its convenience and personal freedom.
Winton realized a business opportunity and, in 1891, with the assistance of his brother-in-law, founded the Winton Bicycle Company in Cleveland. Despite the success of his bicycle business, Winton was growing more interested in self-propelled vehicles, or horseless carriages. He read everything he could find on the subject, including Scientific American and The Horseless Age magazines, meanwhile perfecting his own engine designs.
In October of 1896, Winton unveiled his first motor wagon to the press. To put this in perspective, this was just three years after the Duryea brothers, credited as being the first Americans to build a gasoline-powered automobile, unveiled their runabout, and the same year in which Ransom Olds and Henry Ford unveiled their automobiles in Lansing, Michigan, and Detroit respectively.
The very next year, 1897, the Winton Motor Carriage Company was incorporated and the new firm, while only building four vehicles that year, established itself as one of the first automakers to be taken seriously. And as a result, Winton was arguably the first American company to sell an automobile on a retail basis.
Of the early automobiles, the Winton was considered to be the most technologically advanced – and the most powerful. A Winton was the first car to cross America coast to coast. Always the promoter, Alexander Winton entered as many races as he could, winning more often than not.
The two most historically significant races for Alexander Winton he did not win, however. The first, on October 10, 1901, was against a relative unknown by the name of Henry Ford. Ford, now 38 years old, was by no means a young man. His first attempt at building cars, the Detroit Automobile Company, failed after building just 12 cars. Ford devoted his energies to developing a racecar, and now, in front of 8000 people, was facing the great Alexander Winton of Cleveland. Winton dropped out of the 10-mile race at the 8-mile mark, due to mechanical problems, and Henry Ford passed him to win the race. By winning the race, Ford was able to line up investors for his second attempt at building cars commercially, the Henry Ford Company.
The Henry Ford Company also was an unsuccessful venture, and just a year and 15 days later, Henry Ford again found himself racing Alexander Winton for fame and fortune. This time, however, it was Ford who had the superior car, the famous “999,” and a soon-to-be-famous driver, Barney Oldfield. Ford beat Winton again, and again Ford was able to line-up investors, this time for the Ford Motor Company, now one of the longest continually operating companies in the world. As for Alexander Winton, he continued to build automobiles of advanced design, and even recruited Barney Oldfield away from Ford to pilot his racecars. He formed a subsidiary company called the Winton Gas Engine & Manufacturing Company to build marine and diesel engines. Winton built automobiles until February of 1924, when production ceased. His marine engine company continued to prosper until 1930, at which time it was sold to General Motors.
While often forgotten or even unknown today, Alexander Winton was truly one of the great American automotive pioneers, building cars of such design and durability that he convinced a nation that automobiles were more than a passing fad.
