The Vanderbilt Cup Races

Creating the First International Road Race in America

Vanderbilt Offers the Cup

Courtesy of The Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum

At the turn of the 20th century the superiority of European automotive craftsmanship cast a long shadow over America’s fledgling car industry. To encourage American automobile manufacturers to challenge European quality, William K. Vanderbilt Jr. envisioned America’s first international road race, modeled after those held in Europe. On January 8, 1904, the 26-year old Vanderbilt proposed that officials of the newly formed American Automobile Association (AAA) bring such a race to his native Long Island. He donated a 10½ gallon, 30-pound silver cup designed by Tiffany & Company. Embossed on the precious metal was the image of Willie K in his proudest racing moment, atop his Mercedes at the 1904 Ormond-Daytona Beach Automobile Tournament.

Nassau Farmers Protest Race

Courtesy of The Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum

The lure of an economic boon from thousands of free-spending visitors to the Long Island community proved incentive enough for Nassau County supervisors to approve the use of public roads for auto racing when they met on August 23, 1904. Unconvinced, however, were many farmers who still relied on horses for transportation and saw automobiles as playthings of the idle rich. Despite several legal attempts to stop the race, Nassau County supervisors and judges gave their approval a few days before the Saturday race date.

The 1904 Course and Headquarters -->

1904

Years

Feature

The 128-page book by Howard Kroplick, a researcher and lecturer on the races, contains rare images of the races from the archives of major museums, libraries and private collectors. The book Vanderbilt Cup Races of Long Island will be available from Arcadia Publishing in March 2008.

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