Jesse G. Vincent

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.

World speed record breaker and five-time Gold Cup champion Gar Wood at the helm of triple Liberty L-12 -powered Miss America 2 , the second of nine Packard V-12 driven Miss Americas and 1921 Harmsworth Trophy winner