Vanderbilt Cup Races

Great collection of images! Glad I was able to help!  Perry

From The 2014 Annual Ford Employee Product Development Center Car and Truck Show

Looking at the RR P2 reminded me of a car my dad owned.  It was a RR P1 Springfield, 1929, a Rivera Town Car with the same sort of white canework design in the rear quarter.  Unlike one now all over the web for an auction, it was clearly Springfield and Brewster - and American - the one on the web looks pure British.  His car had an aluminum head engine, and the traditional pipe style bumpers as I recall.  Its original owner was the founder of Time Magazine, and by the time my dad got it it was in poor condition, very run down.  He sent it off for a very slow restoration to a shop in the Wilkes Barre PA area (we lived in Scranton) but he was very preoccupied with hs work, and there was little progress - and it got caught up in the floods of Hurricane Agnes in 1972 or so, just making things worse.  But even in that condition it was a beautiful car.  Years later my mom sold it; I’ve no idea what became of it, but hopefully it ended up in a good home.

From The Amazing Automobiles of the 2016 Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance

I hope my family in Bayside will be able to assist.

From District 23 to Vote on Resurfacing of the Motor Parkway Section of the Queens Greenway

I think the photo was taken on October 6, 1906 during the third Vanderbilt Cup Race with Willie K. driving his 1903 Mercedes along with Dr. Louis Lanehart as the passenger. However, I don’t think it was during the first lap as previously thought by many but rather during the 6th. lap when Elliot F. Shepard, in his Hotchkiss racer, ran into spectator Curt Grunner slightly east of the photo. Since Lanehart was Chief Surgeon for the race, I think Willie K. may have been bringing him to the scene of the accident in an attempt to help Grunner.

From Mystery Foto #12 Solved: A Memorable Moment at Krug's Corner at the 1906 American Elimination Trial

I love that Buick Convertible and the Phantom Corsair.  The movie clip of the Wombat was familiar to me.  Where did I see that before?
Thanks Howard.
Joe

From The Amazing Automobiles of the 2016 Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance

Hey!  This was #15 of 13 May 2013!  No fair repeating!  I’ll have to send you a good one.  Sam, III

From Mystery Foto #12 Solved: A Memorable Moment at Krug's Corner at the 1906 American Elimination Trial

The photo was the 1906 race when an alarm was sounded by a driver of the crowd crowding the course and masses going to be killed, Willie K and surgeon Louis Lanehart took to the course for a visual inspection and course clearance.  Willie K had entered the 1906 race then abruptly withdrew bowing to pressure from American car manufacturers…..according to my reading it simply had a bit to do with him driving a foreign car, which would work against his reasoning for the race.  So he was no doubt ready for a drive regardless.  That car was a Mercedes, and that was probably Willie K’s only lap on the racing track of a Vanderbilt Cup race.

From Mystery Foto #12 Solved: A Memorable Moment at Krug's Corner at the 1906 American Elimination Trial

This mystery photo was presented before. It still looks like President Teddy Roosevelt (VCR Chief Surgeon, Dr. Louis Lanehart) being driven by Willie K, as he’s burning rubber at Krugs Corner (Jericho Tpke and Willis Ave). They’re in Willie K’s personal 1903 Mercedes and heading east on Jericho Tpke, checking crowd conditions around the 1906 VCR circuit. Could that be 13 year old Peter Helck?!?! That would be some find Howard! Memorable, because the boy is memorizing all the race images to depict on his famous paintings for decades to come. I could smell the aroma from Rodizio Restaurant hovering over this intersection, good Portuguese restaurant for ‘all you can eat’ meat lovers (100 years later). Alright, I’m anxious AGAIN waiting for this week’s answers.

From Mystery Foto #12 Solved: A Memorable Moment at Krug's Corner at the 1906 American Elimination Trial

Hello, Howard. I have used this website for everything plus the LIMP. But I spent about half of today perusing….nyshistoricnewspapers.org…It’s format is quite easy to use. I found everything from my birth announcement to LIMP info.
_________________________________________________________________________________
From Howard Kroplick:

Brian, good suggestion! Thanks!

From Favorite Website: Suffolk Historic Newspapers

A second go around with this one from 3 years ago!
http://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com/blog/article/mystery_friday_photo_14_can_you_identify_this_thrilling_moment_during_a_van

My answers from then should suffice;

-The location
Jericho Turnpike and Willis Avenue in Mineola

-The race
1906 Elimination Trial or Cup Race (they drove through and cleared the track for both)

-The car
Vanderbilt’s 1903 Mercedes that broke the one-mile land speed record

-The two people in the car
Willie K and Dr. Louis Lanehart

From Mystery Foto #12 Solved: A Memorable Moment at Krug's Corner at the 1906 American Elimination Trial

Greetings. 

Is it possible to get a higher resolution image of Bob Fria’s chart of the S-Code Mustangs that were delivered to Dearborn Steel Tubing; the image on your page is so small that it can’t be printed and read with any degree of clarity.

I’m trying to chase down the history of the Mustang Vivace (built at DST) and I think it was built on one of the S-code Mustangs.  Please advise.

Thanks for your time.

Mark
_________________________________________

Mark, I will email the scan to you. Howard

From The 15 1963 Pre-Production Mustangs Built at Ford's Pilot Plant in Allen Park

The top photo is a real time machine with the Beast next to that cup. Great job!

From Alco Black Beast Highlights from the 2016 Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance Updated 3/18/16

Me not knowing anything about the physics of aircraft flying, but it’s a good guess things went awry way before contacting the transmission tower phase/phases. It certainly added to the stress factors either way. The electrical field surrounding the wire is wider with higher voltages. There’s normally a span of static/ground running along the highest point of the tower or steel pole. If anything is large enough to encompass ground to phase or phase to phase, end of story. I don’t know if this was done initially, but it’s now required to install “aircraft lighting fixtures” at the top of these towers, etc. Especially in the vicinity of airports. But no amount of lighting was going to stop this, very sad for them and their families.

From The Day an Airplane Crashed Near the Plainview Road Motor Parkway Bridge Updated 3/19/16

Brian, Sam III - Found the article of this event with a bit more detail, And with conflicting details under the same newspaper! (Brooklyn Daily Eagle) In any event, these two souls lost their lives by what appears to be mere inches!

From The Day an Airplane Crashed Near the Plainview Road Motor Parkway Bridge Updated 3/19/16

Absolutely rockin’ that you had the trophies with the cars! I know Bill Warner is a great guy, but I now realize he has infinite pull, as well. What a coup! And how proud you, Roz, John and the Black Beast must have been.

From Alco Black Beast Highlights from the 2016 Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance Updated 3/18/16

Thanks, Frank. One would have to be a regular traveler of the LIMP back then to know the tight curves, etc. Especially at night.

I started working for LILCO in 1987. I became familiar with the transmission rows since 1992, always on the lookout of LIMP and LIRR remnants. I’ve been out on disability for a few years now, so exploration has taken a backseat.

As far as that plane crash in 1939, if LILCO facilities were involved; the company may have an archived record of it. I would just have to ask the right person.

From The Day an Airplane Crashed Near the Plainview Road Motor Parkway Bridge Updated 3/19/16

Hi Brian,
Haven’t yet found any street lighting on the parkway. I don’t think there were any. To make matters worse, I’m told headlights back then were not as bright as today’s lamps. And with miles of fenced-out open spaces between miles of long exits, a breakdown would not be good. Check out these night shots of the LIMP - it looks pretty eerie up there.

http://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com/vcrsys/Images/Alco/Top-506_edited-1.jpg
http://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com/vcrsys/Images/Alco/Top-506_edited-3.jpg
http://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com/vcrsys/Images/Alco/Top-507_edited-2.jpg

The first two photos show a bicycle leaning on the top rail of the bridge. Or could that be Motor Pkwy Officer Zinze’s motorcycle?

I would also believe one would take it nice and slow, but after reading other stories besides rum runners; such as a speeding motorcyclist misjudging a curve at night, crashes into a barb-wired fence, and remains trapped all night before receiving assistance from an early morning passerby. If I recall correctly, he suffered broken bones (ribs?) and scrapes but survived. I’ll have to locate that story and the others.   

From The Day an Airplane Crashed Near the Plainview Road Motor Parkway Bridge Updated 3/19/16

If anyone is listening, I sort of wonder how much night driving was done on the LIMP? Was there some system of parkway lighting? Or did everyone just sort of take it nice and slow.
Old timer I used to work with jokingly referred to the LIMP as “Rumrunners Rd”. I’m sure there’s some truth to that.

From The Day an Airplane Crashed Near the Plainview Road Motor Parkway Bridge Updated 3/19/16

That location’s pretty obvious - once it’s shown!  But forget the LIMP and the bridge - I want to know how Durbin and Lewis managed to end up “beneath” the wreckage when the fuselage is upright and the greenhouse is not mashed flat (which would indicate to me that the wreck had not flipped and been uprighted).  Sam, III

From Mystery Foto #11 Solved: Taking a Stroll on the Plainview Road Motor Parkway Bridge in Bethpage

From Frank Femenias:

This photo gives only 3 clues on location, the Huntington sign, the electric tower, and the winding Motor Parkway under the bridge. This is the Plainview Rd highway bridge once located in Bethpage Park (Central Park) looking east, just coming out of Deadman’s curve 3, then curves again after the bridge before heading northeast. The vehicle may be a ‘40’s model. The date could be after the LIMP’s closing in 1938, perhaps where the roadway remained open for park use only. I wonder what the larger white sign up ahead read. Could it be for the parking lot entrance coming up? 

From Mystery Foto #11 Solved: Taking a Stroll on the Plainview Road Motor Parkway Bridge in Bethpage