His maternal grandfather had been the Union Army's director of railroad design and engineering for its rail network during the Civil War, pivotal in the Confederacy's inevitable defeat.

Commissioned as a major in the U.S. Army Signal Corps, he "achieved immortality for his role in creation of the Liberty V-12 aircraft engine during World War I".

By the time of the Armistice with Germany various companies had produced 13,574 Liberty engines; including those made to fulfill wartime contracts a total of 20,478 were built between July 4, 1917 and 1919.

Among his victories was the 1922 Gold Cup, driving Packard-Criscraft and breaking a five-year winning streak by rival and business collaborator Gar Wood.

He is immortalized as "America’s Master Motor Builder" on a State of Michigan marker honoring the vast Packard Proving Grounds, the first facility for testing automobile and engine performance in the U.S.[5] One of the earliest members of the Society of Automotive Engineers, Vincent rose to president of that organization and was subsequently elected by it to the Automotive Hall of Fame.