Greg O.‘s Garage: From the Helck Family Collection- Barney Oldfield and the “Green Dragon”
Recently discovered in the Helck Family Collection is a one of a kind item, that one can only surmise is a promotional booklet distributed by Peerless for 1905. This booklet is a page by page description of the entire 1904 racing season and records broken by Barney Oldfield in the Peerless "Green Dragon".
After Barney's falling out with Ford, the following year in 1904, he started as a factory driver for Peerless. His accomplishments that year were nothing short of extraordinary, setting records every time he sat behind the wheel. There were reportedly up to 4 subsequent "Green Dragons" as the first one was wrecked during the first season.
Currently, a replica of Barney's first 1904 60 H.P. "Green Dragon", built from a donor Peerless, is owned by John Price and resides at the Price Museum of Speed in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Greg O.
The beautifully engraved and printed cover with photo inset.
Barney Oldfield "World's Premier Motorist". But one must wonder, is it truly Barney if he doesn't have a cigar to chomp on?
Purpose built racing cars previous to the Green Dragon had a different design to them. Peerless claimed they were the first to build race cars from factory touring cars and one could purchase a touring car with the same 60, 24 and 35 H.P. engines as their race cars.
"Do You want the Green Dragon type of engine in your new touring car?"
Toronto, Canada. Aug. 6, 1904.
The first race entered, records were set for the 3 mile race at a time of 3 minutes 57 seconds. All races that day were won by a Peerless.
Hamilton, Canada, Aug. 8, 1904
Fastest mile; 59 seconds
Buffalo, NY. Aug. 12, 1904
Fastest mile; 58 seconds.
Buffalo, NY. Aug. 15, 1904
The only car to break the 1 minute mile at the race at 58 seconds.
Omaha, Nebraska Aug. 23 & 24, 1904
1 to 5 mile race records all set.
Detroit, Michigan Aug. 26 & 27, 1904
Racing against the Winton Bullets, Mohawks, Packard Gray Wolf, and 8cyl Pope-Toledo, he easily lapped them all.
St. Louis, Mo. Aug. 28, 1904
"The fatal meet of the year for Barney Oldfield."
The starter failed with his signal. While trying to pass another car, blinded by dust from broken goggles, Oldfield crashed through a fence, killing 2 spectators, seriously injuring himself and then wrapped the Green Dragon around a tree totaling the first Green Dragon.
Nashville, Tenn. Labor Day, Sept. 5, 1904
Scheduled 8 days after a near death accident, promoters of the race refused to let Oldfield out of the race. Against doctors orders, Oldfield left the hospital to race in Tennessee.
He was greeted with the "warmest applause imaginable" from the crowd who knew what he went through to be there.
Pittsburg, Pa. Sept. 30 & Oct. 1, 1904
Driving his new, stripped touring car, the 24 H.P. Green Dragon, he made a record driving 10 miles in 10 minutes, 50 seconds for this class of car.
Cleveland, Ohio Oct. 15, 1904
New 10 mile mark; 9 minutes 17 seconds.
Grand Rapids, Michigan Oct 18, 1904
"Faster than an express train"; 1 mile in a touch over 55 seconds.
New York City, NY. Oct 29, 1904
A great day! Barney makes a new world record, wins the world championship and beats the winner of the Gordon Bennet race with a time of 9 minutes 12 seconds for the 10 mile race in the 60 H.P. Green Dragon.
Denver, Colorado, Nov. 6 & 7, 1904
More record breaking!!! 22(!) records set in 2 days! "Hail to the King!"
Salt Lake City, Utah Dec. 13 & 14, 1904
Broke all 3 Utah state records for 1, 2 and 3 mile races on the half mile track.
Reno, Nevada Nov. 21 1904
Unclear why the booklet goes out of chronological order from here on in... Fastest mile; 58 seconds flat.
Stockton, California Nov. 24, 1904
Sacramento, California Dec. 4, 1904
Easily knocks out 7 miles under 57 seconds each, but stopped due to a snapped rear axle casing.
Fresno, California Dec. 13, 1904
Almost cancelled due to rain, Barney still managed to get in 50 miles in under 50 minutes. A feat never tried before. He also managed to break his own mile records from earlier in the season at Denver.
Los Angeles, California Dec. 16 & 17, 1904
Track record broken driving 1 mile in 53 seconds flat.
San Bernardino, California Dec 18, 1904
Tire blows and off the track Barney goes.
"Well..." said Barney, 'That is what I am up against when I try for records on a soft track; a tire blows up, or the machine goes wrong, and there you are. But as I am in luck to be here, I won't kick."
Los Angeles, California
A specially sanctioned race by the A.A.A. for final record trials and Barney did not disappoint.
Breaking the last record for a 9 mile race, after this day, he held all records for every 1-50 mile race. Just an incredible feat by Oldfield and Peerless.
The truly amazing list of records set that year. I wouldn't have believed it myself if I had not had this 106 year old Peerless book to read it from.
The back cover featuring the man, myth and legend... the "World's Premier Motorist", Barney Oldfield
Comments
Barney Oldfield, Master Driver of the World & America’s Legendary Speed King. Thanks for keeping American Automotive Racing History Alive! http://www.firstsuperspeedway.com, www.brownfoxbooks.com.
Greg, Thanks for the comprehensive article on Barney Oldfield….however, don’t believe he ever participated in any of the Vanderbilt Cup Races ???
Al,
Barney raced in two Vanderbilt Cup Races:
-The 1914 Vanderbilt Cup Race held in Santa Monica. He finished second in the #7 Mercer:
http://www.champcarstats.com/races/191401.htm
-The 1915 Vanderbilt Cup Race held in San Francisco. He finished seventh in the #1 Maxwell:
http://www.champcarstats.com/races/191505.htm
He was entered in the 1916 Vanderbilt Cup Race in a Delage, but did not appear.
http://www.champcarstats.com/races/191613.htm
Enjoy,
Howard
Howard, Meant on Long island. Any idea why not?
Thanks Howard and http://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com for Keeping American Automotive Racing History Alive! Give my Best to the Black Beast!
You Know Me
Al,
It makes sense. How was the fastest man alive not included in the Vanderbilt Cup Races in the beginning? The first year of the Cup Races in 1904, he held every record at all the big tracks that year in the Green Dragon….I believe Barney’s exclusion from the Vanderbilt Cup Races was more socioeconomic than anything else.
Read this and let me know what you think.
https://toledosattic.org/essays/101-abstracts/biography/105-ess-oldfield
Al, it is a great question! Barney Oldfield was constantly in conflict with the AAA, the sanctioning sponsor of the Long Island Vanderbilt Cup Races during this period and often suspending from racing in their events: https://www.mmshof.org/index.php/inductees/inductees/314-barney-oldfield-2
An example of Oldfield’s defiance of the established rules of the AAA was his race in 1910 against the world boxing champion, “negro” Jack Johnson (I’m using the term “negro” here as it appeared in the articles of the time).
Here’s a video of the race in which Oldfield defeated Johnson (courtesy “firstsuperespeedway.com” and Mark Dill).
https://youtu.be/zrQWWgHZT7U
Note the incorrect date which shows 1911. Also, as pointed out in this article from “firstsuperespeedway.com” Oldfield tried to make the moving pictures as entertaining as possible by making the race appear closer than it was by using the same clip over and over again.
https://www.firstsuperspeedway.com/blog/oldfield-vs-jack-johnson
The race was postponed until October 25 due to rain on the original date and was held on the Sheepshead Bay track. Oldfield raced a 60 hp Knox with Johnson in a 90 hp Thomas Flier.
Click here to Download this file
Great article on a superb artifact - thanks Greg!
Salt Lake race may be mis-dated, unless real busy Dec.13, 1904.
Explains chronological question.
Fantastic document! Thank you for sharing in its entirety.
The first few years of the Vanderbilt Cup, no American car had a chance of beating the Europeans. And I doubt the Europeans would have any reason to put Barney in one of their cars. They had Grand Prix champions to chose from. So maybe Barney had no desire to harm his reputation by taking a chance on the race. Also, American entries in the Cup were allowed to engage European drivers, and some did.
I have seen these booklets on ebay over the years, very rarely, and very, very expensive to purchase. Thank you for posting.
Thank you for posting such a wonderful piece of history for us to enjoy
Great find, Howard. As you know, I have researched Barney’s career extensively and have to say there is a lot of content in here that I did not know of before.
Howard, Did Barney “race ” against Vanderbilt at Daytona at one point ?
Howard, I think I know why Oldfield did not initially race in any of the Vanderbilt Cup events. He was a “track racer”, not a “road” racer, different set of skills . Re. Indy-Bridgehampton.
Al,
Barney absolutely raced Vanderbilt at Ormond in 1904. Willie K. lost.
https://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com/blog/article/the_dawn_of_speed_when_willie_k_raced_barney_oldfield
Guess what ?.... Barney Oldfield did race the the Golden Dragon in 1906 for the “Vanderbilt Cup”
Yes Al! And Elsie Janis was his mechanician.
Two articles from “The Automobile” magazine reporting Oldfield’s attempted suicide and retirement from racing. (July 11 and August 15 issues). Obviously both were incorrect.