About
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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Co-Founder and Writer: Howard Kroplick
Co-Founder: Dana Kroplick
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Recent Comments
Completion of the article.
From Mystery Foto #26 Solved : The J18 Mitchell racer driven by Frank Zirbes at the Start Line
Additional info. on driver Frank Zirbes who was employed by the Mitchell company for many years and drove their cars in many endurance runs.
From Mystery Foto #26 Solved : The J18 Mitchell racer driven by Frank Zirbes at the Start Line
#18 Mitchell
Frank Zirbes
The Jericho Sweepstakes, one of the races of the 1908 Motor Parkway Sweepstakes.
October 10, 1908
Fred Wagner, possibly Jefferson DuMont Thompson
From Mystery Foto #26 Solved : The J18 Mitchell racer driven by Frank Zirbes at the Start Line
Al,
Barney raced in two Vanderbilt Cup Races:
-The 1914 Vanderbilt Cup Race held in Santa Monica. He finished second in the #7 Mercer:
http://www.champcarstats.com/races/191401.htm
-The 1915 Vanderbilt Cup Race held in San Francisco. He finished seventh in the #1 Maxwell:
http://www.champcarstats.com/races/191505.htm
He was entered in the 1916 Vanderbilt Cup Race in a Delage, but did not appear.
http://www.champcarstats.com/races/191613.htm
Enjoy,
Howard
From Greg O.'s Garage: From the Helck Family Collection- Barney Oldfield and the "Green Dragon"
Greg, Thanks for the comprehensive article on Barney Oldfield….however, don’t believe he ever participated in any of the Vanderbilt Cup Races ???
From Greg O.'s Garage: From the Helck Family Collection- Barney Oldfield and the "Green Dragon"
-The race car
-The driver
The #18 Mitchell driven by F. Zirbes who came in 3rd with a time of 3:46:07 for the 140.76 mile contest.
-The race and its date
Jericho Sweepstakes, Sept. 10th 1908
-Kudos question: Identify one or more officials in the Mystery Foto
The official on the right could be holding a rolled up flag making him possibly Starter and Clerk of the Course Fred Wagner.
From Mystery Foto #26 Solved : The J18 Mitchell racer driven by Frank Zirbes at the Start Line
Barney Oldfield, Master Driver of the World & America’s Legendary Speed King. Thanks for keeping American Automotive Racing History Alive! http://www.firstsuperspeedway.com, www.brownfoxbooks.com.
From Greg O.'s Garage: From the Helck Family Collection- Barney Oldfield and the "Green Dragon"
I liked the Zeppelin hangar! Huge.
From Kleiner's Korner: A U.S. Army Signal Corps (Mineola) Scrapbook
Thanks for sharing that car event right in NYC!
From The 1954 Carnival of Cars parade down Fifth Avenue
From “The NY Daily News”, July 30 and August 9, 1942.
From Long Island Motor Parkway Bridge Series: #11 Little Neck Road Motor Parkway Bridge in Queens
Found on this website the 1910 Marquette-Buick (#27) that raced during the 1910 Vanderbilt Cup Race on Oct 1, 1910. Its driver was Bob Burman with Howard Hale as mechanician. Guessing the race preparation is at the Marquette-Buick headquarters on Sept 1910
From Mystery Foto #25 Solved: Harry Grant preparing the Alco "White Beast" for the 1910 Indy Races
Enjoyed seeing Professor Kraft’s collection of unique rare photos of early motoring here in Levittown, Long Island. Amazing that this set has been preserved all these years and now available for all to access at anytime.
Happy Father’s Day Ted, and to all the Dads out there!
From VanderbiltCupRaces.com Exclusive Part I: From the Hall/Kraft Family Album-Previously unpublished photos of the 1909 Vanderbilt Cup Race
Never realize how big the grand stand was. Big time race!
From VanderbiltCupRaces.com Exclusive Part I: From the Hall/Kraft Family Album-Previously unpublished photos of the 1909 Vanderbilt Cup Race
It is always nice to see new photos of these racing events. The photo of the National of Aitken (not Aiken) with the lost wheel is rather unique, never seen one before. Johnny Aitken had made it until round five (out of 22). The mystery racer is Willy Knipper on a Chalmers-Detroit with nr. 7. He had replaced Dingley, who had an accident during practice the day before, and he would end surprisingly on 3rd place. Another photo of his car from the Detroit Public Library archive, though from a slightly different angle, shows the same contours and details.
From VanderbiltCupRaces.com Exclusive Part I: From the Hall/Kraft Family Album-Previously unpublished photos of the 1909 Vanderbilt Cup Race
Great picture and perspective on how big the grandstand was. Today the person who took this picture would be pretty much standing on the west side of Crocus lane, (Levittown) maybe about 100 feet south of Blacksmith road facing west/southwest.
From VanderbiltCupRaces.com Exclusive Part I: From the Hall/Kraft Family Album-Previously unpublished photos of the 1909 Vanderbilt Cup Race
These are wonderful photos. It is like stepping into a time machine, and traveling back to 1909!
From VanderbiltCupRaces.com Exclusive Part I: From the Hall/Kraft Family Album-Previously unpublished photos of the 1909 Vanderbilt Cup Race
Hi all
Happy Father’s Day day, have a great day.
From VanderbiltCupRaces.com Exclusive Part I: From the Hall/Kraft Family Album-Previously unpublished photos of the 1909 Vanderbilt Cup Race
Great reading Howard. Thank you for posting. Do we have a bio of Mr. Ethridge?
From Kleiner's Korner: "Big George" Robertson and "Fireball" Glenn Ethridge tell their story of winning the 1908 Vanderbilt Cup Race
Harry Grant and Frank Lee in the ‘White Beast’ preparing to race in the 10 and 20 miles races as well as the Cobe Trophy Race in Indianapolis, Indiana, over a few days on July 1-4th, 1910.
From Mystery Foto #25 Solved: Harry Grant preparing the Alco "White Beast" for the 1910 Indy Races
Great photos Robert! If those can be scanned, I’m sure the collective group here can identify most, if not all of the Cup Race locations and cars in the photos.
From Mystery Foto #24 Solved: A wonderful painting of Howard Kroplick in the Alco Black Beast by Joe Pep
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