Mose Nowland GT40 engine builder

[spartan]

I plan on interviewing Mose Nowland. Many of you may know him from the documentary released in 2016, The 24 Hour War. Mose is a Ford racing legend. Mose is a humble man that spends much of his time volunteering in various automotive projects.

"In the early 1960s, Henry Ford II and Enzo Ferrari went to war on the battlefield of Le Mans. This epic battle saw drivers lose their lives, family dynasties nearly collapse and the development of a new race car that changed racing."

Watch this exciting trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csFnDoXQKvg

Mose is also involved in restoring and preserving GT40's and is one of Ford’s longest tenured employees.

http://performance.ford.com/enthusi...-mose-nowland-gives-the-history-of-the-f.html

https://www.thehenryford.org/explore/inside/mark-iv/

I would like to compile a list of questions the forum would like to ask Mose. Please reply or PM me with questions for the interview.

 

[djs]

I know Mose focused on the side oiler engines for '66 & '67, but did he help with any work for the 289s & 302s for '68-9 even though Ford wasn't officially involved?

 

[fjpikul]

Most of us have already had the pleasure of meeting, talking and questioning Mose. He was a special guest at Rally X in Detroit.

 

[Specracer]

Forum member Cobrar, knows Mose well, and introduced me to him at R10. It was, a treat to hear from him the "theft" of the french flag from when they won in 66, only to have that same flag taken back in 2016, for good luck. There are pics here of the presentation of the flag back to Mose, at a Ford employee presentation, in celebration of the 2016 victory.

 

[Cobrar]

Forum member Cobrar, knows Mose well, and introduced me to him at R10. It was, a treat to hear from him the "theft" of the french flag from when they won in 66, only to have that same flag taken back in 2016, for good luck. There are pics here of the presentation of the flag back to Mose, at a Ford employee presentation, in celebration of the 2016 victory.

As Andy (Specracer) has mentioned, Mose has been a friend of our family for many years. And as 'Spartan" mentions above, without a doubt the most modest individual I have ever known, with respect to his personal contributions and accomplishments at Ford Racing. And I'll go a step further, a man of unparalleled class and passion, who for the 57 years he spent with Ford, made every effort and personal sacrifice to ensure the success of Ford Racing objectives ~ and there are many!

Mose has been formally interviewed so many times, I'd bet even he would be hard pressed to recount the number - and trust me, his memory is as sharp as that of a twenty five year old. Assuming one moves forward with an interview, I'd first attempt to compile and review many of the past interviews, before you approach him ~ best use and appreciation of his time. Of note, there always stories that he has, and very rarely shares, out of respect for Ford, it's drivers, industry confidentiality and protocol, but importantly because he is a private individual.

I would like to share that while his contributions are often associated (externally) for his work on Ford's GT program, he was also instrumental in Ford's success at Indy with the small block V8. This is the engine that powered Jimmy Clark's Lotus 38 to the very first rear engine car victory, at Indy in 1965 - just a year before Ford tore up the landscape, with the 1-2-3 finish with the venerable 427's at Le Mans. It was an incredible period in Ford racing history for sure! And Mose certainly has a lot of equity in that legacy!

 

[NorthwoodGT]

It was truly amazing to hear him speak at Rally X about Lemans. I learned from him that they had to pull HP out of the 427s so they had more liability instead of more HP since they were so far ahead of the pack. who thought of doing that back then? obviously a very smart man indeed!

 

[Xcentric]

 

[timcantwell]

I had a chance to spend time sharing some cocktails with Mose during Rally X...What a treat! When my 1966 Superformance GT40 Gurney tribute car is finished in July, I really want to trailer it to Detroit to have him sign the car. The car now bears Dan Gurney and Carol Shelby's signature. I also plan to have my friend Leo Mehl who was Goodyear's head of Motorsports and tire engineer on the original GT40's sign it as well. I'm thinking of bringing it to Utah for all to see.

 

[spartan]

Mose told me he never collected any souvenirs from all his years in the racing world except one time. It was one of the years Ford won Le Mans that he took a French flag that was attached to a pole. That one flag was his only "souvenir" ever. Mose never hung it because it was large for his home.

Fast forward to 2016: He lent the flag to Ford who brought it to Le Mans. After the win Ford framed it and gave it back to Mose. It was decided by his children that his family in Michigan will display it in their basement next to their pool table. I will be posting a photo of the flag soon.

 

[spartan]

Mose told me he never collected any souvenirs from all his years in the racing world except one time. It was one of the years Ford won Le Mans that he took a French flag that was attached to a pole. That one flag was his only "souvenir" ever. Mose never hung it because it was large for his home.

Fast forward to 2016: He lent the flag to Ford who brought it to Le Mans. After the win Ford framed it and gave it back to Mose. It was decided by his children that his family in Michigan will display it in their basement next to their pool table. I will be posting a photo of the flag soon.

This is the flag.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Jim]

Mose comes over to the shop every Tuesday and Sunday. At 84 he works circles around us.

 

[cobrajeff]

Here's a video clip I shot a few years back of Mose firing up the engine for P1032

https://youtu.be/_oEuHu7op28

That's Mose in the black baseball cap, and Jim Dunham in the black shirt.

Jeff