Vanderbilt Cup Races

Nov 25 2010
Starting Lineup- The 6 “J” Cars of the 1908 Jericho Sweepstakes

On September 10, 1908, the AAA Race Commission announced plans to christen the Motor Parkway with an event called, “The Long Island Motor Parkway Sweepstakes.” Five concurrent stock car races were scheduled for October 10, 1908. The idea was to create an opportunity to test the new course, timing systems, and crowd control for the Vanderbilt Cup Race scheduled two weeks later. (0 comments)

Nov 24 2010
Willie K’s Record-Breaking Hill Climb on Thanksgiving Day 1903

In the early 1900s, people did not flock to Manhattan on Thanksgiving to watch the floats and balloons on Broadway, but thousands came to West Orange, New Jersey to watch cars race up Eagle Rock. The Automobile Club of New Jersey first sponsored races for various classes of automobiles here in November 1901. From 1902 to 1905, the Eagle Rock Hill Climbs were held annually on Thanksgiving. (0 comments)

Nov 23 2010
Upclose: The Vanderbilt Cup Trophy in 2002

The first international automobile road race needed an extraordinary symbol of its significance. The $2,500 Vanderbilt Cup, designed by Tiffany & Company, filled the bill. After weeks of discussions, Vanderbilt felt confident enough the race would become a reality that he ordered designs for the trophy from Tiffany’s in March 1904. Here is a close-up of the trophy using photos taken by Walter McCarthy when the Cup was last seen on Long Island in 2002 when it was on loan from the… (4 comments)

Nov 22 2010
Vanderbilt Museum Announces New Automobile Addition to Its Exhibit

The Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum has issued the following press release: (3 comments)

Nov 20 2010
LI Business News “LI Votes for a Race Track” & Film “LI Drag Racing”

The Long Island Business News published a November 19, 2010 article on the results of their poll on "What to do with the EPCAL property at Calverton now that a proposed ski mountain has suffered a meltdown". Note: The accompanying image with the article shows a Calverton logo on a NASCAR track. (5 comments)

Nov 19 2010
Classic Memories of The Long Island Automotive Museum II The 1963 & 1980 Auctions

The quarterly publication of the Metro Region of the Classic Car Club of America Metropolitan Skyline published three articles in 2010 on Henry Austin Clark, Jr. and the Long Island Automotive Museum. In the third article, editor Grace Gluck described the 1963 and 1980 auctions at the Long Island Automotive Museum documented with photos taken by Norman Arbour: (1 comments)

Nov 18 2010
Classic Memories of The Long Island Automotive Museum Part I

The quarterly publication of the Metro Region of the Classic Car Club of America Metropolitan Skyline published three articles in 2010 on Henry Austin Clark, Jr. and the Long Island Automotive Museum. PDFs of the first two articles are provided below with permission from Skyline's editor Grace Gluck. (3 comments)

Nov 17 2010
Willie K’s Mother’s “Beacon Towers” Castle in Sands Point

One of the most amazing mansions ever built on Long Island was the residence of William K. Vanderbilt, Jr's mother, Alva Vanderbilt Belmont. (1 comments)

Nov 16 2010
Old 16 Fun Facts from the Henry Ford Museum

When the Henry Ford Museum introduced the Old 16: An American Legend exhibit in 1997, they developed a press kit with information on the car, the exhibit and the Vanderbilt Cup Races. Here is the "Old 16 Fun Facts" sheet from the press kit (courtesy of The Henry Ford): (2 comments)

Nov 15 2010
A Painting of Paul Newman to Help Young Drivers

Last Sunday's post on the 1997 Old 16 exhibit and film narrated by Paul Newman attracted the highest daily viewership in VanderbiltCupRaces.com's two-year history. Several people sent me emails with fond memories of the much beloved actor, racer and humanitarian including artist Chris Osborne: (0 comments)