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standing beside Oldfield's first car in 1902 at Daytona (undated)
Bern "Barney" Eli Oldfield (June 3,
1878 – October 4, 1946) was an
automobile racer and pioneer. He was born on a farm on the outskirts of
Wauseon, Ohio. He was the first man to drive a car at 60 miles per hour (96 km/h). His accomplishments led to the expression "
Who do you think you are? Barney Oldfield?"
Racing career
Bicycle racer
He began as a bicycle racer in 1894, and won silver medals and a gold watch. He was being paid handsomely by the Stearns bicycle factory to race on its amateur team in 1896 .
Auto racer
He was lent a gasoline-powered bicycle in 1902 to race at Salt Lake City, Utah. This led to a meeting with
Henry Ford, who wanted to stop racing after one or two career starts in the now famous number 999
Ford Motor Company car. Henry wanted to have Oldfield test his cars, since Oldfield had never driven a car before. Both cars didn't start. Ford sold both cars to Oldfield for $800 . Oldfield spent much time to prepare the cars.
Oldfield agreed to drive one of the Fords against the current champion Alexander Winton. Oldfield learned how to operate the car the morning of the event, and won by a half mile in the five mile race. He slid through the corners like a motorcycle racer did instead of braking. It was a great victory for Ford and led both Barney Oldfield and Ford to become household names.
He drove in a match race on Memorial Day weekend in New York in 1903, and was the first driver to drive a mile track in one minute flat or 60 mph (miles per hour). Two months later he drove a mile in 55.8 seconds, and Winton hired Oldfield. Oldfield criss crossed with his agent Will Pickens across the United States in a series of timed runs and match races, where he earned a reputation as a showman. One year he competed at twenty tracks in 18 weeks, and had four exhibition run and won sixteen straight match races. He frequently raced in a three event matches, and won the first part by a nose, lost the second, before he won the third.
He bought a Benz & Cie., and raised his speed in 1910 to 70.159 mph in his "
Blitzen Benz". Later that year he drove to 131.25 mph. He used the car to break the existing mile, two mile, and kilometer records at the
Daytona Beach Road Course at
Ormond, Florida. He was able to charge $4000 U.S. dollars for each appearance after that. He was suspended by the American Automobile Association for his "outlaw" racing activities and was unable to race at sanctioned events for much of the prime of his career. Speed records, match races and exhibitions made up most of Oldfield's career.
He put on at least 35 shows in 1914 with the famous aviator
Lincoln Beachey. Oldfield raced his Fiat car against Beachey's aircraft.
He was reinstated and he competed in the 1914 and 1916 Indianapolis 500, finishing fifth in each attempt.
In June 1917 he used his Golden Submarine to beat fellow racing legend
Ralph DePalma in a series of 10 to 25 mile match races at Milwaukee. He retired from racing in 1918, but he continued to tour and make movies.
Stage and film performances
He starred in the Broadway musical
The Vanderbilt Cup (1906) for ten weeks. His movie career included the silent film
Barney Oldfield's Race for a Life (1913), where he raced against a train to rescue a heroine tied to the train tracks. He was also featured in
The First Auto (1927) as an early pioneer of automotive history. He was a technical advisor for the Vanderbilt Cup sequence in the feature film
Back Street (1941). He starred as himself in a racing film titled
The Blonde Comet, the story of a young woman trying to achieve success as a race car driver.
Contributions to racing safety
Oldfield worked with Harry Arminius Miller, who developed and built
carburetors in Los Angeles and became one of the most famous engine builders in America, to create a racing machine that would not only be fast and durable, but that would also protect the driver in the event of an accident. Bob Burman, one of Oldfield's top rivals and closest friends, was killed in a wreck during a race in Corona, California. Burman died from severe injuries suffered while rolling over in his open-cockpit car. Oldfield and Miller joined forces to build a race car that incorporated a roll cage inside a streamlined driver's compartment that completely enclosed the driver (called the "Golden Submarine").
Business ventures
Barney Oldfield also helped fellow racer Carl G. Fisher found the Fisher Automobile Company in
Indianapolis, Indiana, which is believed to be the first automobile dealership in the United States.
He developed the Oldfield tire for
Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, which help put Firestone on the map. Firestone used the slogan "'Firestone Tires are my only life insurance,' says Barney Oldfield, world's greatest driver."
Barney Oldfield's Club - 14000 Block Ventura Blvd.
He was buried in the
Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City in Culver City, California.
Indy 500 results
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"|-!Year!Car!Start!Qual!Rank!Finish!Laps!Led!Retired|-!1914 Indianapolis 500|3|30|87.250|24|5|200|0|Running|-!
1916 Indianapolis 500|15|5|94.330|5|5|120|0|Running|-|colspan=6|
Totals|320|0||}{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"|-!Starts|2|-!Poles|0|-!Front Row|0|-!Wins|0|-!Top 5|2|-!Top 10|2|-!Retired|0|}
Awards
- In 1990, he was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame.
- He was named to the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum in 1990.
- He was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in the inaugural 1989 class as the at-large representative.
References
- International Motorsports Hall of Fame Biography
- Biography
- Beachey's aircraft vs. Oldfield's car
- Barney Oldfield at the Internet Movie Database
External links
- Barney Oldfield & Ford - History & Photos
- Barney Oldfield at the Internet Movie Database
- Exhibit on Barney Oldfield
standing beside Oldfield's first car in 1902 at Daytona (undated)
Bern "Barney" Eli Oldfield (
June 3, 1878 – October 4, 1946) was an automobile racer and pioneer. He was born on a farm on the outskirts of
Wauseon, Ohio. He was the first man to drive a car at 60 miles per hour (96 km/h). His accomplishments led to the expression "
Who do you think you are? Barney Oldfield?"
Racing career
Bicycle racer
He began as a bicycle racer in 1894, and won silver medals and a gold watch. He was being paid handsomely by the Stearns bicycle factory to race on its amateur team in 1896 .
Auto racer
He was lent a gasoline-powered bicycle in 1902 to race at
Salt Lake City, Utah. This led to a meeting with Henry Ford, who wanted to stop racing after one or two career starts in the now famous number 999
Ford Motor Company car. Henry wanted to have Oldfield test his cars, since Oldfield had never driven a car before. Both cars didn't start. Ford sold both cars to Oldfield for $800 . Oldfield spent much time to prepare the cars.
Oldfield agreed to drive one of the Fords against the current champion
Alexander Winton. Oldfield learned how to operate the car the morning of the event, and won by a half mile in the five mile race. He slid through the corners like a motorcycle racer did instead of braking. It was a great victory for Ford and led both Barney Oldfield and Ford to become household names.
He drove in a match race on Memorial Day weekend in New York in 1903, and was the first driver to drive a mile track in one minute flat or 60 mph (miles per hour). Two months later he drove a mile in 55.8 seconds, and Winton hired Oldfield. Oldfield criss crossed with his agent Will Pickens across the United States in a series of timed runs and match races, where he earned a reputation as a showman. One year he competed at twenty tracks in 18 weeks, and had four exhibition run and won sixteen straight match races. He frequently raced in a three event matches, and won the first part by a nose, lost the second, before he won the third.
He bought a Benz & Cie., and raised his speed in 1910 to 70.159 mph in his "Blitzen Benz". Later that year he drove to 131.25 mph. He used the car to break the existing mile, two mile, and kilometer records at the
Daytona Beach Road Course at
Ormond, Florida. He was able to charge $4000 U.S. dollars for each appearance after that. He was suspended by the
American Automobile Association for his "outlaw" racing activities and was unable to race at sanctioned events for much of the prime of his career. Speed records, match races and exhibitions made up most of Oldfield's career.
He put on at least 35 shows in 1914 with the famous aviator Lincoln Beachey. Oldfield raced his Fiat car against Beachey's aircraft.
He was reinstated and he competed in the 1914 and 1916 Indianapolis 500, finishing fifth in each attempt.
In June 1917 he used his Golden Submarine to beat fellow racing legend Ralph DePalma in a series of 10 to 25 mile match races at Milwaukee. He retired from racing in 1918, but he continued to tour and make movies.
Stage and film performances
He starred in the Broadway musical
The Vanderbilt Cup (1906) for ten weeks. His movie career included the silent film
Barney Oldfield's Race for a Life (1913), where he raced against a train to rescue a heroine tied to the train tracks. He was also featured in
The First Auto (1927) as an early pioneer of automotive history. He was a technical advisor for the Vanderbilt Cup sequence in the feature film
Back Street (1941). He starred as himself in a racing film titled
The Blonde Comet, the story of a young woman trying to achieve success as a race car driver.
Contributions to racing safety
Oldfield worked with
Harry Arminius Miller, who developed and built carburetors in Los Angeles and became one of the most famous engine builders in America, to create a racing machine that would not only be fast and durable, but that would also protect the driver in the event of an accident.
Bob Burman, one of Oldfield's top rivals and closest friends, was killed in a wreck during a race in Corona, California. Burman died from severe injuries suffered while rolling over in his open-cockpit car. Oldfield and Miller joined forces to build a race car that incorporated a roll cage inside a streamlined driver's compartment that completely enclosed the driver (called the "Golden Submarine").
Business ventures
Barney Oldfield also helped fellow racer
Carl G. Fisher found the
Fisher Automobile Company in
Indianapolis, Indiana, which is believed to be the first automobile dealership in the
United States.
He developed the Oldfield tire for Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, which help put Firestone on the map. Firestone used the slogan "'Firestone Tires are my only life insurance,' says Barney Oldfield, world's greatest driver."
Barney Oldfield's Club - 14000 Block Ventura Blvd.
He was buried in the Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City in
Culver City, California.
Indy 500 results
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"|-!Year!Car!Start!Qual!Rank!Finish!Laps!Led!Retired|-!
1914 Indianapolis 500|3|30|87.250|24|5|200|0|Running|-!1916 Indianapolis 500|15|5|94.330|5|5|120|0|Running|-|colspan=6|
Totals|320|0||}{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"|-!Starts|2|-!Poles|0|-!Front Row|0|-!Wins|0|-!Top 5|2|-!Top 10|2|-!Retired|0|}
Awards
References
- International Motorsports Hall of Fame Biography
- Biography
- Beachey's aircraft vs. Oldfield's car
- Barney Oldfield at the Internet Movie Database
External links
- Barney Oldfield & Ford - History & Photos
- Barney Oldfield at the Internet Movie Database
- Exhibit on Barney Oldfield
Barney Oldfield - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Berna Eli "Barney" Oldfield (June 3, 1878 – October 4, 1946) was an automobile racer and pioneer. He was born on a farm on the outskirts of Wauseon, Ohio.
Barney Oldfield - Wikimedia Commons
This page was last modified on 23 July 2007, at 04:05. Text is available under GNU Free Documentation License. Wikimedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation ...
Barney Oldfield (I)
Overview. Date of Birth: 29 January 1878, Wauseon, Ohio, USA more. Date of Death: 4 October 1946, Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA more. Trivia:
Barney Oldfield - definition of Barney Oldfield by the Free Online ...
Thesaurus Legend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms. Noun: 1. Barney Oldfield - United States race driver who was the first to drive faster than a mile a minute (1878-1946)
Barney Oldfield's Race for a Life - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Barney Oldfield's Race for a Life is a 1913 silent, comedy genre, short film; directed and produced by Mack Sennett. [edit] Plot. Legend Barney Oldfield stars in this early Sennett ...
Barney Oldfield — Infoplease.com
Barney Oldfield. Born: Jan. 29, 1878 Auto racing pioneer. drove cars built by Henry Ford; first man to drive car a mile per minute (1903). Died: Oct. 4, 1946
Barney Oldfield's Race for a Life (1913)
advertisement. Overview. User Rating: 6.2/10 63 votes. Director: Mack Sennett. Release Date: 2 June 1913 (USA) more. Genre: Comedy | Short more. Plot: Virtuous Mabel rejects the ...
Barney Oldfield - International Motorsports Hall of Fame Member
Bern Eli Oldfield didn't mind that so much of his racing career was fact entangled with fiction. The consummate showman and master self-promoter was pleased.
Oldfield, Barney definition of Oldfield, Barney in the Free Online ...
Oldfield, (Berna Eli) Barney (1878–1946) auto racer; born in Wauseon, Ohio. One of racing's pioneers, he began as a bicycle racer. He was the first to race a car a mile a minute ...
barney oldfield
Motor Age reports on the 300-mile race at Venice, Calif., on March 17, 1915 Read the whole article.
