Vanderbilt Cup Races

Here, one of the side buildings Henry Austin Clark, Jr. constructed to store some of the larger vehicles owned by the museum. We know that visitors were able to see a number of fire trucks on display in this building, as well as antique commercial vehicles, and delivery vans. Now sit back, relax, and enjoy our deep-dive into the cars featured in this image.

1915 Ford Model T Fire Chief Car

The brass-era Ford Model T Fire Chief car is shown parked in the far left-hand corner of the side building.

Today, this Ford Model T is owned by the Southampton Fire Department and is used for parades and other events. I always enjoy finding out that a vehicle is still local to the Long Island Automotive Museum area, and this is no exception.

1911 American LaFrance Fire Truck

The 1911 American LaFrance fire truck was one of the vehicles that Austin Clark used to give visitors to the museum a ride-along in, which explains why it is parked outside with no ropes around it.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find any information on this fire truck's current location. It is possible that the Southampton Fire Department owns it today, but I cannot confirm whether this is true or not. If you're local to the Southampton area and have any insight or information, please reach out to us.

The Long Island Automotive Museum produced many postcards featuring the various fire trucks that were displayed at the museum. This postcard notably features the 1911 American LaFrance fire truck and the 1915 Ford Model T Fire Chief car. 

1911 Seagrave Fire Truck

Mostly hidden behind the LaFrance truck is the 1911 Seagrave Fire Truck. I cropped Richard Weir's photograph to get a better look and see what caught my eye while studying it. 

The postcard for the 1911 Seagrave fire truck gives a better view of the 100+ year old vehicle. Powered by a 6-cylinder engine with an 80HP horsepower rating, this chemical fire truck was designed to put out the fire and get to the scene as quickly as possible.

After the Long Island Automotive Museum closed, this truck was sold to Harrah's Automotive Collection in Reno, Nevada. 

1915 White Calliope Truck

The right-hand side of the image shows a Calliope truck made by the White Trucking Company in 1915.  

As seen here on the postcard, this was one of the vehicles Austin Clark restored to promote his automotive museum. Unfortunately, it is not known where this brass-era truck is today. 

1916 Pierce-Arrow "66" Raceabout

The 1916 Pierce-Arrow "66" Raceabout is shown here in pre-restoration condition. From the angle of this photograph, this Pierce-Arrow almost looks like it has no upper body beyond the front windscreen. This optical illusion is achieved thanks to the uncommon two-seater body options ordered for this car when it was new. 

This postcard shows how the Pierce-Arrow looked after its restoration, with bright red paint on the body and a gloss black on the chassis and fender assembly. The two-seater design designated this Pierce-Arrow as a race car that could be purchased from the dealership and also driven on the roads. Pierce-Arrow produced around 1,250 units of this body style. Today, only 14 are known to survive. Hopefully, one of those is the one owned by Austin Clark, but, as of this writing, there is no publicly available information to confirm this.

1933 Pierce-Arrow Silver Arrow

Parked in the back of this image, is the unmistakable design of the 1933 Pierce-Arrow Silver Arrow. This car was well ahead of its time when it was made in 1933. Marketed as the "Car of The Future" during the 1933 Chicago World's Fair, only 5 of these vehicles were ever sold. The price? $10,000 — which is equivalent to $240,563 in today's money.

I wrote an entire article dedicated to the history of this particular Pierce-Arrow Silver Arrow, but here's a quick summary: Austin Clark purchased the Silver Arrow in 1949 and sent it to be restored by Gus Reuter and his team at Reuter's Coach Works. The Silver Arrow was a popular exhibit at the Long Island Automotive Museum. However, by 1963, Austin Clark had sold the Silver Arrow for $7,000 to help keep the museum open. 

Today, this Silver Arrow is owned by Richard H. Driehaus. 

1929 Lincoln Sport Phaethon

I managed to identify this 1929 Lincoln solely by its radiator mascot and by marking the similarities to a 1929 Ford Model A design (note the smooth cowl sides). Yes, I'm a car nerd; no surprises here. 

The postcard for this Lincoln Sport Phaeton shows off its sporty open-air design and deep gloss black paint job. 

Today, this Lincoln is part of an automotive collection in Germany. 

The 1929 Lincoln was used as Austin's personal car for many years. He even drove this car on all the caravans such as the Glidden Tour.

The Old 32 license plate was likely Austin's tribute to the winner of the 1908 Vanderbilt Cup Race Old 16.

Stay tuned for more Long Island Automotive Museum photography and nerdy deep-dives into the history of the cars that were on display. Don't be shy to share your memories from visiting the museum. We enjoy reading and engaging with your nostalgia.