Mystery Friday Foto #8 Solved: Two Porter-Knight racers preparing for the 1915 Indy 500 Race in Port Jefferson
A very challenging photo from the Walter McCarthy Archives for this week.
Answers to the Mystery Foto questions:
- Identify the two historic race cars
Two Porter-Knight racers built by Finley R. Porter in Port Jefferson.
While employed as chief engineer for the Merce Company from 1910 to 1914, he designed the Mercer Raceabout. He eft Merce to form his own automobile company FRP. He produced six handmade touring cars when World War I broke out.
- The race and year these two cars were built for
Three Porter-Knight racers were built for the 1915 Indy 500 Race.
- Their outcome in the race
The Knight-Porters were withdrawn after failing to qualify.
- These cars were built on Long Island in the village where this photo was taken. What was the village?
Ardencraig Inn, Main Street & Arden Place, Port Jefferson
Good luck on this tough one!
Comments (8)
Congrats to Mitchell Paluszek, David Miller, Art Kleiner, Steve Lucas, David Stephan, Philippides, Denis Ryan and Dick Gorman for identifying the Porter-Knights built by FRP.
Kudos to David Stephan for tracking down the location of the FRP factory in Port Jefferson.
Greg O. & Howard Kroplick
Close-Ups
Unaltered Image
Ardencraig Inn
Ardencraig Inn location, Main Street & Arden Place, Port Jefferson Source: Google Earth
Wells Oldsmobile showroom and garage, Port Jefferson, Ardencraig Inn location-1960s
Ardencraig Inn location today
Comments
I could pretend I’m a genius and rattle off the answers, but all I needed to do was Google Ardencraig Inn and this actually is the photo which pops up with an article telling much of the fascinating story! (Doesn’t talk about the specific race, and I don’t know the answer to that.)
These are 2 Porter Knight racers. They were built for the 1915 Indianapolis 500. Neither were able to start the race due to engine problems. The Long Island village where they were built and where this photo was taken is Port Jefferson.
Racers are 2 Knight-Porters built for the 1915 Indianapolis 500.
Both cars neglected to start the race due to engine trouble.
The cars were built at the F.R.P. (Finley Robertson Porter) auto plant in Port Jefferson, LI which in 1916 was taken over by the US Government to produce military equipment.
After WW1 it was again used for auto manufacturing.
Those are two Porter-Knight racers which were built to participate in the 1915 Indy 500. They never made it to the starting line due to engine trouble. The photo was taken on Main Street in Port Jefferson. Finley Robertson Porter had a factory there and built a few cars with the FRP badge from 1914 to 1918. I believe the location of the factory was in upper Port Jefferson near the train station.
They are 2 of the 3 Porter-Knights built for the 1915 Indy 500 race. (A.R. Pardington was the honorary referee for that race!) The cars failed to qualify for the race due to engine valve problems.
They were built by Finley R. Porter (with a Willys-Knight engine), who built his F.R.P. luxury car in the same Port Jefferson Station factory that had produced F.M. Richard’s Metropol. (Both cars were commercial failures.)
Many sources say Port Jeff, but as this Belcher Hyde map shows, the factory was in Port Jeff Station.
Any Boomer who grew up watching television might remember a totally fictitious 1928 “Porter” that talked, so this was a bit easier for some of us.
The cars were Porter Knight racers.
Built in 1914-1915 for Indy 500
Town is Port Jefferson
According to an online article in the Port Time Record, the cars are two Porter-Knight racers parked in front of the Ardencraig Inn, on Port Jefferson’s Main Street .
Mystery Foto #8… The two historic cars are Porter-Knight racers AND they were built in Port Jefferson NY where this photo was taken. I believe that these two cars were built for the 1915 Indy 500. But they were withdrawn after attempting to qualify when it was determined that they would not finish the grind. They did not race. They did make an appearance in late June 1915 at the new 2 mile board track in Maywood, Illonois and once again were withdrawn as they had no chance of finishing.
And, yes, they were made in Port Jeff.