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
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Recent Comments
??? Looks like a big Renault. Significant because it’s the first record of a car with one fender and one headlight and with an inner tube instead of a bumper? :·) Sam, III
From Mystery Foto #50 Solved: William K. Vanderbilt, Jr. on the Long Island Motor Parkway
Love this one, Art! Although my mother was a Supervisor of a Red Cross Surgical Dressings unit in Manhattan, she on occasion had to drive a RC vehicle in the Five Towns area of southwestern Nassau, where we lived, and so had to undergo the same training, somewhere in the Woodsburgh vicinity. Dad and I thought it was a howl that our ever-so-elegant lady had to be able to change a wheel! Gotta find my old pix - similar uniform but a hard kepi instead of the overseas cap. Sam, III
From Kleiner's Korner: How the Motor Parkway Aided the Red Cross in Garden City
Incredible memorabilia! “Ferguson”,
From Helck Family Collection: Distinguished service citation for Joe Tracy awarded by Automobile Old Timers in 1948
Here’s Joe Tracey’s WW1 Draft Card, courtesy of Ancestry.com
From Helck Family Collection: Distinguished service citation for Joe Tracy awarded by Automobile Old Timers in 1948
Haven’t had the time to search this one, and initially, it’s a head scratcher!
Knee jerk says it’s possibly Willie K in a Renault checking out a new section somewhere on the LIMP in the Hempstead Plains in 1908, but having a hard time identifying it. That’s not the Newbridge hotel, hmmm…..
From Mystery Foto #50 Solved: William K. Vanderbilt, Jr. on the Long Island Motor Parkway
Not much time for research this weekend so I’ll go with some guesses. Looks like it could be Willie K. himself driving one of his 1908 35 HP Renault Racers. I think he is heading east having just come over the Newbridge Avenue bridge on the LIMP. So that would place the photographer facing approximately northwest. No rationale, just looks like it. Could this be just prior to the grand opening of the LIMP in October, 1908?
From Mystery Foto #50 Solved: William K. Vanderbilt, Jr. on the Long Island Motor Parkway
south side of the photo
From Kleiner's Korner: How the Motor Parkway Aided the Red Cross in Garden City
Art, That section of the Motor Parkway, photo, “seen in 1950”, abuts the Meadow Brook Club polo fields. Note that the tall shrubbery is only on the north side of the Parkway, placed there to screen the matches. If this wasn’t done Parkway motorists would park on the shoulder and get a free view of the action. Note the tank in the distance on the north side of the photo .
From Kleiner's Korner: How the Motor Parkway Aided the Red Cross in Garden City
Great observation Howard!
From Kleiner's Korner: How the Motor Parkway Aided the Red Cross in Garden City
Amazing early Red Cross history. Thank you Art for sharing this find! And yes, the roadway in the background strongly resembles the Garden City stretch of Motor Parkway just south of Roosevelt Air Field. Most likely the same stretch of Motor Parkway!
From Kleiner's Korner: How the Motor Parkway Aided the Red Cross in Garden City
Due to its uniquely-shaped front end, I recognize the car as a Renault, but other than that, I don’t know more. Could it be the car that inspired Willie K to ask Renault to make replicas for him and his friends?
From Mystery Foto #50 Solved: William K. Vanderbilt, Jr. on the Long Island Motor Parkway
*Driver - Believe he’s William K Vanderbilt, with acquaintance.
*Auto - Should be Mr. Vanderbilts 1907 Renault.
*Location & Orientation - The photographer is facing northwest. The car is heading east on the LIMP, just passing over Bellmore Ave via the Meadowbrook Pkwy Bridge. Land to the right is the Ladenburg property.
*Historical Significance - During the 10/1/1910 VCR, driver Harold Stone & mechanician Matthew Bacon crashed through the wood railing on the north side of this bridge in their Columbia Racer. Mr. Stone survived, but Mr. Bacon did not. This mystery foto is likely afterwards in 1910. Probably experiencing just how wicked this curve was.
From Mystery Foto #50 Solved: William K. Vanderbilt, Jr. on the Long Island Motor Parkway
Great reference Brian! That is an amazing discovery buried under 100+ year old concrete! Super rare. Congrats Howard for this amazing find in the old original Mill!
From Update 12/12/20: An Amazing "Message in a Bottle" Discovery and the Roslyn Grist Mill Match Challenge
Aw Greg, you beat me to it. But at least Howard got his answer.
From Film of the Week: Care-Free Cars (1956) Starring Henry Austin Clark, Jr.
She’s likely the daughter of the Frank Krug we know of, Art.
From Kleiner's Korner: How the Motor Parkway Aided the Red Cross in Garden City
Like Frank above, courtesy of Arrt’s Arrchives below. A good number of the Transmission Towers, some seen in the mystery foto, have been removed. Probably around the same time of the construction of the Meadowbrook Pkwy. Electric is below ground now. There’s 7 towers west of Carmen Ave ( Blue Course ). Then the towers commence just west of the Meadowbrook Pkwy.
From Mystery Foto #49 Solved: A 1953 View over Merrick Avenue and East Meadow and Westbury
Jim Croce came to mind.
From Update 12/12/20: An Amazing "Message in a Bottle" Discovery and the Roslyn Grist Mill Match Challenge
Among the files of the Peter Helck Family Collection is this check for $16.14 made out to Peter from Henry R.W. Finn, Treasurer of the VMCCA, sponsor of the 1946 Jubilee Rally in Mineola. Each of the club’s 75 members who contributed $25 to the event received a prorated amount of the proceeds after expenses. Finn’s analogy as to the less than desired monetary gain to the club was that the exhaust was more than the intake, and that “multiple downdraft carburetion with larger intake valves would have been very helpful”. Accounting for an average inflation rate of 3.64% between 1946 and today, the real amount due the Helck family is $231.84!
And the bank the check is written against is now part of Capital One, so a deposit still may be possible!
I’m also showing a license plate for #16 found among the Helck collection similar to the ones Jerry shows above for the Hartford’s Golden Automobile Jubilee in 1907.
From Update: The 1946 VMCCA Jubilee Anniversary at the Mineola Fair Grounds
Is John’s booklet still available? I would like to buy one.
From New Booklet "Historic Road Racing in Milwaukee"
Photos below of the Salisbury Plains RR Station by Merrick Ave, and CRR bridge over the Meadow Brook Hunt Club access road, courtesy of NassauCountyNY.gov and Arrts-Arrchives.com
From Mystery Foto #49 Solved: A 1953 View over Merrick Avenue and East Meadow and Westbury
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