Where this was said
The Winton Car and Sewell Crocker
At 20:07 · chapter starts 19:45
On Crocker's advice, Jackson bought a 1903 Winton touring car — the same brand that had attempted the crossing in 1901, which was a smart endorsement of the car's capability. The price: roughly $3,000 in 1903 dollars (about $100,000 today), for a used vehicle, because it was the only one available [1] — Josh "Winton touring car: 20 horsepower: The 1903 Winton touring car Jackson bought had a 2-cylinder chain-drive engine producing just 20 horsepo…" 20:07 . Jackson named it the Vermont, after his home state. The car was bare-bones: a two-cylinder chain-drive engine with 20 horsepower (less than a John Deere X300 riding mower), no windshield, no roof, no doors, and a top speed of 30 mph it would rarely approach. They ripped out the back seat and loaded it with a pulley system (the block and tackle that would save them dozens of times), a Kodak camera, guns, ammunition, rope, a cooking kit, sleeping bags, and a shovel. Sewell Crocker, ten years Jackson's junior at about 22, was the unsung hero — a small-engine mechanic who would spend the trip fixing the clutch, sourcing spare parts, and occasionally cycling dozens of miles on a borrowed bicycle just to fetch gasoline.
The 1903 Winton touring car had 20 horsepower — two fewer than a modern John Deere riding mower. No windshield, no roof, no doors, topped out at 30 mph, and was essentially a tub on wheels that Jackson drove across a continent.
The 1903 Winton touring car Jackson bought had a 2-cylinder chain-drive engine producing just 20 horsepower — the same output as a modern John Deere riding mower.
