Vanderbilt Cup Races

Regarding the Mystery Foto #1, The video of the race has me wondering… Why at the start of the race do we see sports cars in the front of the pack? If I had attended the event I would probably know the answer but I was in Germany at the time. Were there sports cars on the track at the same time as the Formula Juniors having their own race, or ????. Did the sports cars have their own separate race? See attached image.

From Mystery Foto #1 Solved: Jim Rathmann and Carroll Shelby at the 1960 Vanderbilt Cup Race

Gene Ingram:

The driver is Jim (or Dick) Rathmann and the passenger is Carrol Shelby in your Mystery friday photo #1 in old 16.

Gene Ingram
New Castle, In.

From Mystery Foto #1 Solved: Jim Rathmann and Carroll Shelby at the 1960 Vanderbilt Cup Race

Since this robbery was solved with details later confessed, I wonder if toll collection tickets later included entry for number of occupancy in vehicles. I don’t recall seeing this in any Motor Parkway toll ticket.

From Kleiner's Korner: The Motor Parkway and the Bellmore Bank Robbery

Ariejan,
Ken Purdy’s article titled “Classics of the Road” to which you refer was published in 1955 but I’m afraid I can’t tell you in which magazine.

From Kleiner's Korner: Part 2 - The Race that Brought Willie K. "Racing" to America"

I see what your saying Bill about the view looking west of Clinton Rd. Even though homes may have not been built yet just across Clinton Rd, the scenery looks more like the Melville area. A transmission tower should also be in view if this is Garden City, I see none. Images may have been miss marked, looking forward to the rest.

From 1958-1967 tours of the Long Island Motor Parkway #4: Garden City

Carroll Shelby once signed Howard Kroplick’s glove box in his 1966 Shelby Mustang. I recognize the driver but his name eludes me. Will be back with the answer or be eternally humiliated in the Automobile Walk of Shame.

From Mystery Foto #1 Solved: Jim Rathmann and Carroll Shelby at the 1960 Vanderbilt Cup Race

Happy New Year to Howard,Al and everyone else!

From Mystery Foto #1 Solved: Jim Rathmann and Carroll Shelby at the 1960 Vanderbilt Cup Race

Can’t answer most of these questions,but person on right is Carroll Shelby.

From Mystery Foto #1 Solved: Jim Rathmann and Carroll Shelby at the 1960 Vanderbilt Cup Race

A little ‘then and now’

From Update From the Pickering Collection: Images of the Vanderbilt Cup Races and Long Island

Again a nice set of photos. Though the racing cars are a bit tiny, one small caption error comes to light: Lancia with Fiat nr. 4 is competing in the 1906 Vanderbilt Cup race, not the one of 1905. By a twist of fate (?) Lancia received the same number in both races, but in 1905 the number was painted dark on a light background, and in 1906 light on a dark background.
The car in the Armistice Parade on the second photo could well be a small Mack truck. I’m not a real truck specialist, so please correct me if I’m wrong!

From Update From the Pickering Collection: Images of the Vanderbilt Cup Races and Long Island

Howard,
Thanks for sharing these wonderful photos. I grew up a few blocks from there on Avalon Road. We used to ride our bikes up, and down fast, on the Clinton Road bridge embankment, never knowing what it was, on our way to and back from Stewart School. Nice memories.

From 1958-1967 tours of the Long Island Motor Parkway #4: Garden City

Ariejan,
Thank you for the additional information.  All the cars and drivers were captioned on the rear of the photos by Peter Helck of which I just provided along with the photo.  However some of Peter’s handwriting was hard to decipher - now that you’ve provided the correct spellings I definitely agree with you and I’ll revise the captions accordingly.  One more set of the photographs is currently being created for the last part of the series.  Thanks very much for your input and best wishes for 2021.

From Kleiner's Korner: Part 2 - The Race that Brought Willie K. "Racing" to America"

Hi Al, yes Austin got at least some of the Motor Parkway plates at a car show/flea market in Port Washington in the Manorhaven area decades ago. Not sure what he paid but it wasn’t much. This was when Joe Gaeta of Manorhaven was still alive and would show up at the same show in his Isotta Fraschini type 8 boat tail roadster that was ordered by Rudolph Valentino when new but Valentino never took delivery because he died . Joe G. worked for the New York IF agency and paid off the car and owned it . Joe was a great guy easy to converse with and I was about 17 years old but he loved to talk to me because I knew what an Isotta Fraschini was when most kids my age only knew what a GTO or Stingray was. Someone once commented to me that “you were born old” - heck I can agree.

From 1958-1967 tours of the Long Island Motor Parkway #4: Garden City

HAPPY NEW YEAR and thank you for your continued dedication. Stay safe !

From Kleiner's Korner: Part 2 - The Race that Brought Willie K. "Racing" to America"

Walt, Didn’t Henry Austin Clark acquire the plates at a car show in Port Washington many years ago,....and cheaply ?

From 1958-1967 tours of the Long Island Motor Parkway #4: Garden City

Bill, Was at Raymond Court last week, the parking field street lights have been put up.

From 1958-1967 tours of the Long Island Motor Parkway #4: Garden City

Regarding the picture “view looking west…”: This is not the location described. From the shadows on the ground, it appears to be looking east. The scene in the distance is not that of Garden City at any time, east or west. There appears to be a new sump on the far side of the roadway that the parkway once passed over. So the challenge is to locate the proper scene location.

A word on the Stewart Field parking area that the GC Village overlaid on the parkway to our dismay: no more work has been done there. As Village Historian, I have not been able to get a response from them so far on any future clearing to be done. I have also not yet received a response to my inquiry about where visitors to see the LIMP are supposed to park when the parking area gate is closed. The turnaround at the head of Raymond Court is presumably still to be a no-parking area, as it was put there originally for the benefit of school buses, garbage trucks, and such.

From 1958-1967 tours of the Long Island Motor Parkway #4: Garden City

Yes, another great year of Long Island History! I know Art is very humble, but his role here is much appreciated.

From The Top 30 VanderbiltCupRaces Posts of 2020

*ID the 2 men and their accomplishments-  James Rathmann ( at wheel ), pro race car driver. He was the winner of the 1960 Indy 500. He was born as Richard. He and his older brother ( also a pro ), swapped their driver licenses due to Richard being too young for stock car racing. They just kept this way then on.

Carroll Shelby - WW 2 pilot, race car driver, entrepreneur, car manufacturer ( Shelby ), philanthropist.

*When, Where, Why photo was taken - This was a public relations photo prior to the 6/19/60 Cornelius Vanderbilt Cup race held at Roosevelt Raceway. Locomobile and other vintage cars were present for a pre race parade. Henry Carter won the Cup with his Stanguellioni Formula Junior car.

*Special link with Howard Kroplick- Howard, who owns a Shelby Mustang, attended The Rolex Vintage Fall Festival along with his wife Roz on 9/5/2005. Carroll & Cleo Shelby were also present for a Meet & Greet, as well as for their foundation. Howard & Roz were delighted to meet the Shelbys, greet them with a kind offering, and Carroll signed Howard’s sun visor from his Mustang.

From Mystery Foto #1 Solved: Jim Rathmann and Carroll Shelby at the 1960 Vanderbilt Cup Race

This is a very nice set of photos of an iconic race. Although a part of these are known photos, there are several which are new to me. A few corrections. In the first part the driver of the 90hp Mercedes with nr. 27 was Baron de Caters, a famous Belgian car pioneer. In the second part the car with nr. 26 was a (Georges) Richard-Brasier, driven by Georges Richard himself. Georges Richard got seriously hurt after hitting a tree near Angouleme trying to avoid a spectator, and ending in a ditch. It seems that this accident caused the split between Georges Richard and Charles-Henry Brasier, the former leaving his firm to start a new one: Unic. Also William Vanderbilt was reported having ended up in a ditch, but I never have seen photos of this incident.
I can only confirm Tim Helck’s assumption about the Peter Helck drawings. The Gabriel’ Mors with nr. 168 is very realistic and seems to have been drawn on the basis of existing photos, but the other car as well as both wrecks seem to be phantasy. The blue car has a realistic appearance, but there was no car in the race with the side lid of the hood removed in this way, and with the short exhaust pipes visible like here. Also the accidents have no resemblance with any of the known accidents. Most of these were photographed and this photographic evidence would have been the only source for those who had not watched the race in person. For a moment I thought the blue car could have been a sort of Turcat-Méry impression, but in the book ‘Great Auto Races’ a drawing is present of the Turcat-Méry. This image is clearly different from the blue car.
Another drawing by Peter Helck appeared in an article by Ken W. Purdy with the title “Classics of the Road”, but I have no idea when and in which magazine it was published. The car on this drawing seems to be the De Dietrich of Stead. Compare the drawing with the added picture of Stead in La Vie au Grand Air, and it is clear that he has drawn a faithful copy of the car. But also here I cannot relate the accident of the red car on the left to any of the cars in the race.
So it is also my impression that Peter Helck caught the atmosphere of the race based on existing reports as well as on his vivid imagination. The result: beautiful drawings!

Finally I’d like to wish every fan of this site a happy and above all healthy 2021!

From Kleiner's Korner: Part 2 - The Race that Brought Willie K. "Racing" to America"