The Vanderbilt Cup Races

Willie K’s Family

Courtesy of The Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum

William K. Vanderbilt Jr. (1878-1944) was the great-grandson of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, who built a transportation empire in shipping and railroads. Known to his friends as Willie K, he was the second child and first son of William K. Vanderbilt (1849-1920) and Alva Erskine Smith (1849-1933).  He was a railroad executive, an accomplished yachtsman, and a pioneer auto racing driver. At the age of only 26, William K. Vanderbilt Jr. proposed the first international road race to be held in the United States by donating the Vanderbilt Cup.

Racing in Newport

Courtesy of The George Eastman House

After his marriage, Willie K was an independent adult and ready to embrace another passion, automobiles. In 1900, he purchased, at the cost of $10,000, one of the first racing cars imported in the United States, a 28-hp Daimler nicknamed the White Ghost. On September 6, 1900, Vanderbilt and his society sporting friends gathered at a half-mile Aquidneck Park horse track near Newport, Rhode Island, for a series of automobile races. Vanderbilt won three of the featured five mile races with an average speed of 33.7 mph. The following year, he returned to compete in the Aquidneck Park winning both the five-mile and ten-mile races in his 35-hp Mercedes Red Devil.

Vanderbilt and the “Race to Death”

Vanderbilt returned to Europe in May 1903 to compete among 216 cars in the infamous Paris-to-Madrid Race driving his 80-hp Mors. While it must have been disappointing at the time, a cracked cylinder on the first day of competition spared him exposure to the numerous accidents that earned the event the name “Race to Death.” At least eight people were killed during the race, including car maker Marcel Renault, ending the first great era of motor racing, the European city-to-city races on open roads.

Vanderbilt Wins Hill Climb Contest

Courtesy of The George Eastman House

On Thanksgiving Day 1903, Vanderbilt took his 60-hp Mors to West Orange, New Jersey, and won the Eagle Rock Hill Climbing Contest. He broke the record time for the steep, curvy, one-mile hill. After his victory, crowds surrounded Vanderbilt, who wore a fur coat to protect against the wind while driving.

Vanderbilt Sets One-Mile Land Speed Record

Courtesy of The Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum

The zenith of Vanderbilt’s racing career was the Ormond-Daytona Beach Automobile Tournament in January 1904. For the event, he purchased a giant 90-hp Mercedes, among the most powerful cars in the world. On January 27th, he set the one-mile land speed record on the beach going 92.3 mph, surpassing the record established earlier in the month by Henry Ford.

Vanderbilt Offers the Cup (1904)

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.

Referee William K. Vanderbilt Jr. at the Grandstand (1905)

Courtesy of Keystone-Mast Collection, UCR/California Museum of Photography, University of California, Riverside

At 6:00 in the morning on Saturday, October 14th, referee William K. Vanderbilt Jr. stood ready to officiate at the Mineola grandstand.

Willie K’s sister, the Duchess of Marborough (1905)

Courtesy of The Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum

Approximately 5,000 people gathered at the Mineola grandstand including William K. Vanderbilt Jr.’s sister, Consuelo, the Duchess of Marlborough (center wearing a white blouse). Encouraged by her mother, Alva Vanderbilt, Consuelo married England’s Duke of Marlborough in 1895.

Virginia “Birdie” Vanderbilt Attends the Race (1905)

Courtesy of Keystone-Mast Collection, UCR/California Museum of Photography, University of California, Riverside

Willie K’s wife Virginia (center) also attended the race, accompanied by her friend Mrs. Peter Martin (left). Virginia attended the 1904, 1905, 1906 and 1908 Vanderbilt Cup Races. Even after her separation from Willie K in 1909, she attended the 1915 Vanderbilt Cup Race in San Francisco.

Alva and O.H.P Belmont (1906)

Courtesy of Brown Brothers

Willie K’s mother, Alva (second from left), and his step-father, O. H. P. Belmont (third from left) watched the race from their front-row box seats. Alva was a regular attendee at her son’s races and always attracted visitors to her box seats just in front of the course.

Vanderbilt Confers with Officials and Delays the Start (1906)

Courtesy of Brown Brothers

When the scheduled 6:00 AM start time approached, referee William K. Vanderbilt Jr. (left) conferred with his longtime trusted aide and associate referee A.R. Pardington (center) and AAA Racing Board chairman Jefferson DeMont Thompson (right). Factoring reports from around the course that fog hung dangerously low, limiting visibility, they decided to delay the start by 15 minutes.

Referee Vanderbilt Tries to Clear the Course (1906)

Courtesy of The Henry Ford

With a cry of, “Hundreds are going to be killed if the crowd is not controlled,” Locomobile driver Joe Tracy pulled to a stop to warn race officials after completing his first lap. Referee Vanderbilt jumped into his Mercedes with race chief surgeon Louis Lanehart and made one fast lap to check out crowd conditions and to clear the course. The crowd temporarily returned to positions behind the fences surrounding Krug’s Hotel.

Long Island Motor Parkway Annual-Fee Plates (LIMP)

Courtesy of The Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum

The Long Island Motor Parkway would eventually connect Fresh Meadows, Queens, to Lake Ronkonkoma in Suffolk County, a total of 48 miles. A 5” x 5” porcelain annual-fee plate was issued to permit unrestricted year-round use on the Parkway. Number 100 was assigned to William K. Vanderbilt Jr. Reflecting its poor profitability and the availability of new free public parkways, the Long Island Motor Parkway closed for good on Easter Sunday, 1938.

Referee Vanderbilt and Chairman Thompson Inspect Locomobile (1908)

Vanderbilt took his role of referee very seriously and at times seemed ubiquitous. When driver George Robertson and riding mechanician Glen Etheridge stopped the #16 Locomobile to strap in a spare tire, Vanderbilt (left) and Jefferson DeMont Thompson, chairman of the 1908 Vanderbilt Cup Commission, inquired about road conditions. Robertson was wearing a racing mask and a scarf on his cap to clean his goggles.

Robertson Takes the Checkered Flag (1908)

Courtesy of Brown Brothers

Brash and daring, 23-year-old George Robertson took the checkered flag from starter Fred Wagner before a huge crowd in the Hempstead Plains (now Levittown). Jefferson De Mont Thompson, Chairman of the Race Commission, was seen with his hands raised. Beside him to his left was the ever-vigilant referee, William K. Vanderbilt Jr.  Now called “Old Number 16,” the car is currently displayed at The Henry Ford, a museum in Dearborn, Michigan.

Founder of Lipton Tea (1909)

Courtesy of The Helck Family Collection

Sir Thomas Lipton (center with his distinctive mustache), founder of Lipton Tea and knighted by Queen Victoria in 1898, was one of the most prominent spectators at the 1909 race. Lipton shared a passion for yachting with the Vanderbilts and competed for the America’s Cup yacht race on several occasions.

An Era Comes to an End (1911-1960)

From 1911 to 1916, the Vanderbilt Cup Race moved around the country; Savannah (1911), Milwaukee (1913), Santa Monica (1914), San Francisco (1915) and back to Santa Monica (1916). Interviewed by the New York Times in October 7, 1934 on the 30th anniversary of the first Vanderbilt Cup Race, Willie K reflected:

“I had done a great deal of motoring abroad, and had seen the effect of racing competitions on the foreign cars. Foreign cars then seemed to be always about 5 years ahead of the American cars. If something could be done to induce the foreign makers to race in this country, our manufacturers would benefit by it…We kept on racing for a number of years on Long Island. After the races in Savannah, Milwaukee and San Francisco, the cup was withdrawn from competition following the final race in Santa Monica in 1916.” The reporter then asked “It just didn’t seem like the Vanderbilt Cup Race when it was taken away from Long Island, did it, Mr. Vanderbilt?” Vanderbilt responded “No. And it did seem that all that could be hoped for had been accomplished, so it was a fitting moment to end the races.”

Centerport Home Becomes the Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum

On January 8, 1944, William K. Vanderbilt II died of a heart ailment at age 65. He received many tributes from his family, friends, automobile enthusiasts, yachtsmen, aviators, and World War I Navy comrades. In his will, Vanderbilt left a trust fund of $2 million to care for his Eagle’s Nest estate in Centerport, New York and arranged for its presentation to the local county government. His home is maintained today as the Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum.