Marty Himes at the Vanderbilt Cup Races Grandstands in Levittown
The late, great race car driver, and Himes Museum of Motor Racing Nostalgia curator, Marty Himes, visited the 1908-1910 Vanderbilt Cup Races Grandstands Levittown location in 1993 and 1997. These photos have been forwarded by the Himes family from when Marty was there during some Cup Race milestones. Thanks to the Himes family! May Marty's name live on in racing history!
Greg O.
November 30, 1993
Back on November 30, 1993, Marty Himes had presumably wanted to commemorate the 85th anniversary of the 1908 Vanderbilt Cup races. At the time, Marty had thought the grandstands stood between Heron and Skimmer Lanes, seen here in 1993. However, he was slightly west of where the grandstands were. The grandstands were actually located further east between Skimmer and the further west Crocus lane as reported in a 2013 post. Despite the minor error, it was nice to see the racing legend paying homage to our favorite race course.
Marty searching for where he believed the start/Finish line to be.
Marty begins his set up.
Marty, looking west from Skimmer Lane.
Marty seen here with Daphne Rus, former Secretary of the Levittown Property Owners Association.
June 22, 1997
Marty was back again on June 22, 1997 for the Grandstand marker dedication in Levittown.
Marty at the marker with an unidentified antique racer. Anyone care to venture a guess on the year, make and model of this racer? I have not been able to positively identify this one myself.
Local News12 on hand for the event.
The racer with a temporary '16' on the hood and grill standing in for the 1908 winning Locomobile 'Old 16'.
Marty in the 'Old 16" stand in.
The 'Old 16' stand in sporting an unknown 1928 Motor Parkway plate.
A big day for the Levittown Historical Society!
Comments
Cool Stuff.
Marty knew my father and his brothers who all raced at Islip. He even tracked done some great pictures for me. It was fun to get to know him and hear the stories of the Tures Brothers.
Marty was a great guy. I interviewed him one time and it became a short feature about his participation in the anniversary running of the Formula Libre event at Lime Rock Park. The feature ran in the Lime Rock program.
Shirley and I also attended several of Marty’s birthday events at his home. He was always surrounded by fellow racers and, of course, by the thousands of pieces of racing memorabilia he had collected over his lifetime.
I always said that if I ever won the lottery, I was going to build a Long Island Motorsports Museum and move all of Marty’s stuff, and Howards, and the Bridgehampton Racing Heritage Groups and others, into the place. Broken dreams happen, don’t they?
Rest in peace, Marty.
The car in the image you provided is a 1910 Oldsmobile 20, one of two identical racers built by Oldsmobile for the 1910 Vanderbilt Cup Race. These cars were designed for the prestigious race held on Long Island, New York, and were notable for their advanced engineering and distinctive appearance.
Marty will be missed for sure We miss seeing him Saturday nights at the Islip town Hall cruise nights 9
Andrew Hartwell
After Marty had passed on I made simular proposal having Marty’s collections moved to nice area in nice facilty to be spearheaded by Howard and have a fundraising to acomplish this idea. Your idea sounds better! Maybe Nassua and Suffork County can achieve this idea?
I took this photo of Marty July 13 2019 that all like.
Marty is a legend and will be remembered for as long as auto racing remains the popular sport that it is!!
I remember Marty very well. My wife and I used to see Marty at the Old Country Buffet in Bay Shore. He was very friendly and engaged in conversation with everyone. When he knew that I was a Studebaker fan, he would call me every time he saw a Studebaker for sale. A great human being. We miss him. I loved the car shows that Marty hosted at his museum.
Rog