Vanderbilt Cup Races

Is this Roosevlt Field & Roosevelt Raceway (1924-1938)?

From Mystery Foto #28 Solved:Then & Now- Courses for the 1936 and 1960 Vanderbilt Cup Races

1936 Vanderbilt Cup (the dark track)
1937 Vanderbilt Cup (the course outlined in white)

From Mystery Foto #28 Solved:Then & Now- Courses for the 1936 and 1960 Vanderbilt Cup Races

Another photo that required quite a bit of (and ultimately needless) reasearching. Initially I was completely stumped, but I eventually got it- and sitting right under my nose on the VCR site the whole time! At least along the way I discovered some other interesting LIMP info and photos on the Internet that I’d never seen before…

This is the redesigned course for the revived 1960 Vanderbuilt Cup races around the Roosevelt Raceway Horsetrack.

A link for the VCR page;
http://vanderbiltcupraces.com/blog/article/the_1960_cornelius_vanderbilt_cup_race_at_roosevelt_raceway

From Mystery Foto #28 Solved:Then & Now- Courses for the 1936 and 1960 Vanderbilt Cup Races

Ok, easy part, Roosevelt Raceway.  I don’t even understand the rest of your question.  -joe

From Mystery Foto #28 Solved:Then & Now- Courses for the 1936 and 1960 Vanderbilt Cup Races

Wow, amazing stuff. Really enjoyed reading about it….Thanks Howard…

From Updated: Long Island's First Major Automobile Competition: The 1901 100-Mile Endurance Test

From Bruce W:

You’ll probably get a lot of correct answers from us older old-car guys to your mystery-car question.

It’s Rust Heinz’s 1938 Phantom Corsair that was shown at the 1939 World’s Fair in Flushing meadow.. It utilized the front subframe of a 1936 Cord. Heinz designed the car and the body was formed by Bohman @ Schwartz It was also shown at the Park Avenue Armory by Herb Shriner at an indoor car show. I think it was in the 1950’s.

Best -

From Mystery Foto #27 Solved: Rust Heinz' 1938 Phantom Corsair

Never mind my previous question: “The body measured an impressive 237 in (600 cm) long and 76.5 in (194 cm) wide, enough to accommodate four people in the front row, including one person to the left of the driver.” - Wikipedia

From Mystery Foto #27 Solved: Rust Heinz' 1938 Phantom Corsair

O. K., why is the elderly lady in the film driving from the right side?

From Mystery Foto #27 Solved: Rust Heinz' 1938 Phantom Corsair

What is being done to improve the strength of framing or hinges which originally were too small to hold the weight?

From Chrysler’s Chrysler Chronicle IV: The Underlying Bodywork

I went back again last week and alot was done since the last time I was their 7/19.some trees were cut and some of the road was cleared better.I thought I would give you an update on that,just in case you didn’t know about it.

From The Wonderful "Clean-Up Deadman's Curve Day" in Bethpage

I just couldn’t identify that car although I remembered seeing pictures of it.  As it turns out, I probably saw the car at the original NY Worlds Fair in 1938/1939.  Of course, since I was only 1 year old at the time I have no memory of it.  My parents had told me that they spent 2 days at the fair(with me), and my father being greatly interested in cars was sure to have looked at it.

Ken

From Mystery Foto #27 Solved: Rust Heinz' 1938 Phantom Corsair

Where on earth was I looking? I thought I had it.I’m glad I didn’t find the time to research more

From Mystery Foto #27 Solved: Rust Heinz' 1938 Phantom Corsair

The mystery foto car is an easy one. It is the 1938 Phantom Corsair designed by Gordon Buehrig, funded by Rust Heinz and built by the Bohman Schwartz co, on a Cord 810 chassis. It was in the 1938 movie called The Young In Heart and was called the Flying Wombat. This was the only one ever built. Is the connection to the Alco Bill Harrah ?

Phil

From Mystery Foto #27 Solved: Rust Heinz' 1938 Phantom Corsair

The car is The Phantom Corsair built in 1938.
Rust Heinz of the H.J. Heinz family (the “57” Variety fortune) designed it.
Only one Phantom Corsair was built.
Herb Shriner owned the car (comedian, TV host).  Here’s two clips to see Herb perform. The last one from the Chrysler Festival shows there’s another connection to the Black Beast (Black Beast’s current owner also owns a Chrysler collectible, The Phantom’s owner performed at a show sponsored by Chrysler).

Herb Shriner
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qK63gdM-TBI
1957 Chrysler Festival
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vG3vF-5bUw4
Movie was The Young In Heart and featured the car as The Flying Wombat.  See this great clip to see the car in full force. The Flying Wombat
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpUHvXIXFQY
Bill Harrow owned the Phantom Corsair and the Black Beast.

From Mystery Foto #27 Solved: Rust Heinz' 1938 Phantom Corsair

It’s too bad the hill climb photo wasn’t a little bit of a wider shot. At that moment in 1901, Mackay’s amazing Harbor Hill estate was in the middle of being built (1899-1902) and we might have gotten a glimpse of the construction.

Either way, it’s still a great shot of Northern Blvd at the top of the hill east of where the viaduct is now, taken with the photographer’s back to the railroad crossing (today, the tracks cross via a bridge over N. Blvd-Brian, you were correct with your guess) Rallye Acura/Benz now sits just at the second bend on the left. Just for the hell of it, I measured the distance on Google Earth, and sure enough, the hill is just over 2800 feet long!

From Updated: Long Island's First Major Automobile Competition: The 1901 100-Mile Endurance Test

I’m not an auto buff by any means, but with some Internet searching; I’ll give this a shot. This is the 1938 Phantom Corsair. Rust Heinz conceived this cars design, and had the Bohman&Schwartz; Coach Building company develop it. Mr. Heinz wanted this car in a limited production, but his untimely death in a 1939 car accident put a halt to this. So, only 1 car was produced. This car was featured as the “Flying Wombat” in the 1938 film The Young at Heart. TV personality Herb Shriner owned this car between 1951 and 1970.The Alco Black Beast (current owner, Mr. Kroplick), was once in the William F Harrah collection; which is where the Phantom Corair currently resides.

From Mystery Foto #27 Solved: Rust Heinz' 1938 Phantom Corsair

Thanks, Howard. The Hill Climb photo reminded me of the area of Northern Blvd near the Roslyn Cemetary and the Museum of Art. But then I’m thinking of Old Northern Blvd, which also has the hill and curves. I’m not a big car buff, but the current mystery photo has piqued my interest.

From Updated: Long Island's First Major Automobile Competition: The 1901 100-Mile Endurance Test

Brian, according to the course map, it appears to be Northern Boulevard (North Hempstead Turnpike) east of the village of Roslyn.

Howard

From Updated: Long Island's First Major Automobile Competition: The 1901 100-Mile Endurance Test

Is Roslyn Hill located on what is now Old Northern Blvd, Howard?

From Updated: Long Island's First Major Automobile Competition: The 1901 100-Mile Endurance Test

Although not entirely ‘my cup of tea’, I decided to give it a try as a start of my holiday. This is the result:
It is the Phantom Corsair built in 1938 on a Cord 810 basis with coachwork by Bohman & Schwartz of Pasadena. The idea was from Rust Heinz, son of Heinz sr. (the ketchup man), and the realization after a design by Maurice Schwartz was funded by an aunt in Pasadena. The car featured in the movie ‘The Young in Heart’, after which it was nicknamed the ‘Flying Wombat’ (never heard of it, but a wombat appears to be some kind of rodent from New Holland, which by the way sounds more familiar to me!). So in a way it was a kind of bat-car after all. As Rust Heinz died in 1939, the plans for a limited production never became reality and this car remained the only one built.  The car was a.o. owned by TV-star Herb Shriner (unknown in Holland) and was part of the (also here) famous Harrah’s automobile collection, to which once the Black Beast belonged too.

From Mystery Foto #27 Solved: Rust Heinz' 1938 Phantom Corsair