When the first 1901 "Sweepstakes" replica engine burst into life with a loud backfire and a puff of smoke on May 24, 2001, there was a generous round of applause from people on the workshop floor of Trakon Show & Display in Sterling Heights, Michigan.

"We were really pleased, to say the least," recalled Ron Trendler, administration project manager at Trakon, and one of several dozen people who had worked on the program to restore Henry Ford's original 1901 race car and produce two running replicas in celebration of the Ford Racing 100th Anniversary.

"Truthfully, we were all a little nervous, but after a few moments, the engine finally fired up, and it was absolutely thrilling."

Trendler, along with Trakon President Dick Henderson, Sr., were among those present at the historic start-up of the replica engine.

"We were contacted along with several other vendors in November, 2000 to bid on the job," explained Trendler. "We were awarded the job the last week of December and threw everything at it in January."

With the original car partially disassembled and shipped to Trakon's shop, the challenge to restore Sweepstakes and fabricate two replicas was enormous but intriguing, according to Henderson.

"The ground rule was: the replicas had to look identical to the original," said Henderson, who, in 1996, headed Trakon's involvement in chrome plating 30 pickup trucks for display at the opening and closing ceremonies at the Atlanta Olympic Games.

"I didn't see any panic; we just planned to get the job done right."

With no blueprints or drawings of the 1901 Sweepstakes to work from, Trakon depended largely on photos from the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village to help with the integrity of the replica build.

"You've got to remember, we were duplicating parts from old photos and a car that probably hadn't been started in close to 100 years," explained Glenn Miller, development engineer, Ford Special Vehicle Engineering, and head of the Sweepstakes project.

According to Miller, Trakon's job of building the replicas was a much tougher assignment than restoring the original 1901 Ford race car, whose chassis was walnut-blasted (using ground walnut shells as the blast medium) to clean up years of dirt and grime, then repainted, waxed and polished.

"Everything had to be done from scratch with the replicas," said Miller. "There were no patterns or blueprints available on the car. Pistons had to be manufactured, parts machined, and the frame made out of ash. Meticulous care had to be taken to match original paint and bodywork particulars as well."

Malcolm Collum, senior conservator at the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village, worked closely with Trakon and Miller on the Sweepstakes project.

"My job was to see that the 1901 race car was disassembled and refurbished as carefully as possible, so as to preserve the original integrity of the car and document the process," said Collum.

"As well, we didn't want the replicas to look like they'd been mass produced. They needed to have that same handmade quality of the original Ford race car.

"I believe the public will see this when the cars go on display."