Without Mose Nowland, it’s highly unlikely Jim Clark would have won the 1965 Indianapolis 500, that Ford would win both the 1966 and 1967 24 Hours of Le Mans races, that NASCAR’s Bill Elliott would have been considered “Awesome Bill from Dawsonville”, that Bob Glidden would have been the master of NHRA Pro Stock competition.
The engine builder who worked 57 years for Ford Motor Co., primarily in motorsports, passed away late Friday evening, August 13th, surrounded by his loving family. He was 87 and was beloved around the world for his ability to take the common parts of an internal combustion engine and make them work well in the excesses that are required of racing engines.
Nowland began his lifelong journey with Ford in 1955, almost immediately was called to service yet returned two years later. And never left. He played a leading role in the birth of Ford’s “Cammer” V-8 engine that, after two years in development earned that 1965 Indy 500 victory for Clark and Team Lotus. The following year he helped Carroll Shelby and Ford win the first of two consecutive victories in the Le Mans summer 24-hour classic.
“Mose was not just a friend,” said Edsel B. Ford II, a long-time supporter of Ford’s racing efforts, “but someone who embodied the true spirit of our Ford racing program. He always met a challenge head-on with a humble, can-do spirit that helped Ford win some of the greatest races in the world. After all his years at Ford, Mose dedicated his talent to help restore Clara and Henry Ford’s home – Fair Lane. I know my great grandparents are grateful. He will be missed in so many ways.”
Nowland’s ingenuity ensured that first Le Mans victory – the impetus for the film Ford v Ferrari – two days before the Ford GT40s were due to be shipped to France. An oil leak was discovered between the block and heads, when the build team ran out of a special type of twine that, in conjunction with a sealer, prevented that type of leak. Informed of the problem, Nowland’s quick thinking surmised that a specific fishing line might serve as a reliable substitute.
He went to a local, Charlotte-area fishing store and bought out the entire supply of necessary line, returned to the Holman-Moody build shop and installed the line. His creative solution worked and, for the next 48 hours, after flying cross-country and personally rebuilding the engines – on no sleep – at both the East Coast Holman-Moody and California Shelby American shops, the cars were off to the race where they took all three steps of the podium at the most famous endurance race in the world.
As he recollected, it wasn’t until he was halfway across the Atlantic Ocean en route to France, that Nowland realized, “I was the last person to touch those engines. I’m not sure I relaxed after that until the checkered flag flew.”
His memento from that race was the French national flag that had flown over the team’s pit box. He climbed to the pit-box roof and brought it home. It was the only souvenir Nowland ever accumulated, and one that returned, in 2016, when Ford came back to Le Mans with its latest racing Ford GT, and where the company again took the win, 50 years to the day of their initial victory over Ferrari.
Ford surprised Mose Nowland with its Spirit of Ford Award during the 2005 NASCAR Banquet reception in New York City. When Edsel Ford gave him the award, Nowland was both tearful and speechless, not quite understanding why he was worthy. As long-time Ford publicist Kevin Kennedy recalled, “It was because of that very thing that he was” worthy of the award.
Kennedy accompanied Nowland to Toronto a few years back to see the North American premiere of Ford v Ferrari. “To watch that move, with someone who had been there… had been the last to touch the winning engines… was surreal,” Kennedy recalled. “But better than that, it was a chance to tell stories, hear about legends, and share time with my friend.”
Learning of Nowland’s death, NASCAR’s Robin Pemberton said he was “heartbroken. Mose was solid. A great friend to so many. Always a pleasure to be around. Whether I was working on a NASCAR race team or my few years with Ford Motorsports or NASCAR itself, he was always the same to me. One of my favorite people ever.”
Mose Nowland’s work in NASCAR led Doug Yates, CEO of Roush Yates Engines to note, “Mose made every cylinder block, cylinder head and intake manifold that we raced until he retired from racing full time. He created a lasting legacy that everyone at Roush Yates is proud to carry forward. He will be missed but never forgotten.”
It was Nowland’s humbleness and calm demeanor in the face of racing insanities that helped him stand head and shoulders above the rest. One of his later projects included working with NHRA Pro Stock racer Larry Morgan, who was running Ford products at the time. This writer, intrigued by Mr. Nowland, asked to write a story about him. Race Engine Technology allowed the project in 2010.
One of the more compelling statements he made during that hour of magic still stands the test of time. Asked how he maintained such a long and enduring tenure with Ford, Mose Nowland laughed and told me, “I told Mr (Edsel) Ford just a week or so ago, when he asked me the same question, that you get up, dress up, show up and you just keep doing that.”
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