Vanderbilt Cup Races

Explored the whole area on both sides of Union yesterday, Nov 19, with my brother Dennis and son Gram. Must note yet again that the thought of such an underpass seems nearly mad in a Gotham-ish and Arkham sort of way. Easier engineered pedestrian overpasses would have been far simpler and sightly. My brother tells my our dad talked often of this underpass as being a facilitator for patient movement but I’m still unconvinced it would have been a safe and sane activity. The Union roadway overpass just east of the location was a constant source of wonder for me and my fellow day hikers in the late 50s and early 60s where we would throw down a ball in order to engage both Creedmore workers and patients in friendly conversation. None of it was mean spirited in any way. We just wanted to know more about the giant hospital we grew up in the shadows of.

From The Union Turnpike/Long Island Motor Parkway Pedestrian Underpass

In the late 50s and very early 60s this sliver of the parks and parkway was the location of a rather large hobo camp. That all disappeared as the Clearview got built.

From Sam & Dave's Excellent "Lost" Motor Parkway Adventure I: Clearview Expressway-Queens

Hi Howard
The Mystery photo is the 1949 Buick Roadmaster used in the movie Rain Man and owned by the film’s director Barry Levinson. It was restored by Wayne Carini and featured on one of his Chasing Classic Cars episodes. The pictures are from Amelia Island. Right? Thanks for your fun website.
Tobey Ross

From Mystery Auto Foto #47 Solved: Definitely a 1949 Buick Roadmaster that Starred in the Film Rain Man

1949 Buick Roadmaster convertible driven by Tom Cruise in the movie Rain Man. Seen it at the Greenwich Concours.

From Mystery Auto Foto #47 Solved: Definitely a 1949 Buick Roadmaster that Starred in the Film Rain Man

It is a Buick.
It is the rain Mans’s car.
Wayne Cureny in Connecticut owns it.
It was on display at Lime Rock Labor day for Vintage Racing

From Mystery Auto Foto #47 Solved: Definitely a 1949 Buick Roadmaster that Starred in the Film Rain Man

It is a 1949 Buick Roadmaster convertible. used in the Rain Man movie. It is actually one of 4 alike used in the filming. NASCAR driver Ryan Newman owns one of them. It is now painted a light green with a red leather interior. BTW my cousin owned one from new in the movie color. She traded it in for a 55 Chrysler and then got a new 1959 Buick convertible 10 years later.

From Mystery Auto Foto #47 Solved: Definitely a 1949 Buick Roadmaster that Starred in the Film Rain Man

This is a 1949 Buick Convertible, probably designated by Buick as Model # 76C.  This car was one of at least two cars used in the movie “Rainman” starring Dustin Hoffman.  The current owner is Wayne Carini.  The grille on this car with the vertical bars that first appeared on 1942 models and continued until 1954 is a classic Buick styling treatment along with the hood side ornaments often referred to as “portholes”.

From Mystery Auto Foto #47 Solved: Definitely a 1949 Buick Roadmaster that Starred in the Film Rain Man

I wonder if anyone at the Roslyn Times knew who I was dressed as

From The Roslyn Times: Community cleanup at Motor Parkway

I think the car is a 1949. Don’t know why its famous,don’t know who the people are in the car,the woman face is blocked by her hat,the driver is either the owner or chauffeur

From Mystery Auto Foto #47 Solved: Definitely a 1949 Buick Roadmaster that Starred in the Film Rain Man

The car is Buick Roadmaster 8 cylinder.I’ll try to get back with the year

From Mystery Auto Foto #47 Solved: Definitely a 1949 Buick Roadmaster that Starred in the Film Rain Man

Old Sixteen may not be for sale, but you can see David Wasserman’s monumental depiction in metal of that historic car at the Lane Motor Museum in Nashville. Or you purchase a coffee mug featuring that image on line at http://www.tincanman.bigcartel.com

From Helck Family Collection: Old 16 on Display at the Henry Ford Museum in 1962

While I could not recall the year, it being a Buick Roadmaster used in Rainman was my guess…...the only famous Roadmaster I’ve ever seen.  The owner may have been a stretch for me.

From Mystery Auto Foto #47 Solved: Definitely a 1949 Buick Roadmaster that Starred in the Film Rain Man

Mystery Foto #47…..... The car is a 1949 Buick Roadmaster Convertible. One of two Buicks used in the making of the film “Rain Man starring” Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman.
The currant owner is The films’s director Barry Levinson.

From Mystery Auto Foto #47 Solved: Definitely a 1949 Buick Roadmaster that Starred in the Film Rain Man

Wow! Sam logged on and left a post. This made my day. Glad to know I’m “not that bad!”

Thank you frank. Awesome you guys did this too. We really have to meet one day. We were there very early as this is the starting line of the long journey. From the starting line this is the first point of “lost” parkway. The 73rd ave budge is cool though. Lots of posts in the thickets around it.

There are other spots coming from this journey. Stay tuned. I’m running out of new ideas however regarding LIMP. We could explore Melville to Wyandanch in more detail, I’ve seen the basics and found some good spots and I’m sure there’s more stuff to find in the woods there but for some reason the Suffolk portion of the road really doesn’t interest me very much. Not the same vibe. No race history. No Gold Coast owners going out that way (not many). Just doesn’t feel as “historical”.

From Sam & Dave's Excellent "Lost" Motor Parkway Adventure I: Clearview Expressway-Queens

The auto is the 1949 Buick Roadster Convertible, featured in the 1988 movie “Rain Man” starring Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise.  The pair drove the car across the country.  The car was shown at the 2016 Amelia Isle Concours and is currently owned by the film’s director, Barry Levinson who bought the car around 2 years ago and had it refurbished.

From Mystery Auto Foto #47 Solved: Definitely a 1949 Buick Roadmaster that Starred in the Film Rain Man

1949 Buick Roadmaster used in the film ‘Rain Man’. Recently restored and shown at Amalia Island. Owned by the film’s director Barry Levinson.

From Mystery Auto Foto #47 Solved: Definitely a 1949 Buick Roadmaster that Starred in the Film Rain Man

There’s nothing I enjoy more than exploring and finding pieces of Long Island history. The LIMP is history and exploring this road and finding forgotten sections is just awesome. I just love that it’s there, hibernating, waiting to be re-discovered. I’ve written to Smithsonian Magazine with hopes that they take interest in writing a story about it. So far no answer. I think it’s right up their alley.

And I’m lucky enough to have my little man / exploring buddy to come along with me. Great times! We are already planning Vanderbilt Day III.

If anyone has any thoughts/historical sites that you think deserve investigation please let us know, LIMP sites or otherwise. I told Howard he has to get another web site up and running covering LI history in general! Nobody is better qualified to get that going!

From Sam & Dave's Excellent "Lost" Motor Parkway Adventure I: Clearview Expressway-Queens

Yeah he’s not that bad…..
We have some pretty good times together.

From Sam & Dave's Excellent "Lost" Motor Parkway Adventure I: Clearview Expressway-Queens

David Stephan - I had suspected exactly the same, living in Queens myself. Up to some point around 2004?, it was still being used by patients/nurses during daylight hours, before being permanently shut down. Hope to film this “LIMP remnant” walk-through some day. Brian McCarthy had brought up a good question as to how long the tunnel is. My findings measure it as 220 feet (67meters).

From Raiders of Lost Underpass

Another great exploration Sam and Dave! Brian McCarthy and I were there on the same day. We must’ve just missed each other. We also walked the whole ROW curve up to the 73 Ave bridge looking for any remnants. No luck on the curve but the Clearview Expwy location had roadway posts and ROW posts amidst very tall trees. A highly recommended exploring site.

From Sam & Dave's Excellent "Lost" Motor Parkway Adventure I: Clearview Expressway-Queens