Vanderbilt Cup Races

That’s Joe Tracy in his famous Locomobile racer. Tracy participated in the 1904, 1905, and 1906 Vanderbilt Cup Races along with the 1905 and 1906 American Elimination Trials. Not sure if it was this exact vehicle that he drove each time but it could have been. His passenger was Ada Patterson, an investigative reporter for Hearst newspapers who was one of the “Sob Sisters”, earning that nickname for exposing conditions in public institutions that led to reforms. This appears to be a photo taken around the same time as mystery photo #38 from three weeks ago at Maple Cottage in Lakeville (Lake Success), Locomobile headquarters. The date is probably a few days prior to September 22, 1906.

The 1906 90 HP Locomobile driven by Joe Tracy which ran as the #12 Locomobile in the 1906 American Elimination trial and #9 Locomobile in the 1906 Vanderbilt Cup. It was modified and ran as the winning #16 Locomobile in the 1908 Vanderbilt Cup Race.
The woman in mechanician seat is Hearst journalist Ada Patterson, one of the reporters known for investigative exposes that led to reform of public institutions.
She rode down from the Great Neck train station to the Locomobile HQ at Maple Cottage on Lakeville Rd. sometime around mid-September 1906 before the cup race on the 22nd.

Another shot of Tracy with Ada Patterson

Joe Tracy
90 HP Locomobile: raced as #12 in the 1906 American Elimination trial and as #9 in the 1906 Vanderbilt Cup. Modified and raced as the winning #16 Locomobile in the 1908 Vanderbilt Cup Race.
Female journalist, Ada Patterson, one of the “sob sisters” who covered the “trial of the Century” in which murder charges were brought against Henry Kendall Thaw, accused of murdering Stanford White. 
Prior to the race - approx. Sept 15-21, 2006.
The Maple Cottage, Lakeville - headquarters of the Loco Team.

Passing of Ada Patterson.  Brooklyn Daily Eagle, June 26, 1939.

Mystery Foto#41… The race driver in the Foto is JoeTracy. The race car is a Locomobile 90HP which ran in the 1905 Vanderbilt Cup Race and others.
The passenger was Ada Patterson, one of the SOB sister reporters known for investigative exposés that led to the reform of many public institutions.
The date of the Foto is October 14, 1905.
The likely location was the 1905 Locomobile Headquarters at the Maple Cottage in Lakeville (now Lake Success)

exposé

Howard-
The 1906 Locos and the 1908 cars seem to be a little confusing.
More than a few times on the site it has been said that the #12 and the sister car were the modified #1 and #16 cars in the 1908 races (see 2009 entry below) but other times I’ve read the 1908 cars were completely new. For clarification, what is the exact timeline of the 4 Locos from 1906 and 1908?

What was the fate of the two cars from 1906? We know the 1908 cars to be Helck’s ‘Old 16’ at the Henry Ford and the #1 Florida Loco wrecked at the start/stop at the finish of the 1908 race. (was Florida’s car ever rebuilt?- I’ve read in the Helck archives that it’s fate is unknown)

To confuse things slightly further, Tracy’s #5 Loco in the 1905 American Eliminations and #7 car in the 1905 Cup Race were one and the same and never seen again after the 1905 races, correct?

Please Note re. Foto #41…. Just to keep us confused I show a clip from our own VCR blog from December 2010 using the same photo as above with Joe and Ada in the #12 Locomobile and is captioned as 1905 Vanderbilt Cup Race. Not 1906 Cup Race.

Dick-
A little poking around on the site uncovered a post from 2010 that makes clear what became of both Locomobiles, even a piston and connecting rod from the spare parts that Peter/Jerry Helck had in their possession.

https://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com/blog/article/monday_march_1