Mar 04 2025

Mystery Friday Foto #9 Solved: The 1905 #8 Thomas at the Starting Line


Did you identify the #8 Thomas racer at the starting line?

Identify;

  • The race car

The 1905 #8 Thomas racer

  • Driver and Mechanician

The driver was Montague Roberts with Fred Grant in the mechanician seat.

  • Race and date

1905 American Elimination Trial on September 23, 1905

  • Outcome for this entrant

Finished 5th, but did not qualify for the Vanderbilt Cup Race. See  Kelly Williams' response below.

Comments (4)

Congrats to Bob Barauskas, Kelly Williams, Steve Lucas, and Frank Femenias for solving this mystery photo. Kudos to Kelly Williams for his race description and photo.

Greg O. 


Close Up

From Kelly Williams

Comments

Mar 01 2025 BOB BARAUSKAS 11:15 AM

THE CAR WAS A “THOMAS”, MANUFACTURED IN BUFFALO, NEW YORK
THE DRIVER WAS MONTAGUE ROBERTS, THE MECHANICIAN WAS FRED GRANT.
THE RACE WAS THE AMERICAN ELIMINATION TRIAL HELD ON SEPTEMBER 23, 1905
THE ENTRANT FINISHED IN 5TH PLACE.

Mar 02 2025 Kelly Williams 12:04 PM

Sep. 23, 1905, Montague Roberts driving the 6-cylinder Thomas (double-triple) in the Vanderbilt qualification run.  It showed well, but first one battery box broke, then the second, requiring the mechanician to brace the battery, and suffer acid burns.  They had to slow down, and finished 5th.  Normally that would have been good enough to qualify, but the committee made an arbitrary decision to not include the Thomas in the race.  Roberts and E. R. Thomas were pretty annoyed.

Mar 02 2025 Steve Lucas 12:38 PM

That’s the 60HP Thomas racer driven by Montague Roberts with Fred Grant as the mechanician. They are getting ready to start at the 1905 American Elimination Trial on September 23, 1905. Although finishing 5th., they were not selected to be part of the American Team for the Vanderbilt Cup Race that year due to some controversy that would take too long to explain.

Mar 02 2025 frank femenias 9:32 PM

Could be Thomas’ #8 at the 1905 American Elimination Trial Race, idling at the starting line on Sep 23,1905. If so, Montague Roberts is behind the wheel with Fred Grant as his mechanician. The racer finished 5th place and did not qualify for the 1905 Vanderbilt Cup Race on Oct 14, 1905. Willie K is seen with his back on the #8 Thomas. With a nose that long I was expecting a V12, which couldn’t compete with the quicker 4-6 cylinders at the time

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