Vanderbilt Cup Races

Most famous of all the Vanderbilt Cup racers, the victorious Locomobile of 1908 was the first American machine to win the race. Although the field for that event was far less prestigious than its predecessors, Americans heralded the car for its conquest of international competition. The car’s triumph in this race is described in the 1908 race section of the website.

The race car was constructed in 1906 for the Vanderbilt Cup Race with Joe Tracy at the wheel. It won the 1906 American Elimination Race and had the fastest lap of any entry in the 1906 Vanderbilt Cup Race. A muddy track and inferior quality American tires robbed observers of any chance to see how the new racer could compete against the best Europe had to offer.

The car was two years old when it was prepared for driver George Robertson and the 1908 Vanderbilt Cup Race. Its pressed alloy steel chassis supported a four cylinder engine with a bore and stroke of 7.25 inches each making for a total displacement of 1,197.2 cubic inches. This configuration delivered 120 horsepower.

The 2,204 pound car had a wheel base of 110 inches or slightly more than nine feet. The tread was 54 inches, or four and a half feet. Hardened hickory artillery wheels were mounted to the car with Michelin tires. The front tire and wheel combination was 32 inches tall and four inches wide. The rear wheels (with tires) were taller at 35 inches and wider at five inches.

“Old 16,” as the historic Vanderbilt Cup racer came to be known, survives today at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. The car’s path to this final destination is a story of respect reserved for icons.

Locomobile used the car extensively to promote its manufacturing prowess after the race, but as the novelty faded, it was placed in storage in a barn on A.J. Riker’s farm. Joseph Sessions, whose firm did much of the casting for the Locomobile engine, purchased the car in 1914. It was housed in a garage on his Bristol, Connecticut farm that was specially built to care for the car. There it was revered for 27 years and only driven by Sessions who occasionally took it to meets of the Veteran Motor Car Club.

When Sessions died in 1941, Peter Helck, the renowned automotive artist and author, acquired the historic racer with the assistance of his friend Joe Tracy. The car was delivered to his Boston Corners, New York home by none other than Joe Tracy in January 1942. Helck exhibited the car more frequently than Sessions, and allowed both Robertson and Tracy to drive it in touring events, including the 50th anniversary of the Vanderbilt Cup Race held in 1954 at Garden City, Long Island.

When Peter Helck died on April 22, 1988, ownership of Old 16 had already been transferred to his son Jerry Helck. In 1997 the car was acquired by the Henry Ford Museum where it is currently on display.