Vanderbilt Cup Races

Thank you for letting us know, Roger. I bet a good part of his overall knowledge of history is due to being with the Nassau County PD for almost half of century. Is it just a coincidence that his wife’s maiden is Gorman?

From Mystery Foto #34 Solved: The N6 Cadillac Getting Ready to Start in the 1908 Nassau Sweepstakes

FYI… Long time subscriber to this blog and champion Mystery Foto solver Tim Ivers passed away back in March. Tim was a friend when we grew up in Uniondale back in the 40’s and 50’s. I saw him very occasionally when we had a Hempstead High School reunion. He moved to Florida at some point and I lost track of him for a long time, relocating him on the Vanderbilt Cup blog of all places!!! He sure was good at solving these Mystery Fotos. R.I.P.Tim.

From Mystery Foto #34 Solved: The N6 Cadillac Getting Ready to Start in the 1908 Nassau Sweepstakes

Art, Good find,  love those sketches of the motor parkway construction, more please.

From Kleiner's Korner Part I: Illustrating the 1906 Vanderbilt Cup Race and the Motor Parkway

Here’s a list of competitors of the Endurance Test published in “The Automobile Review” of May, 1901.  As Ariejan notes above it was won by #22, a Gasmobile operated by F. W. Walsh.  Having made no stops it achieved a 100% efficiency rating, the same as #12, an Apperson operated by E. Apperson.  Both received a blue ribbon.

From Updated: Long Island's First Major Automobile Competition: The 1901 100-Mile Endurance Test

Solid surface (SS) it was.

From The Garden City News: Historians concerned about Village construction over the Motor Parkway

If that smokestack could talk ~

From Mystery Friday Foto #33 Solved: Louis C. Tiffany's Laurelton Hall Estate in Laurel Hollow

Great group of pics,,,

From Update: The history of the promised restoration of the Long Island Motor Parkway by the Village of Garden City

According to the Detroit Public Library, that’s F. W. Darnstadt driving a 1908 Cadillac Model-S in the Nassau Sweepstakes on October 10, 1908 with Nathan Lazarnick as the photographer. However, the car may actually be a Model-G. According to the website http://www.newcadillacdatabase.org, the Model-G had the company name embossed on the radiator but the Model-S did not.

From Mystery Foto #34 Solved: The N6 Cadillac Getting Ready to Start in the 1908 Nassau Sweepstakes

The construction drawings ‘existing conditions’ sheet shows 41 locations identifying a ‘solid surface’, i.e., the parkway surface, along the length of the work area. Part of this can be seen in the first attachment picture, along with the concrete edging.

From The Garden City News: Historians concerned about Village construction over the Motor Parkway

Early Cadillac stripped down from something like the ‘06 Tulip with that odd inverted front axle with truss rod stiffening.  Sam, III

From Mystery Foto #34 Solved: The N6 Cadillac Getting Ready to Start in the 1908 Nassau Sweepstakes

Simply wonderful from all perspectives.

Francis @ http://www.motometercentral.com

From Helck Family Collection: A Gift to George Robertson from Peter Helck

Now, why is Tsar Nicholas in the qualifiers pic?  Hey, I actually remember when steam rollers were run by steam!  I saw them when I was little, pre-WWII, in Manhattan, somewhat like the attached but black and more enclosed.  Sam, III

From Kleiner's Korner Part I: Illustrating the 1906 Vanderbilt Cup Race and the Motor Parkway

Thank you, Howard, for that insightful look at Peter Helck’s gift to George Robertson, showing how the Vanderbilt Cup Race of 1908 influenced Peter’s future art career! After Fred Wagner ‘started’ and waved in George Robertson at the 1908 race, three years later during summer vacation 1911, Helck had his “first formal art instruction at the Arts Students League on West 57th Street, a mere 70 yards from Broadway’s ‘Auto Row’.” In the vicinity of that high concentration of domestic and foreign auto dealerships with their “demonstrators” at the curb, Helck “on occasion” glimpsed “the great Ralph De Palma…” and recalled that “Around the corner was the U.S. Tire Building where observing eyes focused on others of the Row’s distinguished personages including Fred Wagner…” causing Helck to observe, “Art study in this environment left its mark.” During 1911-1912, Wagner moved from New Rochelle to Smithtown, commuting via the Motor Parkway to Auto Row, and building his, now National Register, home designed by Gustav Stickley. When Helck spotted him, Wagner was working in publishing and advertising, primarily for auto tires and inviting ‘Auto Row’ to Smithtown for his annual summer picnics, attended by De Palma, Robertson and many other notables. See “Peter Helck, American Artist (1893-1988), Memoirs Part 1,” 1911 [from Bulb Horn, July-Sept. 1981] at http://www.peterhelck.com/memoirs.php

From Helck Family Collection: A Gift to George Robertson from Peter Helck

And here’s an earlier article describing the aerial photography of Long Island taken in 1929.  From “Aero Digest of Sept. 1929.  Photographer was Robert A. Smith and the pilot was H.H. Hunter (triple H) of Roosevelt Field, Inc.

From The Amazing Fairchild Aerials of Long Island

Details of the Fairchild aerial camera named the “Cyclops” which quite possibly captured images of Long Island and the Motor Parkway.

From The Amazing Fairchild Aerials of Long Island

Additional documentation pertaining to the Fairchild Aerial Surveys and Fairchild Camera subsidiaries of the Fairchild Corporation.  From “Aero Digest” of Jan. and Feb., 1934.

From The Amazing Fairchild Aerials of Long Island

Howard,
To me, it looks like a 1906 Cadillac.  It had a one cylinder engine under the seat.
Don’t know where the photo was taken.  I’m sure that some of our fellow members will know.
Rog

From Mystery Foto #34 Solved: The N6 Cadillac Getting Ready to Start in the 1908 Nassau Sweepstakes

Mystery Foto # 34… The race car is a 1908 Cadillac. The driver is F.W. Darmstadt. The race was the 1908 Nassau Sweepstakes for stock cars costing less than a $1000… The Cadillac finished 6th. The race held on October 10, 1908.

From Mystery Foto #34 Solved: The N6 Cadillac Getting Ready to Start in the 1908 Nassau Sweepstakes

The scenario of disregard and disrespect portrayed here is brutal. A useless parking lot T a cost of $400,000. A public official literally noting there was almost nothing there. Shameless political posturing. What’s the next step? Ripping down St Paul’s so they can add to the Garden City Country Club?

From The Garden City News: Historians concerned about Village construction over the Motor Parkway

These are absolutely wonderful Howard. I can’t stop looking at them!

From Kleiner's Korner Part I: Illustrating the 1906 Vanderbilt Cup Race and the Motor Parkway