Vanderbilt Cup Races

Wow,incredible pictures,thanks for sharing them

From John E. Roosevelt Family Photo Album: Action in Hicksville During the 1910 Vanderbilt Cup Race

Fuller Dymaxion

From Mystery Friday #35 Solved: Buckminster Fuller's Dymaxion #1 on a 1933 Test Run at Roosevelt Field

From David Stephan:

Howard-
Just returning from a West Coast trip, where, ironically, I met an exhibitor from the McCall’s Motorworks Revival (who unbelievably parked his collectable Ferrari in a parking spot next to my rental car). 

I posted a comment suggesting the mystery car from the August 22nd post is a custom car. Here is additional information that may be of some use to Gary Monti and Bill Barto.

The mystery car does not have a Delahaye badge and its grille matches the stylized illustration mentioned in the comment (which is not a correct Delahaye grill).

From other videos of the McCall’s show and from LA Times reporting, one can see other custom cars on display. The 1939   Delahaye Model 165 (sometimes misidentified on the Internet as 1938 because it was introduced at the ’38 Paris auto show) is in the Mullin Museum and on the museum’s website one can find a summary of the car’s history and its link to the World’s Fair” (see http://www.mullinautomotivemuseum.com/#!/discovery/car/42 ).  On the web, one can find at least one replica Model 165 car shown being constructed.

The McCall’s theme this year was old and new—how the old shows up in the new. The ’39 Model 165 was introduced at the World’s Fair as a “Car of Tomorrow” and its full pontoon fenders can be seen as an antecedent to later designs, including those of some race cars that videos of the show reveal are positioned behind the man in the blue shirt in the mystery photo. Another custom car—perhaps inspired by a Bugatti roadster—sits “in front” of the mystery car (see https://www.facebook.com/MCCALLEVENTS ). That car shows the mid 30’s separate teardrop pontoon fenders. In a sense, walking into the hangar towards the America flag, one would see the evolution of this feature, with the connected pontoons of the ’39 Delahaye as an intermediate form and the exotic Koeningsegg and McLaren cars located deepest in the hangar, as the latest form.

From Mystery Foto #34 Solved: Newly Opened Roosevelt Field Shopping Center on October 3, 1956

From a previous mystery, the mystery painting on the wall gets closer to a Michelin poster!
http://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com/blog/article/mystery_foto_friday_33_can_you_identify

From The Michelin Wheel of Fortune Poster on the French 1905 Gordon Bennett Elimination Race Course

Hello Howard, (and, by extension, all fellow Motor Parkway enthusiasts),

I’ve recently begun work on a documentary film about the Parkway and have been relying heavily upon your work as well as my own research.  I would very much like to meet with you to discuss the possibility of sitting down for an interview, either on camera or off.  Please feel free to email me at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) to discuss.  Hope to hear from you soon.

Dean

From Mystery Foto #34 Solved: Newly Opened Roosevelt Field Shopping Center on October 3, 1956

Hey - two of those added aerial views are mis-captioned!  “Another view (looking west) of Roosevelt Field Mall also taken on October 3, 1956” is looking north-northeast, while “Still another view looking east” is looking south over the then-new Franklin National Bank building on Old Country Road.  Sam, III
___________________________________________
From Howard Kroplick I

Sam, good catches!

From Mystery Foto #34 Solved: Newly Opened Roosevelt Field Shopping Center on October 3, 1956

Yet again - try as I might, I can’t find my old files but a friend’s father owned the big printing plant and I think it was further east.  It was on an insanely-tight curve at the end of an LIRR industrial spur somewhere around the Raceway entrance and they had a hell of a time getting the more modern 60’ boxcars of paper into the plant.  They had to use an industrial tractor to tow the cars in and out.  AHA - found the spur; it runs NNE to the east of Zeckendorf Blvd.  I’ll let this go unless requested to look further.  Sam, III

From Mystery Foto #34 Solved: Newly Opened Roosevelt Field Shopping Center on October 3, 1956

WOW! These “buried in the vault” images are priceless, Impossible to obtain elsewhere.

From John E. Roosevelt Family Photo Album: Action in Hicksville During the 1910 Vanderbilt Cup Race

It’s been a while since I perused your websites, Mr. Berliner. My eyes appreciate your large print and enlarged images.

From Mystery Foto #34 Solved: Newly Opened Roosevelt Field Shopping Center on October 3, 1956

Me, again.  If the exact date of the pic is indeed 03 Oct 1956, readers may then wish to see the same features from the air only three years later on my LIMP Central Nassau page at: http://sbiii.com/limpcnas.html#roosvfld.  Immediately following that on the same page is Howard’s 1938 USAAC aerial photo of the same area, with enlarged details.  Did anyone note the Transverse Road bridge abutments?  You can’t make them out but they’re there!  Sam, III

From Mystery Foto #34 Solved: Newly Opened Roosevelt Field Shopping Center on October 3, 1956

Great century+ old photographs and excellent quality to boot. These images are impossible to come by today and wonderful to view early history of the auto. Thank you gentlemen for sharing these gems

From VanderbiltCupRaces.com Exclusive: From the Helck Family Collection- Driver Louis Wagner

Nice shot! Roosevelt Field (Mall), Garden City looking NW. Lots of stuff here including the South Street LIMP ROW and is that the ice skating rink once located on the mall parking lot? Also can’t see the Managers office but I know it’s there. Hope to return to this later for more. Summertime is calling for me once again :D

From Mystery Foto #34 Solved: Newly Opened Roosevelt Field Shopping Center on October 3, 1956

From John N:
Congratulations Mr. Kroplick, it is refreshing to see that there still exists someone of your caliber! Great story.

From Newsday:On the trail of LI's lost history A grand statue,vintage cars-he's saving them from oblivion

1955 Aerial looking north west at the Roosevelt Shopping Center (not quite the mall yet). The Meadowbrook Parkway has no cars yet so it is new and not yet used. The old Motor Parkway Turn still pronounced at Clinton Ave. It looks like the underpass at Old Country Road is still there and the Overpass at the LIRR is still intact. Too small to see north of that if the Westbury Ave Bridge is still in the picture. Sorry i dont know the car in the other photo but it looks nice and sleek.

From Mystery Foto #34 Solved: Newly Opened Roosevelt Field Shopping Center on October 3, 1956

Identify the location and orientation of the aerial:  Roosevelt Field, Garden City area, looking northeast

Identify the significant buildings and structures:  Roosevelt Field Shopping Mall (Macy’s), Nassau County Courthouse, Mineola Fairgrounds,  Garden City Hotel (obscured I believe), Meadowbrook Polo Fields remains, Mitchell Field buildings, Garden City water tower, Meadowbrook Parkway (unopened) and from a 1954 Hagstrom Atlas - General Bronze Corporation on Stewart Avenue and Equitable Life Assurance Society and LILCO across the street.

Based on clues in the photo, what was the approximate date of the aerial? Provide your rationale.: Prior to finding the exact date on a previous blog post, I theorized Sept. or Oct. of 1956 since Roosevelt Field opened in August of that year and there are cars in the parking lot and the Meadowbrook Parkways looks just about ready to be opened (no cars on it yet) and that opened in Oct. of 1956.  Exact date of the photo later found to be Oct. 3, 1956. 

What Long Island Motor Parkway structures in the aerial were still intact on this date? Garden City Lodge and General Managers house, Roslyn Lodge (possibly remains of the Motor Parkway Roosevelt Field Bridge).

Bonus: Gary Monti and Bill Barto need your help in identifying the below unique automobile.:  Alfa Romeo at the McCall’s 25th Anniversary Motorworks Revival held last week at the Montery Jet Center.

From Mystery Foto #34 Solved: Newly Opened Roosevelt Field Shopping Center on October 3, 1956

1955 Aerial looking north west at the Roosevelt Shopping Center (not quite the mall yet). The Meadowbrook Parkway has no cars yet so it is new and not yet used. The old Motor Parkway Turn still pronunced at Clinton Ave. It looks like the underpass at Old Country Road is still there and the Overpass at the LIRR is still intact. Too small to see north of that if the Westbury Ave Bridge is still in the picture. Sorry i dont know the car in the other photo but it looks nice and sleek.

From Mystery Foto #34 Solved: Newly Opened Roosevelt Field Shopping Center on October 3, 1956

This article is well deserved recognition for the excellent work you do Howard. Your contributions to Long Island history are greatly appreciated by those of us that have known what you do. I’m happy to see that you are getting more credit for the important role you play in preserving our local history.

From Newsday:On the trail of LI's lost history A grand statue,vintage cars-he's saving them from oblivion

I’m back to clarify my previous comment. The road that runs north from Stewart Ave and deadened at the LIMP ( located on the aerial photo, lower right corner; left of the shadow).If there was going to be a bridge built here, it would have been a parkway type; based on how the road appears to sort of tunnel under the LIMP.

From Mystery Foto #34 Solved: Newly Opened Roosevelt Field Shopping Center on October 3, 1956

From Susan B:

What a great article!
It’s really interesting to see all of your interests and achievements written about in one place.
Congratulations

From Newsday:On the trail of LI's lost history A grand statue,vintage cars-he's saving them from oblivion

From John H.

Nice piece by Bill Bleyer today, congrats!

From Newsday:On the trail of LI's lost history A grand statue,vintage cars-he's saving them from oblivion