Vanderbilt Cup Races

Thanks for sharing this with your “Florida Family”. The car is great and was fun riding in it. But you’re terrific!!

From Chrysler's Chrysler Honored with Three Awards at the Boca Raton Concours d'Elegance Updated: 2/29/16

Wow,you really made it big this time,three awards,maybe you should thank John,very impressive with the outfit,tell him that he looks great. Do it again next month,keep the awards coming,it’s something to be proud of and enjoy having

From Chrysler's Chrysler Honored with Three Awards at the Boca Raton Concours d'Elegance Updated: 2/29/16

Congratulations Howard! It appears that you will need a large trophy room in your house if this continues. Enjoy Amelia Island too. Any fan of classic cars should attend a Concour event. These events truly have the finest cars in existence and they all raise money for wonderful causes. The Jay Leno photo is a nice bonus!

From Chrysler's Chrysler Honored with Three Awards at the Boca Raton Concours d'Elegance Updated: 2/29/16

Go Howard, Go !

From Chrysler's Chrysler Honored with Three Awards at the Boca Raton Concours d'Elegance Updated: 2/29/16

From Greg O.:

Great mystery photo again this week even if I didn’t get all the answers!

Thanks! Have a good one!
Greg O.


-Where is the location of the aerial and its orientation?
  Flying directly over East Meadow looking North West.

-Where is the Long Island Motor Parkway in the aerial?
  Tough to see and can’t really make out too many LIMP landmarks, but roughly horizontal across the top.  More noticeable is the adjacent Central Railroad tree line through what will eventually be Eisenhower Park.

-Identify the major roads and landmarks including airports and golf courses.
  The usual suspects in view here… Meadow Brook Golf Club, Salisbury Golf Club, Coldstream Golf Club, Meadowbrook Polo Club, Mitchel Field, Roosevelt Field, Hempstead Tpke, East Meadow Ave, Merrick Rd,
Interesting here is the newly laid out neighborhood in East Meadow at the very bottom of the photo. The longest horizontal road across the bottom is Freeman Ave, the shorter one just above that would be McKinley Ave. Starting at the first vertical road East of East Meadow Ave along McKinley is; Cambridge, Oxford, Aberdeen, Rugby, York, etc.

-Identify the two airplanes.
  The plane closer in the foreground may be a Fokker F.14/C14, and the plane further back in the distance appears to be a Douglas Dolphin. Of course there’s a neat Dolphin & William K. Vanderbilt Jr.connection here as well.

As per Wikipedia;
      “William K. Vanderbilt Jr. bought two with custom interiors for use from the Vanderbilt yacht Alva as flying tenders…..Dolphin 119: Two aircraft built for A.G. Vanderbilt II and W.K. Vanderbilt II and operated from the yacht Alva. One of the two (which is unknown) joined the RAAF as A35-2.”

And sure enough, seen here on the Alva in 1934 as per vanderbiltcupraces.com;
http://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com/blog/article/one_of_yachtinsg_dozen_william_k._vanderbilt_jr.s_alva

And a photo of one found on Instagram at his Miami Estate on Fisher Island;
https://www.instagram.com/p/_h98wlGDfs/

- What was the date of the aerial? Provide a rationale.   
  Not sure if this was an ‘event’, historic or otherwise, but judging by the runways at Roosevelt, Mitchel Hangars and build time for the Dolphin & Fokker, my guess is somewhere around 1935

Here and attached is a Google Earth perspective match.

From Mystery Foto #8 Solved: A 1935 East Meadow Flyover by the United States Army Air Corps

S. Berliner, III asked…“C’mon, Howard, be a sport - tell us us how Tom Gibson found the relationship to Willie K., please!” Howard, first, thanks for posting the pics of the Simplex, I’m glad they’re appreciated! To answer S.B., III’s query, I took the pics because of the display cars’ dramatic surroundings, knowing only that I was shooting the main gallery at the Museum, and the they had to be special.

A few weeks ago on the AACA Forum, Terry Bond, avid Vanderbilt Cup collector, asked if we could have a sub-forum about swap meets, also those outside the U.S. Having gone to the Museum as part of a trip to the Veterama Show in Mannheim (same weekend as Hershey), I posted some images quickly, sans captions http://forums.aaca.org/topic/268848-how-about-a-swap-meet-forum/?p=1451823 from what we saw in Germany. Terry informed me of the Simplex’s provenance, so I forwarded the pics to Howard, in case he ever wanted to use them.

As with the images of Mrs. Chrysler’s Chrysler from 1986, I take pictures of appealing things, and they seem to come back to Howard years later…
He always, “krops up”!

From Willie K's 1902 40-HP Mercedes Simplex in the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart

My guess is a flyover above East Meadow, looking Northwest, as the Meadowbrook Polo Grounds is in the forefront of the Garden City Gas Tower which reveals a northwest view from approx Hempstead Tpk at East Meadow Ave. The Motor parkway is east west across the middle of the picture visible from just west of Merrick Avenue travelling east across Eisenhower park. You can see Stewart Avenue Crossing the park and meeting the LIMP after the Newbridge Avenue Bridge. Looks like Meadowbroook Hospital (NUMC) in the lower middle part of the picture before the big tower was built. My guess about the date of the photo predates the 1930 Roosevelt Raceway Polo Field and the primitive runways at Mtchel Field indicate a photo from the late 1920s, which seems to suit the vintage planes. I count 4 gold courses, one at Roosevelt Field, another at Mitchel Field, the Cold Spring Golf course south ofHmp Tpk and Salisbury Links with its Merrick Avenue Clubhouse. Good Stuff !!!

From Mystery Foto #8 Solved: A 1935 East Meadow Flyover by the United States Army Air Corps

I’ve been going to Rothman’s since I was a young boy (Jolly Fisherman in Roslyn is the other) and 60 + years later it is still comforting to know that somethings never change.  Thanks for sharing this one.

From 1937 Ye Mappe to Rothmann's East Norwich Inn

  What a map.  Just loaded with great stuff.  It’s one of those things where the more you look, the more you see.  Thanks.  I really enjoyed it.

From 1937 Ye Mappe to Rothmann's East Norwich Inn

Not sure. Best guess were over Howard’s East Meadow home facing NW. Down below that could be Prospect Ave on top of the street grid. Front Street (barely visible) more north and mostly parallel to Prospect. Hemp Tpke is further north and diagonal in the center. On top is Salisbury golf course, and tree-lined Stewart Ave cutting through, and Motor Pkwy north of that running parallel to Stewart. I don’t see Mitchel Field. The flying boat is a Douglas RD-4 Canopus Dolphin Amphibian and the other? - both most likely just took off from Roosevelt Field, mid ~‘30s. I do see a grinning kid waving from his front porch. Tough mystery, waiting for this week’s answers.

From Mystery Foto #8 Solved: A 1935 East Meadow Flyover by the United States Army Air Corps

This photo appears to have been taken over the area around East Meadow looking northwest. The LIMP would be going from left to right approximately in line with the plane at the top of the photo. Landmarks include Meadowbrook Golf Club, Cold Stream Golf Club, Salisbury Links, Meadowbrook Polo field, Mitchel Field and Roosevelt Field. Major roads would be Hempstead Tpke and Merrick Ave. By the look of the planes, I’m guessing the photo was taken around 1928.  As to the identity of the planes, I have no clue.

From Mystery Foto #8 Solved: A 1935 East Meadow Flyover by the United States Army Air Corps

I don’t know if you know this or not,but people who rented these cars took out the engine and put a 289 in its place and also took them to the drag races. That’s why they stopped renting them. Know who I found out from. You know this person. He had a tv series recently,all about automobiles.I’ll give you a hint J.L. I hate to say this, I hope yours isn’t one of them,knowing you its not or you would not have gotten it. I’m talking about Howard’s 66 Shelby350GTH for the rest of you guys.

From TheMusicZoo.com: Cars & Guitars: Gibbons Fender vs Shelby GT350H

This map is growing on me. I’m not quite a lagomorph fan (And never even tasted rabbit), but there is a Bunny La in Amityville (xst of Folkstone Rd). It looks to be in the vicinity of “Bunny Farms”.

From 1937 Ye Mappe to Rothmann's East Norwich Inn

Wow, another gem.

From Willie K's 1902 40-HP Mercedes Simplex in the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart

This car lived in San Diego for many years. It was the center piece for the “Mercedes Room” in the Bahia Hotel on Mission Bay. It even participated in one of the “Great American Race” events. It was restored to it’s current “replicated-patina” state by the Evans Garage museum before passing on to the Mercedes-Benz Museum.

From Willie K's 1902 40-HP Mercedes Simplex in the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart

So I saw it and didn’t realize!  I always thought Simplex was an engine type (slide valve Knight, as in Mercedes Knight) but was corrected by the Museum.  C’mon, Howard, be a sport - tell us us how Tom Gibson found the relationship to Willie K., please!  My guess - the registration plate, no doubt.  Sam, III

From Willie K's 1902 40-HP Mercedes Simplex in the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart

Yay!  One I can identify!  No clue where there is such a canted road grid or what the landplane might be but the amphibian is a Douglas Dolphin flying yacht/luxury transport, USAAC C-21, C-26, or C-29 (also USN/USCG RD-1 thru RD-4).  A single Dolphin 117, built for Wm. Boeing, survives at the National Museum of Naval Aviation at NAS Pensacola, Florida, in USCG livery.  An RD-2 was the first presidential aircraft, for FDR.  Of especial interest to LIMPers, though, is that Willie K., Jr. and A. G. V., II bought the only two Dolphin 119s as aerial tenders for the Alva (one became RAAF A35-2).  Wait - that gasholder might be the one in east Garden City, one block east of Glen Cove Road and one block south of the LIMP.  Time - 1931 or later (introduction of the Dolphin).

From Mystery Foto #8 Solved: A 1935 East Meadow Flyover by the United States Army Air Corps

You’re keeping me busy today. I really like that Thunderbird Fastback the best,got that sporty look,that’s my kind of car. The others are ok,just plain and simple. That T Bird is perfect for you

From Museum Road Trip: The Concept Cars of the Blackhawk Automotive Museum

Cool stuff. Don’t forget Madison Square Garden Bowl in Queens County - this was new to me. Thanks Gary! 
http://www.boweryboyshistory.com/2010/02/yes-there-really-was-fifth-madison.html

From 1937 Ye Mappe to Rothmann's East Norwich Inn

Hi Ernie: You are correct, this photo is definitely looking west. Though Newbridge Rd can’t be seen in the photo alongside the hotel, the bridge portal tunneling Newbridge Rd (also hard to see) appears in the photo to be behind the hotel (west of it). But all the maps posted on this blog indicate the opposite, showing Newbridge Rd to be east of the hotel. This has developed into - A mystery within a mystery! :D

From Mystery Foto #7 Solved: New Bridge Hotel on Newbridge Road- A Favorite Viewing Site for the Races