I’m going to offer one last suggestion before we get out of here for the holidays. Cleveland, Ohio’s own Walter C. Baker was maybe the most interesting man in automotive history. Not only did he effectively invent the ball bearing, the seatbelt, and the idea of streamlined aerodynamics in racing, but he pioneered the electric car in 1896, but just a handful of years later he was the first human to exceed 100 miles per hour. He took his Baker Torpedo prototype racing car to Ormond Beach in Florida and went 136 miles per hour (the standing land speed record was 75 miles per hour). – BB
