A Family Discovers 1909 Vanderbilt Cup Race Photos in their Grandfather’s Photo Album
While reading some posts in a Facebook antique car group, I came across some family photos posted by Charles Heyer of the 1909 Vanderbilt Cup Race. These photos were taken by his grandfather, Arthur P. Heyer, who was in attendance at the 1909 Vanderbilt Cup Race. Deeply involved with the new automobiles, Charles' grandfather Arthur had an auto repair business in Montclair, New Jersey in the very early 1900's and would no doubt be an extreme enthusiast at the Vanderbilt Cup Races.
Thank you Charles for providing your grandfather's recently discovered photos of the 1909 Vanderbilt Cup Race!
Greg O.
The Photo Album of Arthur Heyer- Page 1
Page one displays some unfortunate break-downs during the race.The photo in the center is an unknown location of spectator automobiles during the race.
#15 Buick
The top photo on the first page of his grandfather's photo album is of the 1909 #15 Buick driven by Louis Chevrolet. Unfortunately, Chevrolet suffered a cracked cylinder that ended his race.
Captioned;
"The Buick with a cracked cylinder as usual"
The odd, 'as usual', at the end at the end of the caption may speak of his experience as a master mechanic and having previously have dealt with this Buick issue at his shop.
Close up reveals an antique motorcycle leaning against the Buick. Impossible to determine if Louis Chevrolet is in the photo. Maybe the only person not wearing a hat from removing his helmet?
The Crowd
Being the consummate 'car guy', Arthur Heyer must have been impressed by this line of spectator cars, with Heyer captioning the photo;
"The people who put up the coin for the sport"
Can anyone identify any one of these automobiles?
#10 National
"National, Busted"
The bottom photo is the wheel failure of the #10 National driven by Johnny Aitken.
Seen here on the side of the course at the end of his day.
A little closer with crowd detail and children examining the wreck. Seeing the races was a family event.
The failure occurred just East of the Stewart Ave. Bridge on what is now Salisbury Park Drive in Westbury/East Meadow. Here is the exact location today.
The Photo Album of Arthur Heyer- Page 2
More race images
The Stewart Avenue Highway Bridge
"Going like hell!"
Charles' grandfather had an ideal vantage point for the race, locating himself and his party at the area of the Stewart Ave. bridge.
Here, an unknown racer going under the Stewart Ave. bridge.
"Going like more hell!"
Another unknown racer heading towards the bridge.
"The Winner"
While 'The Winner' is the only caption of the photo, we do know the winner of the 1909 Cup Race was none other than the Alco Black Beast piloted by Harry Grant seen here about to go under the bridge.
The broken down National can be seen just behind the Alco on the right hand side of the road.
Zooming in gives a little detail of the missing wheel National at roadside.
The Photo Album of Arthur Heyer- Page 3
The third page has an unknown race photo at the top, and two other photos of Heyer's party.
A mystery racer and turn
"Coming toward Miss Sterus & your Uncle"
Not sure what the caption is mentioning, but this is a very tricky photo to determine location. The open land to the left, the trees to the right and the corner flag man is all there is to work with in this photo. As of now, location is inconclusive, but most likely not far from the Stewart Ave bridge where the Heyer party was viewing the race.
Guesses are welcome!
The Heyer Party
"Heyer & party mixing drinks" "Heyer & party mixing more drinks"
I'll bet! Judging by the heavy coats, it must have been a chilly October day on the Hempstead Plains that day!
Arthur Heyer's Auto Repair Shop
Located in Montclair, New Jersey, Charles' grandfather had his repair shop.
"My grandparents lived in Montclair, NJ and he was an early auto proponent. Right after the turn of the century, he opened an auto parts/auto repair shop in Montclair. He started an early AAA type of service too. In 1921 he built a trailer, hooked it to a 1915 Hudson and camped across the US with the family over 4 months. He went to the west coast and back to NJ. He was a master auto mechanic, repairing the Hudson along the way.
He kept a journal of the trip and the boys took photos. A few years ago I put them together into a book upon the 100th anniversary. -Charles"
A quick synopsis of the Heyer journey.
Thank you again Charles for all the wonderful photos and insights into your grandfather's passions!
Comments
Fantastic photos (and captions)! Thanks Charles for sharing!
Wow! More great historic photos that have been saved. The travel from Montclair, NJ to CA recorded is equally amazing (https://myveronanj.com/2021/08/01/a-cross-country-adventure-in-1921/). The photo below appears a CRR steam engine captured on the left edge while smoking up Eisenhower Park. Thanks Charles for sharing these gems
“The people that put up the coin for the sport.” This looks like this was the area by the grandstand where spectators could pay to park along the fence near the start/finish line. Parking here was insanely expensive. So the comment is appropriate. The “inconclusive” location of the one photo might be somewhere between Carmen ave and Newbridge rd. These pictures are all treasures. Keep finding and preserving things like this.
Love seeing The Beast so clearly. Must note that these photos display an exceptional eye of photographic quality. This is not just incredible Motorsport reportage. These are pure photographic art.
Charles, Thank you for sharing the race photos.
Are you related to John Heyer, Elva Courier racer 1960?
The name John Heyer has been mentioned before on various sites, but I am not related to them….as far as I know.
Agree with Mr. Miller about the ‘inconclusive’ mystery location. The tree line, in the distance, has a familiar look and just might be the Stewart Ave, Newbridge Rd. vicinity.
Also agree with David Miller and Steven Willemann. Regarding Arthur P Heyer’s 1909 mystery curve photo, a 1908 photo exists of the Stewart Ave bridge revealing same evergreen trees on Emily Ladenburg’s oasis estate in the Hempstead Plains (Mystery Friday Foto of Aug 25, 2015)—> https://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com/blog/article/mystery_friday_foto_33_can_you_identify_tis_section_of_the_long_island_moto .
It appears the Heyer Party split up near the Stewart Ave bridge seeking photographic vantage points of the 1909 race, but not very far. The weather was cold and the terrain was rough and swampy. I believe the curve was located just 1,125 feet (0.2 miles) from the Stewart Ave bridge, marked in the google map photo below. The mystery curve photo is looking west by the racer’s shadow pointing towards north. Spectators standing on the right side, just outside Ladenburg’s property and within the Motor Parkway RoW fencing, was a dangerous vantage point on a curve without guardrails for its soft 45* curve. The Ladenburg windmill is out of view on the right side of photo (north). Across the Motor Parkway race track is Eisenhower Park’s Red Golf Course, then a barren land of the Hempstead Plains. Difficult to tell by the 1909 photo but I would be interested to know the Motor Pkwy RoW width at this particular location.
1909 unknown turn