Events Calendar
In This Section
Most Read Stories
Suitcase causes bomb scare at Akron bus terminal
Akron City Council OKs higher speed on I-77
Chapel Hill isn't rolling right along
New eateries expand menu of options
Motorcyclist killed, wife injured in Stark County crash
Man says he was punched, robbed by 3 people in parking lot
Patrick McManamon: Here's what the Browns should try the rest of the season
Family found dead in Ohio home
Louisville athlete commits to play for Boston College
Blogs:
Pets:
It Takes All Kinds
The Heldenfiles:
Tuesday Notebook
Patrick McManamon:
An interesting thought from a reader
Akron Zips:
Akron vs. Mount Union — Liveblog
Tribe Matters:
Indians announce spring dates
Cleveland Browns:
Mangini doesn't name a quarterback
Kent State Sports:
Flashes interested in another Cincinnati player
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Shaq: It’s All About Winning Championships
Buckeye Blogging:
Buckeyes Roll 100-60 / Season Outlook
Varsity Letters:
Report: Walsh baseball player commits
All Da King's Men:
More On The Fort Hood Jihadist
Blog of Mass Destruction:
Simply Incapable of Telling The Truth
Akron Law Café:
Health Care Financing Reform: (63) Commonwealth Fund Report on Primary Care
See Jane Style:
Muffle Your Muffler
Car Chase:
Clock Tender- Extending the Life of Collector Car Clocks
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Rumors: Akron Starbucks Closing
Ohio Travels with Betty:
Jack is looking for a trip to Southern Ohio the week of November 16.
Sound Check:
Aeromsith looking for new singer as Steven Tyler contemplates solo career
HRLite House:
Personal Rant – Why People Do Not Live in Northeast Ohio
Akron Gamer:
Video: 'Modern Warfare 2' hits the streets
Vintage vehicle is the car that saved Akron
By Mark J. Price
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Monday, Sep 08, 2008
The manufacturer built only seven models, and all seven are believed to be lost.
Yet, there it sits in storage. A forgotten beauty.
The tiny blue car looks like a giant toy. It's not quite 10 feet long and can't weigh more than 1,500 pounds. Its wooden steering wheel is on the right side of the one-door, two-seat runabout.
A hand crank on the front grille would start the rusty car — if it could start. A hand brake outside the driver's side would halt the vehicle — if it could run.
Copley Township resident McCrady, 54, a car enthusiast who works as a concrete finisher, has been researching the 1917 Mulford ever since he bought it two years ago.
''I've never seen a car with this much history,'' he said.
Not only did it make national headlines, but it also played a significant role in local industry. This is the car that saved Akron.
U.S. auto racer Ralph K. Mulford (1884-1973), a native of Brooklyn, N.Y., built the prototype using a 1910 Opel body and 1914 Chevrolet engine, McCrady said. It was for personal use, not competition. Mulford also built a small sedan in 1916 for his wife to cruise around New York City.
Mulford, the national driving champion of 1911 and 1918, began his racing career as a driver for the Lozier Motor Co. in Detroit. He competed 10 times in the Indianapolis 500, including the controversial first race in 1911.
Many spectators believed Mulford won the first Indy 500, although he was credited with only finishing second. Mulford was certain he was ahead of Ray Harroun, the official victor, when the race ended. He suspected the judges lost count during a big crash on the 87th lap.
''The argument is over who really won the race. I still think I did, and so did a lot of other people,'' Mulford later wrote.
The Brooklyn auto racer built seven prototypes for passenger cars and hoped to start his own manufacturing company, but he lost money on the venture.
High-profile case
After retiring from racing in 1922, Mulford kept a low profile until his name resurfaced several years later in a high-profile case.
In 1928, the Steel Wheel Corp. of Detroit sued the B.F. Goodrich Co. of Akron, alleging that the rubber company was infringing on patent rights over ''balloon tires.'' The soft, low-pressure tires provided a more comfortable ride and better mileage than those built with hard casings.
The Michigan manufacturer claimed to own the rights of Dearborn inventor Alden P. Putman, who had applied for a balloon tire patent in August 1920.
The Steel Wheel lawsuit demanded millions of dollars in damages and requested an injunction to prevent Goodrich from making the tires.
Local ramifications
The lawsuit sent a jolt through Akron. Goodyear, Firestone and other rubber companies also made the tires, and if the test case succeeded, every Akron plant faced a lawsuit. On the verge of the Great Depression, companies could be ruined.
Legal representatives from Akron's tire giants were present when the 10-day trial began before U.S. District Judge Arthur J. Tuttle in Detroit. More than 500 tires were displayed in the court.
One of the star witnesses was Mulford, who rushed to Akron's defense. The driver testified that he had used balloon tires as early as 1917, although they were called ''airplane tires'' back then.
In fact, Mulford had installed them on the two homemade cars that he and his wife used. He recalled traveling to Akron in 1919 to Goodyear to buy a set.
''Since there's no name for a tire like these, I'm going to suggest we call them balloon tires,'' Mulford told Goodyear officials.
Mulford had the two cars shipped to Detroit as evidence in the trial. He took Judge Tuttle for a ride in the 1917 model.
Tuttle pondered the evidence and dismissed the lawsuit. The tires had clearly been in use before the 1920 patent, he ruled.
The car that saved Akron disappeared from public view.
It made a surprising return 17 years later as Goodrich laborers cleaned out a warehouse on South Main Street in 1945. They discovered several derelict cars hidden beneath slabs of experimental rubber.
West Akron resident Thomas Rex Brown, 68, was 5 years old when his father, Rex T. Brown, helped identify the buried treasure.
''They're pulling this rubber out, and lo and behold, all of a sudden, here starts popping out bumpers and front ends and everything,'' Thomas Brown said. ''What is this?!''
One of the cars was the 1917 Mulford. Brown's father, who had worked nearly 20 years at Goodrich, recognized the car from the 1928 lawsuit. The company was going to junk it.
Rex T. Brown asked whether he could have the car since it was being thrown out. All he had to do was pay the towing charge.
For nearly 50 years, the Mulford car was stored on Buchtel Avenue near East Market Street. It was pushed back and forth between the Brown family's garages on two adjacent properties.
Brown's father had hoped to rebuild it, but he never did get it running. The son changed the oil and checked the spark plugs.
''We always had good intentions,'' Brown said. ''I used to crank it up once in a while, trying to get it started and hoping that it would start up. It never started. It had set so long that things had frozen up in it.''
In 1953, the elder Brown took a picture of the car and mailed a typed letter to Ralph K. Mulford at his home in New Jersey.
''I thought you would be interested in hearing of the old girl again, and that she is alive, and you are quite welcome to keep the photo,'' he wrote.
The car's story
Mulford, who was nearly 70 years old, typed a cordial reply.
''The little car shown in the snapshot you recently sent me looks mighty familiar, although I have not seen it for twenty-five years,'' he wrote. ''It does have a very interesting history.''
He proceeded to tell the car's tale, including its use of balloon tires and the 1928 patent case that ''attracted widespread attention in the automotive world.'' He described how Judge Tuttle took a ride in ''the car you now own.''
When Rex T. Brown died in 1992 at age 85, the estate sold the vintage car to a Twin Lakes man, who kept it in a horse barn. It was there a couple of years before it changed hands.
Highland Square resident Joe Schmidt, 72, a former lumber truck driver who is a car historian and collector, was invited to see the rusty vehicle.
Although he owns a library of car books and is familiar with antique autos, Schmidt had never seen a vehicle like it. The owner offered to sell it to him.
Schmidt didn't want it, but he relinquished. When he took the car home and looked at its papers, he snapped to attention. As an Indy 500 scholar, he recognized Mulford. ''When I saw his name and all the pertinent information there, I thought 'I'll be damned,' '' he said.
He stored the car in a Dodge Avenue garage and a Richfield barn. He took the motor apart, cleaned it and put in new valves.
''Basically, all I wanted to do was get it into running condition without changing anything radically,'' Schmidt said.
He finally got it started. Once he had it running, he shut it off and never started it again.
Schmidt owned the car for about 10 years, until McCrady, a longtime acquaintance, talked him into selling it. Schmidt was reluctant to part with the relic, but he remained philosophical.
''In your lifetime, I don't care how many cars you own, you're just a keeper of that car until you're gone,'' he said. ''Somebody had it before you; they're going to have it after you.''
McCrady, who declined to reveal the sale price, said he is more interested in the history of the car than its monetary value.
''There's none known to exist,'' he said. ''That's pretty neat. I have something that nobody else has.''
The vehicle is missing its original clamp-on top, seat cushion, radiator cap and a few other parts. The head lamps, rims and tires have been changed. Still, it is in reasonably good shape. It even has its original paint.
''I've just left it the way it is,'' McCrady said.
The car's fate
He doesn't plan to keep it forever. Eventually, he would like to see the Mulford in a museum or some other public place for the general public to enjoy.
''It should be shown,'' he said.
Brown, whose father rescued the car from the scrap heap, is hopeful about its future.
''I'm glad somebody's showing some interest in it,'' Brown said. ''I'd like to see it running one of these days . . . I sure would love to have a ride in it before I die.''
Mark J. Price is a Beacon Journal copy editor. He can be reached at 330-996-3850 or send e-mail to mjprice@thebeaconjournal.com.
Get the full article here.
Comments
Click here to post your comments
Posted 08:18 PM, 09/08/2008
I'd love to see this car is it in akron area
Posted 08:20 PM, 09/08/2008
why can't i get my stage name don't anyone work for forum?do you need help?
Posted 08:21 PM, 09/08/2008
did I say something wrong?
Posted 08:21 PM, 09/08/2008
my comment'skeep disappearing what up?
Posted 08:22 PM, 09/08/2008
well back to topix .where everybody knows my name dododod
Posted 10:15 PM, 09/08/2008
Awesome car Wendall....see you at the egg castle. Bring your photos of the car.
Akron, OH
Posted 09:21 AM, 09/11/2008
Another neat gem of Akron history uncovered in fine fashion by Mr. Price. Maybe the last reason to continue buying a Beacon. At least on Mondays. Nice work, Mark, and very much appreciated.
