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The six Vanderbilt Cup Races held on Long Island from 1904 to 1910 were the greatest sporting events of their day, and the first international automobile road races held in the United States. The races had a far-reaching impact on the development of American automobiles and parkways. This site provides comprehensive information on the races, the Long Island Motor Parkway and current Long Island automotive events, car shows and news.
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Recent Comments
The gentleman sure looks like Joe Tracy so I’ll go with Joe as my guess. The title of the painting is “A Motor Race on the Continent in the Early Days” although I’ve also seen it referred to as “Speed Demons of 1904”. According to the 2006 Gooding & Company Pebble Beach catalog, “Along with the speeding cars, the artist has slipped in some sly humor as well. Can you spot the naked boy, the breast-feeding mother, the kid in underpants, and the lady with the uncovered backside?” I think that’s why the painting is special. The race cars are: Mercedes, DeDietrich, Mors, Hotchkiss, and Richard-Brasier. Also, along the right border is a Panhard-Levassor fixed-top touring car.
From Mystery Friday Foto #24; Peter Helck with Joe Tracy and Painting “Speed Demons of 1904- A Motor Race On The Continent in The Early Days”
HAPPY FATHERS DAY!!!
From Greg O's Garage; Joe Tracy's Patents
Dear Greg, I hope you haven’t taken the lashes yet, because in the end it appears that we are all correct! I was triggered by your remark that the Yellow Jacket and the Wasp were developed from about the same time. In The Horseless Age of March 30, 1910 the official name for this new Marmon is said to be ‘Yellow Jacket’, but from May the name ‘Wasp’ was used. In The Motor World of March 31, 1910 and other issues of that magazine that year the name ‘Yellow Jacket’ is never mentioned, but only the name ‘Wasp’. What I suspect is the following: possibly the official name was the “Yellow Jacket’, but because of the combination of the yellow color and the wasp-like tail undoubtedly the car received very soon the nickname ‘Wasp’, which was subsequently (and almost directly) taken over as official name.
From Mystery Friday Foto #23 Solved: Ray Harroun in the Marmon 'Yellow Jacket'
From Greg O.
Ariejan-
You are correct. This was my error and take responsibility. It has been corrected. As it turns out, the Yellow Jacket and Wasp were in development around the same time and I should have noticed the differences in the cowl area in my haste to put up the photo. I will accept my 50 lashes for my faux pas.
https://www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com/news-multimedia/news/2020/07/10/famous-marmon-wasp-designed-for-speed-from-the-start
From Mystery Friday Foto #23 Solved: Ray Harroun in the Marmon 'Yellow Jacket'
The car is not the Marmon Wasp, but as Frank Femenias already suspected, a kind of prototype: it is the 1910 Marmon Yellow Jacket, so probably as yellow as the Wasp. The photo series below is from the magazine MoToR, May 1910 issue. Some more detail is given in a post on The Old Motor: https://theoldmotor.com/?p=153744
From Mystery Friday Foto #23 Solved: Ray Harroun in the Marmon 'Yellow Jacket'
Could be a prototype of the Marmon Wasp, 1911 Indy 500
From Mystery Friday Foto #23 Solved: Ray Harroun in the Marmon 'Yellow Jacket'
Car looks great- Enjoy the 75th anniversary celebration.
From Video: Tucker 1044 being prepped for the upcoming Tucker 75th Anniversary at the AACA Museum in Hershey , PA
Turned out to be a real head-scratcher so just some guesses. Looks like an early Peugeot racer of some kind. If it is Peugeot, then maybe it’s Dario Resta driving. Resta won the 1915 and 1916 Vanderbilt Cup races. As to the location of the car today: maybe Jay Leno’s garage?
From Mystery Friday Foto #23 Solved: Ray Harroun in the Marmon 'Yellow Jacket'
The Marmon Wasp
Ray Haroun
Winning inaugural Indy 500
Raced in the 1910 Vanderbilt Cup
Indianapolis Speedway Museum
From Mystery Friday Foto #23 Solved: Ray Harroun in the Marmon 'Yellow Jacket'
Ray Harroun, Marmon, May races at Atlanta Speedway. I have a photo of Ray Harroun driving this car at the new Atlanta Speedway in Atlanta, GA. in May of 1910. Asa Candler constructed a 2 mile dirt oval in 1909 in Atlanta. Ray Harroun and Joe Dawson raced Marmon’s in 1910 at Atlanta. Ray won three races in Atlanta in 1910. May 5th a 10 mile free for all, May 6th a 12 mile free for all and November 3rd a 20 mile free for all. Harroun also won three races at Atlanta’s first race program in November of 1909. Ray Harroun would win the first Indianapolis 500 in 1911. Ray Harroun and Joe Dawson driving Marmon’s raced in the 1910 Vanderbilt Cup Race. The Marmon is on display at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum.
From Mystery Friday Foto #23 Solved: Ray Harroun in the Marmon 'Yellow Jacket'
The Marmon Wasp driven by Ray Harroun
The Wasp and Harroun won the first Indy 500 in 1911
Harroun finished 20th in the 1910 Vanderbilt Cup
The car is now in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum
From Mystery Friday Foto #23 Solved: Ray Harroun in the Marmon 'Yellow Jacket'
I spoke with Mr. Burnstein that is running the Sands Point Guggenheim Museum show. He said it was canceled and rescheduled for Monday September 18, 5 to 8 pm
From Upcoming November Automotive Events
Art, thanks! I knew it was somewhere here 😉
From Kleiner's Korner: A 1902 Interview with Willie K.
Ariejan, here is the link to my post which includes the information about the accident involving Charles and Caroline Decker Fair in France. It was included in a post on March 10, 2020 about Al Poole’s letters to family members, one of which referenced the accident.
https://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com/blog/article/kleiners_kolumn_al_poole_letters_from_home
From Kleiner's Korner: A 1902 Interview with Willie K.
Fascinating. I wonder if he could have imagined how overcrowded and run down Long Island roads would become?
From Kleiner's Korner: A 1902 Interview with Willie K.
The brother-in-law William Vanderbilt is referring to was Charles L(ewis) Fair, who would die on August 14, 1902, together with his wife Caroline Decker Fair (born Smith) in a horrific car accident in Normandy, France. I thought the accident was described in one of the posts in this blog, but I couldn’t find it?
From Kleiner's Korner: A 1902 Interview with Willie K.
And a few more articles - all are from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle between 1902 and 1911.
From Kleiner's Korner: A 1902 Interview with Willie K.
Lee - I’m not sure of the specific members of the Meadowbrook Colony of which the article refers but here are some articles with names associated with the Colony which was centered around the Meadowbrook Club. Mainly the polo and fox hound set in and around Hempstead and Westbury. Such as the Hitchcocks, Ladenburgs, Kernochan, Belmonts, etc.
From Kleiner's Korner: A 1902 Interview with Willie K.
Being in the old car hobby most of my life I find it strange not to have heard of these wonderful machines before now. I have heard of Amedee Bollee in reference to other early vehicles. They are truly ground-breaking. I wonder if any more of them survive.
From Greg O's Garage; From the Peter Helck Collection; Strange and Unusual cars #4- The 1873 L'Obéissante
Mystery Foto #22…The race car is the #1 Locomobile as driven by Joe Florida with mechanician Leonard M. Travis. This car was entered in the 1908 Vanderbilt Cup Race on October 24. The location was the Motor Parkway in Nassau County.The car finished in third place in the event. Sadly, it was involved in a crash with a Touring car at or near the finish line.
From Mystery Friday Foto #22 Solved: #1 Locomobile at the 1908 Vanderbilt Cup Race pits
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