The collapse of the once-promising Massachusetts auto industry — and the sharp-elbowed cross-country race that hastened its demise

A fire destroyed the Shawmut Motor Co. factory in Stoneham on Nov. 13, 1908, consuming its equipment, blueprints, materials and 10 completed cars. The same day, Boston’s automotive press gathered to see Ford’s Model T, which had debuted in Detroit earlier that fall. The two events became symbolic of Massachusetts’ decline as a center of car production and Detroit’s rise as the home of mass-market American automobiles.