Vanderbilt Cup Races

Cool shots- Hey can we buy reprints of the cards ? Great work on this website !

From Vanderbilia Postcard Series #1: The Locomobile Postcards of the 1908 Vanderbilt Cup Race

Great photos!

From Vanderbilia Postcard Series #1: The Locomobile Postcards of the 1908 Vanderbilt Cup Race

The car would appear to be a 1909 Baker electric.

My guess on the woman in the photo would be Clara Ford, Henry Ford’s wife, since it was known she had a Baker. Henry Ford was on the board for the Motor Parkway.

From Mystery Foto #45 Solved (Maybe?): Virginia Fair Vanderbilt in her 1910 Detroit Electric

The car is a 1909 Detroit electric brougham. The woman could very well be the Duchess of Marlborough, better known as Consuela Vanderbilt, William K.‘s sister. Probably already in 1902 (on her 25th birthday?) she received an electric car, a Columbia Mark XXXI Elberon victoria, as a present from her mother Alva Vanderbilt-Belmont. She separated from her husband in 1906 (though the divorce came only in 1921), which may explain her being on her own in this characteristic women’s car.

From Mystery Foto #45 Solved (Maybe?): Virginia Fair Vanderbilt in her 1910 Detroit Electric

Hi David,

Regarding the photo above with the team posing in the shaft driven Alco, in my opinion we see Lee and his mechanician Schoonmaker here. Hartman and Finn are the two men with the cow on the group photo (Hartman on the right) and have quite different features.

Ariejan

From Mystery Foto #44 Solved: The #7 Alco Shaft Drive 6- Cylinder Racer in Elgin, Illinois

While I was visiting a relative in Sarasota,they know of a place where we could go to see a collection of 55 or more farm tractors,unrestored and restored,not open to the public,has his own shop to restore them.He let us take pictures. Would you want me to send you some,so that you can post them? He doesn’t have a website or does’nt want to give out any information about it,he keeps it to himself. They where tractors that I have never seen before. I was amazed when I saw them.Let me know if you want them

From Video of the Week: The First Self-Propelled Vehicle: The 1769 Fardier du Cugnot

It would be interesting if there was remnants of this overpass in r/o Satelitte La? In the last 1947 aerial, there appears to be an uprise over the central lirr row. This uprise may have became Neptune La

From Long Island Motor Parkway Bridge Series #41: The Bloomingdale Road Bridge in Hempstead Plains

I got to go to the Museum,what a collection of cars,as Joe,Ron and Frank said and it is well worth going to visit.

From Video of the Week: The First Self-Propelled Vehicle: The 1769 Fardier du Cugnot

Possibly 1911 Elgin National Trophy Race, 1906 #7 Alco, Driver Harry Hartman/ Mechanician James Finn finished 6th Place, three lives claimed that day, two when the grandstand collapsed. Two other sister Alco’s at the same race, #1 Black Beast’s driven by Harry Grant/George Babcock and the #5 Alco driven by Frank Lee / W.R. Schoonmaker.

From Mystery Foto #44 Solved: The #7 Alco Shaft Drive 6- Cylinder Racer in Elgin, Illinois

Back as far as 1882 the Garden City Hotel was a prominent stop on the horse drawn coach runs to the estates on Long Island They would leave the Hotel Brunswick [26th and 5th] go north through Central Park then take the 92 St ferry to Queens then head east on what is now Northern Blvd to Lakeville stop at Vanderbilt’s Deepdale estate then have lunch at the Garden City and continue southeast to the estates along the Great South Bay They would change the team of horses every 8-10 miles Leave NYC at 7am and arrive at Vanderbilt’s Idle Hour in Oakdale by 5pm the trip was about 55 miles

From The Garden City Hotel- Headquarters for the Vanderbilt Cup Race Commission

We’ve come a long way though this design is brilliant. This machine looks like something out of a nightmare; Sounds, looks, and all. It should be dubbed The Monster Machine.

From Video of the Week: The First Self-Propelled Vehicle: The 1769 Fardier du Cugnot

From Ron R:

“Not all that different from most of the cars built in France today!”

From Video of the Week: The First Self-Propelled Vehicle: The 1769 Fardier du Cugnot

I visited the Tampa Bay Auto Museum and spoke with the owner about 5-6 years ago.  I found the collection of vehicles very interesting and as I recall, most were foreign makes.  There are also very informative displays on the early constant velocity joints used on military vehicles.  The Fardier du Cugnot took me by surprise as I did not expect to see a self propelled vehicle from that era.  This museum is worth the visit.
Thanks for all you do Howard.
Joe

From Video of the Week: The First Self-Propelled Vehicle: The 1769 Fardier du Cugnot

Great photos!
Cathy Ball

From The Garden City Hotel- Headquarters for the Vanderbilt Cup Race Commission

Hope all of you had a very nice Thanksgiving,I’m visiting in Sarasota and hope to go to the Tampa Bay Automotive Museum and let you know how it is

From Video of the Week: The First Self-Propelled Vehicle: The 1769 Fardier du Cugnot

Driver Harry Hartman and mechanician James Finn drove the #7 Alco to sixth place in the 1911 Elgin National Trophy Race.

Here’s the blog entry detailing the when and where it was built;

http://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com/index.php/blog/article/the_world_may_7_1911_harry_grant_practicing_on_the_motor_parkway_at_107.8_m

From Mystery Foto #44 Solved: The #7 Alco Shaft Drive 6- Cylinder Racer in Elgin, Illinois

I think the car, ALCO # 7 is a sister car to the Black Beast and so it was also built in 1909. The driver is Harry Hartman and the mechanician is James Finn. The race is the 1911 Elgin National Trophy Race.

Phil

From Mystery Foto #44 Solved: The #7 Alco Shaft Drive 6- Cylinder Racer in Elgin, Illinois

The names of the driver, mechanician and car (with Alco license tag) are apparently a give-away because of Thanksgiving 😊. The photo must have been taken before the Elgin National Trophy on August 26, 1911, where Harry Hartman drove an Alco with no.7 to 6th place. The only other photo of Hartman and Finn I have is a Lazarnick photo in which he poses in the ‘Bête Noire’ before the same event. This car however was of course driven by Grant with no.1. The car on the mystery photo has cardan drive and could be the same one as the one which can be seen on some of the training photos for the 1910 Vanderbilt Cup, published earlier on this site. However Lee also drove a cardan-driven Alco in this race, so this is a guess. The names Hartman and Finn remain mysterious for me, I can’t find their names anywhere else in the records.

From Mystery Foto #44 Solved: The #7 Alco Shaft Drive 6- Cylinder Racer in Elgin, Illinois

I hope everyone had a nice thanksgiving. I always look forward to your bridge series Howard, thanks. The aviation club was dismantled around the time period of the building of Levittown as well.

From Long Island Motor Parkway Bridge Series #40: Jerusalem Avenue Bridge in the Hempstead Plains

Hi Howard:
 
  All the best to you Roz and your girls on this day.  I am very thankful to you
as I enjoy your site so, so much it is beyond words !!!!

    All The Best Always !!!!  Cheers !!!!!  Ron Ridolph

From The Twelfth Annual Thanksgiving "Turkeys on the Road"