Mystery Friday Foto #19 Solved: The Wreck of George Arents Jr.
Did you identify the wrecked race car of George Arents Jr.?
Identify;
- The Race Car and race
The number #5 Mercedes in the 1904 Vanderbilt Cup Race.
- Driver and Mechanician
Driver George Arents Jr. with Mechanician Carl Mensel
- Any injuries?
During the 1904 Vanderbilt Cup Race, he was involved in an accident in which his Mercedes overturned resulting in the death of his driving mechanic Carl Mensel. After several weeks of recuperation, George Arents, Jr. recovered from his injuries.
- The unfortunate 'first' that the wreck represented
Mechanician Carl Mensel was the first fatality of all the Vanderbilt Cup Races
- Kudos- How does this wreck link to the old Bridgehampton Race Track?
The Arents Turn was the last turn on the Bridgehampton race track. It was so named for George Arents, III, the son of Vanderbilt Cup Race driver George Arents, Jr. (often misquoted as his Grandson). George Arents, III (later known confusingly as George Arents, Jr.) raced Ferraris at many races including Bridgehampton Race Circuit on Long Island in the 1960s. Besides his personal racing "hobby" his most important contribution to motor racing is founding and funding the North American Racing Team with Ferrari importer Luigi Chinetti and Jan de Vroom in 1956. Chinetti ran it and Arents and de Vroom supplied the funding. NART raced with much success all over the world until '70 or '71 including winning Le Mans in 1965.
Comments (2)
Congrats and Kudos to Kenneth Parotte for identifying all the questions.
Greg O.
The Bridgehampton Race Track
The last turn of a lap around the Bridgehampton race track in Bridghamton, NY was known as the Arents Turn.
The badly damaged Ferrari 290MM of George Arents III being pulled out of the woods after his accident on August 23, 1957. The Ferrari had penetrated another 100 feet into the trees after rolling over several times. It's amazing that Arents escaped major injury, much like his father in 1904.
The Ferrari nearing the top of the nearly 40-foot drop-off from the track at the last corner. The corner was subsequently named for the unlucky Arents.
George Arents, III (left) and his father George Arents, Jr at Bridgehampton in the 1950s.
Comments
I think that’s the 1906 Christie 100HP racer that was entered in the 1906 American Elimination trials. It was driven by J. Walter Christie with Lewis Strang as the mechanician. No injuries were reported. I think it was the first V-4 front wheel drive car entered in an international race. As to the Bridgehampton connection: no idea after considerable research.
October 8, 1904, first Vanderbilt Cup Race. Mercedes. George Arents, Jr. was the driver, Carl Menzel was the mechanic. On the second lap of the race Arents blew a tire on the Queens corner and the car overturned. Both Arents and Menzel were thrown from the car. Arents was injured but survived, Menzel died, the first fatality at the first Vanderbilt Cup Race. August 1957, in practice for the first race at the newly constructed Bridgehampton Racecourse, grandson, George Arents crashed his Ferrari on his second lap. The Ferrari overturned but he and his passenger, Timothy Patrick, were not seriously injured.
Oh well, all streaks must come to an end sooner or later.