Vanderbilt Cup Races

Ernie, great vivid and detailed descriptions of the Motor parkway ca. ‘67. Thank you for sharing your experience. It’s likely the grandstand’s removal 60 years prior was overtaken by mother nature’s growth, leaving no sign of existence. P.S. - I’m guessing your Schwinn Stingray was a single-speed; those bikes are in high demand today along with the 3 and 5-speeds!

Top: An approximate location of the grandstand and environs vs today’s developments.
Bottom: A Sept 2011 view before the new houses were built.

From Kleiner's Korner: What Became of the Vanderbilt Cup Race Grandstand?

Perhaps this 1962 style tachometer was fitted with the racer.

From A first look inside and under the 1962 Holman Moody Challenger III

36 gallons of fuel! Never heard such capacity except on semi trucks. I’m imagining drum brakes all around will remain to keep the racer original. Haven’t seen a Sun tachometer since childhood; hoping this racer’s tach brings back memories. Restoration progress is looking great!

From A first look inside and under the 1962 Holman Moody Challenger III

Our 1963 Studebaker Hawk also has the ignition in the left corner of the dash I remember quite a few cars had left side switches

From A first look inside and under the 1962 Holman Moody Challenger III

Interesting good photos of the grandstand and pit stops It was a very large setup.

From Kleiner's Korner: What Became of the Vanderbilt Cup Race Grandstand?

On 1969-70 Galaxies, the RADIO controls were on the left side. “I’m the driver, I get to choose what’s on the radio!”

From A first look inside and under the 1962 Holman Moody Challenger III

Interesting, I had never heard the story about why Fords had their ignition switches on the left side. I was always intrigued by it. I know that on the full-size Fords, the ignition switch moved back to the right side with the 1964 models.

From A first look inside and under the 1962 Holman Moody Challenger III

I added a link from automobilemileposts.com concerning classic car ignition switch locations. https://automotivemileposts.com/autobrevity/ignitionkey.html

From A first look inside and under the 1962 Holman Moody Challenger III

intriguing about the ignition switch, so I tried looking it up.

all i found was about the same as you remember, at https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1008351-ignition-switch-is-on-the-left-why.html ... scroll down to item #30, posted by fordtoyz on 12/7/2010:

“... An oft repeated story around Ford enthusiasts back in the year was that Henry Ford IIs young child or grandchild had reached over from the passenger side and started the parked vehicle… Mr. Ford then mandated that all Ford vehicles have the switch to the left of the column…”

Sorry couldn’t find anything more, but at least someone else remembers the same thing!

From A first look inside and under the 1962 Holman Moody Challenger III

Reply to Robert B. Allen:  I’ll be 73 in a couple of weeks. Of course you remember correctly. Cars were death traps, although no one thought of them that way.

From A first look inside and under the 1962 Holman Moody Challenger III

The ignition for my 62 T bird was on the left! Loved that placement.

From A first look inside and under the 1962 Holman Moody Challenger III

Regarding the left handed ignition switch: I recall reading (very long ago) that a Ford executive was driving with his family and his child reached over and shut off the ignition while they were going down the highway.  So as a safety feature it was decided that henceforth all Ford ignition switches would be placed out of reach on the left side.  Keep in mind that at one time most cars had bench seats and no one worried about putting children in the center of the front seat.
However, a quick Google search didn’t confirm my memory.  Does anyone else share my memory?

From A first look inside and under the 1962 Holman Moody Challenger III

As with the Beast I’m already hoping some company will deliver a diecast of this incredible historic Falcon!

From A first look inside and under the 1962 Holman Moody Challenger III

The early 1960s was a very interesting time for Ford Motor Company. Lots of dollars for racing. I missed most of it being in the Army in the Pacific until 1965. Nice to catch up.

From A first look inside and under the 1962 Holman Moody Challenger III

I grew up around the corner from the grandstand site, in fact moved back there too. Used to play on and about the roadway as a kid circa 1967+, it made a great stingray bike area.

The roadway itself was strange in that it was about a foot lower than the surrounding ground.

I never noticed any paving to indicate the grandstands, just the concrete roadway scattered with broken glass.

From Kleiner's Korner: What Became of the Vanderbilt Cup Race Grandstand?

That’s Willie K. driving his 23 HP 1900 Daimler Phoenix “White Ghost” He used it to set a speed record for covering the distance between Newport, RI and Boston, MA. Additionally, he won 3 out of 5 races at the Aquidneck horse race track outside Newport, RI on Sept. 6, 1900. Since he bought the car in June, 1900 and was no longer the owner of record when it was used in a fatal accident in Feb., 1902, the date must be sometime in between so I’ll go with 1901. The location of the photo looks like “Brookholt” in East Meadow, his mother and step father-in-law’s mansion at the time.

From Mystery Foto #34 Solved: Willie K in his 1900 Daimler White Ghost at the Brookholt Estate in East Meadow

The manufacturer, year and racing record of the automobile

1900 23 HP Daimler ‘White Ghost’.
From VCR.com: In this car, he cut the speed record between Newport and Boston to about half the previously recorded speed and remained only slightly above the railways’ driving time….On September 6, 1900, Vanderbilt and his society sporting friends gathered at a half-mile Aquidneck Park horse track near Newport, Rhode Island, for a series of automobile races. Willie K. was the star of the meet with the White Ghost, winning three of the featured five mile races, averaging 33.7 mph.

The driver

Willie K

The year of the photo

1900

Kudos question: Where was the photo taken?

A little thrown off by this question. The title clue, ‘father-in-law’s Long Island home’ is strange in that James Graham Fair lived in San Francisco and died in 1894, years before this photo. Not sure what I’m missing here…Confusion has set in….
Maybe I’ll come up with something before the reveal.

From Mystery Foto #34 Solved: Willie K in his 1900 Daimler White Ghost at the Brookholt Estate in East Meadow

Well Art we know where the material didn’t end up. In those four houses that now occupy the site! Those residents probably don’t know the history of their property.

From Kleiner's Korner: What Became of the Vanderbilt Cup Race Grandstand?

Recall the plans for the grandstand being dismantled and relocated to Ronkonkoma. But the Speedway never came to be. All that building material was fairly new, so it must of been put to good use. Bet they utilized the Central RR to transport the materials to storage yards.

From Kleiner's Korner: What Became of the Vanderbilt Cup Race Grandstand?

I like the color picture too, looks more fresh.

From Greg O.'s Garage: Plans for the Meadowbrook Country Club Motor Parkway Bridge