Mystery Friday Foto #28 Solved: The G-22 Chalmers-Detroit descending the Ellison Road Bridge in Westbury
A tougher one this week of a racer at speed on the Vanderbilt Cup Race course.
Answers to the Mystery Foto questions:
Identify:
- The car and driver
The G-22 Chalmers-Detroit driven by L.B. Lorimer
- The race and date
The 1908 Garden City Sweepstakes run during the Motor Parkway Sweepstakes. The race was held on October 10, 1908, the opening day of the Motor Parkway
Kudos question: Identify the exact location and orientation of the photographer
Looking north, the Ellison Road LIRR Bridge in Westbury.
Comments (3)
Gefeliciteerd en complimenten (congrats and kudos) to Ariejan Bos for identifying the G-22.
Greg O. & Howard Kroplick
Courtesy of the National Automotive History Collection, Detroit Public Library
G-22 Chalmers-Detroit
Ellison Road LIRR Bridge
Comments
This is the Chalmers-Detroit with nr. G22 descending the Westbury LIRR bridge. The event was the Garden City Sweepstakes on October 10th,1908. The driver was L.B. Lorimer. The car still resembles very much the older Thomas-Detroit racers, which participated in the Savannah races in March of that year. The Thomas-Detroit would continue in 1909 as Chalmers-Detroit, but the new name already had been adopted during these Sweepstakes races apparently. The two Chalmers-Detroit cars in the Jericho Sweepstakes were of a slightly different (1909) design.
Not at all confident with this guess but it could be the #20 Knox racer driven by William Bourque during the 1908 Vanderbilt Cup Race on October 24, 1908. I think the photographer was facing north on Ellison Road just south of the LIRR bridge.
I can’t peg this car to a specific Vanderbilt race for some reason. To me it looks like a 1908 Mercedes. A shot in the dark for the driver is Christian Lautenschlager doing a practice run for the Grand Prix race. I might be a bit more lucky on the guess for the location. The photographer is facing north on Ellison road in Westbury as the car is coming down from the railroad bridge.
Arriving late but I had suspected the Ellison Rd/LIRR bridge in Westbury looking N. I have no other info