The Vanderbilt Cup Races

Howard - I was at your presentation in the Smithtown Library last week and really enjoyed the info you related to us.  Thanks.

Re the Long Island Automotive Museum above, I remember my parents taking me to the museum a couple of times when I was probably 8 - 10 years old.  I will be 61 on 6/27/08.  I remember going for rides in an early 1900’s fire engine and sitting up alongside the driver while I cranked the handle on the manually operated siren.  As I recall, the fire engine was driven down dirt roads in the rear of the museum.  As a kid of that age, I had a ball!!!

I haven’t thought of that in many years.  It brings back good memories.  Thanks for the reminder!

Regards,

Joe Romano
Smithtown, NY

My father was a Ham Radiio operator (W2BSP) and back in the 1950’s when I was just a kid he took me out th see Austin Clark’s Automotive Museum.  Clark had been a ship’s radio operator and knew dad.  The Museum was a glorious experience.  Like yourself I was in the area in more recent times and was saddened to see a banner across the sign in front in the weed infested parking lot and the delapadated hut that once housed those wounderful automobiles.  I noticed a dirt road along side the site and feeling adventurous found it led to a back enterance onto the property.  The big door was open and serveral men were inside trying to start one lone old 1940ish Lincoln.  One man stepped out and very sternly asked me what I was doing there.  It was none other than Austin Clark himself.  I told him my story and he opened his heart to me about how the local government would not let him use billboard signs to advertise his Museum and how his famly lost interest in the work it took to open each season.  He gave me some post card pictures still there in the little store.  The ceiling of the building showed signs of leaking and what remained in the storage racks were falling into decay.  It was sad but a privlage to have met this early historian of American Automobiles.

Hi Howard,  Thank you for sending me your wonderful web site information.  I will have to go through my stuff and see if I have any other items and photos with related to your interests. I knew Austin Clark for many years and he was a great help in some of my automobile restorations through the years. In the interest of historical accuracy you might want to change your L.I. Automotive Museum article to owner Henry Austin Clark Jr. He would always say “Mr. Clark passed away” when people left off the Jr. 
      Keep up the good work!
Regards, Your friend, Walter

I never visited the Museum while it was open, but I visited several times after it closed for what was called an “Iron Range”, sales conducted to dispose of the various parts still in the buildings. I was invited by Les Cutting, of Huntington who was very well known in the hobby and Wally could tell you lots about. I collected a pile of parts and collectable items and asked Mr. Clark for a price when he was closing down for lunch. He did not want to sell me some items, sign and pictures, etc. he said they were not for sale and I said I was told everything was for sale. Within a few seconds, he would not sell me anything, and then Les came over and stated I was a fine young man and not a dealer and the he said I could have the stuff, so I asked for a price, he just gave me the stuff. I still have it all today. I also attended and “Iron Range” run by Walter Kraft for his estate. It was still a great place to visit even with out any cars.

Joe, William, Wally, and Sal:

Thanks for your stories concerning the Long Island Automotive Museum. Hopefully, someday we can build a new automobile museum here on Long Island.

Enjoy!

Howard

Yowza All,
  I collect/restore old vehicles and cam across an article in Speed Age circa 1953 on the Museum.

  I hit the Web to see if possibly this place still existed, unfortunately not, but somehow the land hasn’t been developed after all these years.

  If memory serves me correctly the Harrah Collection bought the Thomas Flyer from the famous race and it was left as original as possible because of it’s historical significance. My only hope is whoever ended up with it did not do a full body off restoration as it would be criminal.

  Anybody who has knowledge of the actual people who restored the cars at Harrah’s or possibly owned or currently own one please contact me at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).  Interesed in doing an article on the quality of Harrah’s restorations as they hold up amazingly well from the examples I’ve seen in the flesh.

        Good Health, Bob Lovell

Bob:

Best of luck with your research!

Enjoy,

Howard

I first met ‘Austin’ at one of the many car shows he was a fixture at around the Island.

One memorable one was typical of him. My wife and I were sitting in our Austin 10 having lunch during the 81 Glidden tour. Austin walked by and we offered him a glass of wine. “No thanks” he replied, “I’m on booze”. Later I looked in the back of his Lincoln Touring and the entire back seat was taken up with the largest cooler I had ever seen ... and it was full of various brands of “booze” bottles, ice bucket and glasses. 

I only went to the museum once when it was open, but then after the museum closed to the public in what I remember was 75, to several of the Iron Ranges there after with Walt Gosden.

I can remember one day spent doing a “dig” in a three foot high mound of dirt that had been a pile of old parts out in the yard behind the main building. Found quite a few small fittings still usable. Another time I was upstairs looking through parts shelves when all the lights suddenly went out and I was in near total darkness.

Austin would kill the lights, no mater who was where in the building, then yell “lunch” and start out the door to fire up the 20’s bus. He used it to drive all who would fit in it to lunch at John Ducks via the cemmitary next door to pay his respects. I was told it was the grave of his friend, the actor Gary Copper. Don’t know for certain,as the grave was only marked by a big rock.

After lunch it was back to the museum to try and .... I say try ... to buy any parts found because like Sal above found out, Austin wasn’t always in the mood to sell things. I learned that when turned down, you had to then hide your finds and at the next Iron range “re-find” them, then ask again. It was not uncommon that it took three or more tries to get Austin to agree to sell .. and when he finally did it was usually very cheap.

Fun times !!!! 

This has been another flash back for me because Wally McCarthy above gave me my first ride in a gas/brass era car buncing across Warren Krafts lawns in the front seat of Wally’s Locomobile.

Hey Wally - still got the Loco ?

Paul Fitzpatrick
Formally of Amityville

Great stories and comments. I was racing at The Bridge when I first met Austie as the Commendatore (bartender, too) of the Circuit Club and later as the fun one at Chowder for many years after the raacetrack’s agonizing demise. It’s about time for someone to do his biography. He was truly a man for all seasons who led a richly diverse life and was always a wonderful mix of joy and grumpiness. I recommend Wade Hoyt.

I went to the museum when i was around 10 or so,. abt 1965 (we lived in Freeport)
and yes I remember the firetruck and the thomas.
  Several years later.. my wife and i were in Newsday (we werent married yet) regarding the LI Motor Parkway (it was one the earliest Newsday “A View From) and afterwards we drove out to the Museum,.. and met Austin who recognized us from the article. We talked about 2 hours.. and he invited us to a bar in town (we declined)
About a year later we went to a Vanderbilt Cup car show in Bethpage .. and had to park wayyy away from the main part.. after tursging around and looking at all the cars we were starting back when austin spotted us and stopped to talk.. then offered us a ride back to our car… in his.. a hugs old simplex.. what a thrill driving by all the onlookers with Austin in this huge antique and gorgeous car.

he is very missed

0

Checking to find out if you still have the color
post cards of antique and classic cars that I have been seeing advertised in my earlier dates of Old Cars News and Weekly Marketplace newspapers.If so, please,“snail-mail” me your listings together with
your current prices.These ads were in the early to mid-1970s withbdcame56 a price of 20 cards for $1.15-a price that, I’m certain, is obsolete at this time!

I remember well visiting the Long Island Automotive Museum with my father and a friend in the early 1950’s.  We drove in our 1952 Chevy all the way from Madison, NJ and my friend became car sick.  Fortunately we were near the water on Long Island, so my father was able to clean up the car’s back seat.  I remember the Thomas Flyer well and have seen it since, but not sure where it is now.  Yesterday I was at the Meadow Brook Concour’s in Auburn Hills Michigan and Austin Clark’s name was mentioned several times, which lead me to check the web to find out “whatever happened to”.

Thanks so much for the memories of Austin Clark and the Long Island Automotive Museum.

I have obtained films of the museum from Walter McCarthy and the Long Island Old Car Club. I hope to post them sometime this month.

Enjoy,

Howard

It is a sad view to see a museum in such condition, as a car collector myself I’ll visit Long Island Automotive Museum and will see if it can be reopened so that it can bring back memories for people who once visited there with their loved ones.

Kate:

This film shows the Long Island Automotive Museum on it opening day on August 27, 1948 and in the early 1950s:

http://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com/index.php/blog/article/friday_september_25_2009_film_the_long_island_automotive_museum

Enjoy,

Howard

I recall that when i was a child we went there in the 1950’s a lot. i remember there was a vintage fire engine that would take us on rides on a dirt road through some woods. those were better days for us long islanders.

Hi Lou:

As Bob Hope said “Thanks for the memories!”

I have added a photo of the Sandy Hook Fire Department truck at: http://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com/index.php/blog/article/tuesday_september_29_2009_more_on_the_long_island_automotive_museum

Howard

A group of us from Boston went on a tour in the mid 70’s and met up with a group of old car people from the island.  Henry was a member of the group.  That was the only time I met Henry who was a perfect host.  On the Saturday of our tour, he took us by the museum and gave people whatever parts they needed.  That evening we visited his home in Southampton before going to John Duck’s for dinner.  That was a weekend I’ll never forget.  God bless you Henry wherever you are.

I have a set of picture post card size vintage long island automotive museum picture cards set of #1-40 (missing card number 5,12,27). On the back are descriptions of different cars for each card. The front shows the picture of the cars.

i have the complete set.I like to know more about them….. year printed; value etc. Some are color , some are blk. and white.

Hi Pierre and Richard:

Here is a link to information on the Long Island Automotive Museum’s postcards:

http://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com/index.php/blog/article/tuesday_june_15_2010_postcards_from_the_long_island_automotive_museum

Howard

Back when I was a kid, my Dad would commemorate the coming of every spring season by taking our family out to the Long Island Automotive Museum.  For a car-crazy kid like me, this was the equivalent of Howard Carter wandering around inside King Tut’s tomb.  The collection was enormous, probably the largest on the East coast.  Virtually every year from the dawn of automotion was represented at the museum.  The collection went so far back in time as to include turn-of-the-century, light-weight, bicycle-wheeled contraptions with tillers instead of steering wheels. 

  Some of the cars in the museum were restored to pristine condition.  Others were well preserved, unrestored specimens found in the proverbial barn somewhere.  The paint would be faded to a dull patina and some of the leather upholstery dried out and cracked.  To go ahead and do a sparkling mint restoration on these perfectly intact antiques would rob them of their history, so they were simply displayed ‘as is.’  Over the decades, these cars were always parked in exactly the same spot, so I assume they were never driven.

  I’m told, when some of the cars were discovered, they were such a rusted, wet-rotting shambles, there was no choice but to dig in, take everything apart and use the old parts as templates for the creation of new ones—and occasionally replace non-operational extinct equipment with modern replacements that could be hidden behind something.  The resulting ‘driver’ automobiles may not have been 100% original and their level of restoration would be something less than immaculate, but these were the cars that lived and breathed, exhaling blue smoke as they were driven in parades or just exercised for their health. 

  One such living vehicle was the museum’s fire engine.  This machine was a real blast because it was used to give rides to us kids on the winding dirt trail behind the museum buildings.  We young ‘uns would take turns clanging the bell while that beautiful, dusty, faded-red, retired hero would belch gobs of smoke like an uphill freight train and chug-chug-chug its stalwart, ancient heart out for us, siren wailing like a London air raid.  For the aforementioned car-crazy kid, few things were as much fun, and aside from holding the hand of a certain young lady by the name of Julianne during school recess, this remains my happiest childhood memory.  It was a terrible pity when the museum closed its doors back in the 1980’s and auctioned off its collection, but in its day there was nothing else quite like it—at least, not nearby.  When I last saw them a few years ago, the empty, derelict museum buildings were a pitiful sight.

Bob

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Howard,
Thanks for the memories.  I remember driving out to Austin Clark’s museum many times during the ‘60s.  I used to get a kick out of seeing Mr. Clark in his coveralls working on the cars.  Most people thought he was just a worker at the museum.  He always treated me nicely. 
I always bought something from his gift shop and still have a small collection of postcards with photos of his collection. 
The auctions were fascinating and high spirited.
Looking at those photos of what the building looks like now make those who knew the museum very sad.
Bevery Rae Kimes, who was a good friend of Austin wrote a great article about him in Automobile Quarterly.  If memory serves, I think it was in Vol. 38, number one.  If that’s not correct, it’s close.
Again, thanks for the memories.
Roger Price

Austie took my kids for a ride on his fire engine.
Many years later at a “Chowder” meeting, I gave him the photograph that I took.  In the photo he was still young and handsome.

Sad picture.
Back in the ‘60s my family lived in Hauppauge.
My father would take my brother and I out to watch the races at Bridghampton and to the Auto Museum once a year. I always remember those days as some of the finest ever.