Kleiner’s Korner: Speed Trials on the Long Island Motor Parkway
In addition to automobile racing and public use, other original purposes of the Long Island Motor Parkway included a location where manufacturer's could test their equipment and for enthusiasts to hold match races.
Manufacturers tested their automobiles on the Parkway and used the results to fine tune and promote their products.
Art Kleiner
The Original 1906 Prospectus
The incorporators of the Parkway envisioned speed trials and automobile tests as sources of revenue.
The prospectus specifically highlighted the Motor Parkway's true road conditions and no speed limitations as benefits to the testing of autos.
Even before its opening many match races were planned on the Parkway. (Brooklyn Times Union Apr. 27, 1927)
Mercer (1911)
In 1911 a Mercer attained speeds of 74 mph without the wind and 78 mph with the wind! (New York Tribune Nov. 23, 1911)
Jay-Eye-See and Simplex (1912)
Vanderbilt Cup Racer Louis Disbrow tried out his new 290 Jay-Eye-See and his Simplex "Midget" on the Parkway in 1912. (Brooklyn Standard Union Mar. 2, 1912)
Disbrow in his Jay-Eye-See in 1912. Location unknown.
J. I. Case (1913)
A year later, auto enthusiast and racer Joan M. Cuneo planned to test out a Jay-Eye-See on the Parkway but it ran into mechanical trouble, so instead she tested a "Case Pirate" which attained a top speed of 91 mph. (New York Tribune Jan. 11, 1913)
This article states the "Pirate" attained a speed of more than 94 mph. And that Disbrow was her mechanic (sic mechanician?). (Brooklyn Daily Eagle Jan. 11, 1913)
Hudson (1913)
Efficiency (e.g., gas mileage) was the goal of the tests conducted using a Hudson Six. I believe the car was a 1914 model year even though this Hudson produced publication announced the test in 1913. (The Hudson Triangle Oct. 18, 1913)
This 1914 Hudson Six sold for $39,600 on Sept. 21, 2017 (exactly 5 years prior to me writing about it in this blog).
Packard (1916)
Packard ran a test with several passengers in a 1917 model and even raced it against an airplane. (Brooklyn Times Union Sept. 9, 1916)
Fifty feet above was a monoplane!
Keeping pace at 73 mph!
Up to 76 mph before before overtaken from behind! Then the plane was lost in the clouds.
Averaging a speed of 63 mph the Packard test was a success in all aspects.
H. Long - Bay State (1922 - 1926)
The Great Neck to Smithtown stretch of the Motor Parkway was used to test a Bay Sate Six under the same road conditions that a normal ride with the family would encounter. (Source NA)
(Source NA)
1922 Bay State advertisement.
Durant (1927)
Durant used the Parkway to test its new transmission system in its 4 and 6 cylinder cars. (Brooklyn Home Talk - The Item Mar. 2, 1927)
Its tests proved successful in bringing the car to "maximum engine power and efficiency". (Brooklyn Home Talk - The Item Mar. 2, 1927)
A 1927 4 Cylinder Durant Star.(classiccarsbay.com)
Durant maintained experimental and testing departments to create and develop new features for its cars. The end products would be tested on the Motor Parkway and at Indianapolis as well as on transcontinental trips. (Automotive Daily New Oct. 31, 1927)
Another 1927 4 cylinder Durant - perhaps this was tested on the Motor Parkway! (barnfinds.com)
Hot Rod Trials (1952)
During the hot rod craze of the 50s, drivers needed places to run their vehicles away from normal traffic. An unused portion of the Motor Parkway near Creedmore in Queens was envisioned. (NY Daily News Oct. 26, 1952)
(NY Daily News Oct. 26, 1952)
Not All Trials Were Successful
Picture and caption says it all! (NY Daily News Apr. 23 1925)
Comments
Very interesting! I was wondering who built the “Jay-Eye-See”, and then I spotted the J.I. Case Co. mention - much better known for its tractors, and other agricultural machinery.
Excellent post as usual Art! Love it!
Great information Art, thank you. We know that parkway sections have been restored through out as exercise paths, but the parkways role for automobile testing is more than enough reason to continue with restoration. I can imagine the section they wanted to utilize in the early 1950’s, just east of Winchester Blvd.
We all have known about 2 uses - racing and transportation. First I’ve ever heard of this use - for testing cars. Thanks!
Here’s an article about a 100 hp Simplex, built at a cost of $8,000 that was tested on the Long Island Motor Parkway in August of 1912. From “The Daily Home News (NJ) ” August 5, 1912.