Oldfield's Winton Bullet No. 2

This unique image of Barney Oldfield on his Winton Motor Carriage Company's "Bullet No. 2" racer was captured in the spring of 1904 as he attempted to qualify for that year's James Gordon Bennett Cup Race. Oldfield was Alexander Winton's contract driver for about eight months, from August 1903 to April 1904. Oldfield was very successful at the wheel of the Bullet, setting the world's competition mile record at Ormond Beach in January 1904 just after busting numerous records on a whirlwind tour of the West Coast. A rough-cut, Oldfield was not a good cultural fit at the staid Winton Motor Carriage Company. His barnstorming antics in the South during the winter created friction between driver and millionaire owner Winton and they parted ways after the Automobile Club of America (ACA) officiously decided they would not field a team in international contest, held in Germany that year.