Vanderbilt Cup Races

Great find Art. Looking at the 1907 survey, Windhorst Av., Hermann Av., and Pine St. appear equally spaced, so I measured them to be 250’ apart. That puts a tiny corner of Pine Street’s west side to just clear the LIMP roadway at Hermann Av. Not sure but I think this corner was destroyed when building the LIMP. A street view photo shows a Camaro blocking the view. This will require a personal visit for any remnants.

From Kleiner's Kolumn: Investigating a Lost Road in Bethpage

The car was nicknamed the “Villa Riviera.” It began life as a 1963 Buick Riviera, and was customized by George Barris. It starred in a movie called “For Those Who Think Young,” starring James Darren, Pamela Tiffin, Nancy Sinatra, and Bob Denver. I admit to feeding a few keywords into a search engine to get this one.

From Mystery Auto #33 Solved: George Barris' 1963 Buick Villa Riviera

Frank, HHB wasn’t divided then; why wouldn’t W/B motorists simply make a left turn?  Sam, III

From Malverne Treasure #5: Survey of "Toll Box" and Entrance/Exit Lanes at Rocky Hill Road (April 1914)

Great questions Sam! I’m sure those odd maneuvers were attempted/challenged by the locals at least. In either scenario, a u-turn would’ve resulted in multiple reverses at the plaza, just to execute the turn, with the limited turning radius of the cars of those days. On the other hand, executing this maneuver in front of the gate keeper would be deemed cheating the roadway, especially with non-existent toll booths in between the two points. And I’m also sure the locals knew when the gatekeeper was not present at the booth, so to execute the “quick” shortcut. But one main problem still remains. When exiting the LIMP at HHB westbound, only eastbound traffic access was available, not westbound. I believe most travelers (not all) would’ve been seeking eastbound instead to head towards the city.

From Malverne Treasure #5: Survey of "Toll Box" and Entrance/Exit Lanes at Rocky Hill Road (April 1914)

Mystery Foto #33… This pretty custom car is a 1963 Buick Riviera with the nickname of “Villa Riviera”. This car was given to famed customizer George Barris by Buick to do with what he liked. He customized and used it as his personal car for a while. The Buick starred in the movie ” For Those Who Think Young”. It also appeared in the TV series ‘The Outer Limits”.

From Mystery Auto #33 Solved: George Barris' 1963 Buick Villa Riviera

George Barris’ 1963 Buick Riviera of Encino, California. George, who owned and operated Barris Kustom City in North Hollywood, California, designed the car himself. Known as “The Villa Riviera Buick,” the build was completed in 1963. In 1964 a white iteration of the car appeared in the popular Surf-movie “For Those Who Think Young”.

From Mystery Auto #33 Solved: George Barris' 1963 Buick Villa Riviera

What a great shot looking down the ramps!  Now why didn’t I think to do that (or did I)?  It shows just how the ramps were arranged better than any plan or map.  I now remember questioning in an early blog post how one entered or exited from an opposing ramp; I still wonder - sounds awfully dangerous.  Just for examples, how did you go west from RHR or exit E/B on the LIMP to RHR?  U-turns?  Sam, III

From Malverne Treasure #5: Survey of "Toll Box" and Entrance/Exit Lanes at Rocky Hill Road (April 1914)

Audrain is the name of the Auto Museum in a town known for sailing….and it was raining! Over at nearby Ft Adams were three Herreshoff S Boats tied to a dock. There used to be three S boats in Hempstead Harbor years ago. They used to race with the Larchmont Fleet. Sufi, Tern and Hornpipe were their names. Tern was the newest in the series The 28’ wood boat with it’s signature curved mast, running backstays and mainsail with self tending jib was built in 1941. The reason it was called an S boat was because it was a a scaled down version of the America Cup J boats.

From Audrain Exhibit Concept Car #1: The 1938 Buick Y-Job: The First Concept Car

The survey depicting the single two-lane ramp was likely a proposal before finalising on the two ramp system. How chaotic it would have been to squeeze two vehicles on that narrow ramp which is still evident today, especially when the entrance once served as the western terminus.

From Malverne Treasure #5: Survey of "Toll Box" and Entrance/Exit Lanes at Rocky Hill Road (April 1914)

Thanks Sam! Those posts north of the circle are quite a distance from the LIMP (0.33 miles, ~1700 ft). I don’t disagree with your friend’s findings but could indeed also show how construction debris was distributed in the area, even to the east side. There were many posts uplifted here where some no doubt survived the onslaught. There’s one right now on the west side fully intact!
You are correct with proposed construction. Clearly remembering the old Hagstrom maps, dashed or dotted lines meant proposed roadways. That’s what appears here on the ‘47-54 maps as well.

From Update: Sam & Dave’s “Excellent 2019 Vanderbilt Day”- #11 Bethpage #2

Whoops!  Completely forgot to mention that, many years back (ca. 2000?), an old-timer whose veracity I never had any reason to question, insisted that there were a set of closely-spaced LIMP posts in a W-to-E line in the brush immediately N of the BSP circle, i.e. - directly across the questioned RoW, perhaps as marked on attached aerial.  A detailed search of that spot at that time never did turn up any such but I throw this in the pot just for the record, for whatever it’s worth.  Sam, III

From Update: Sam & Dave’s “Excellent 2019 Vanderbilt Day”- #11 Bethpage #2

We stopped at the show yesterday and did not expect to see much at the small museum next to the tennis stadium but we discovered that there were two totally fascinating exhibits, the GM design show and your Vanderbuilt display with race car number 16. That wind vane model of 16 was a treat to see. You did a nice job putting that show together.

From Audrain Exhibit Concept Car #1: The 1938 Buick Y-Job: The First Concept Car

Art Kleiner:
I have a contact who used to work at the Nassau County Planning Commission and still has some contacts there and other related agencies.  He’s asked around however things are a bit more formal these days.  As such I’ll be submitting a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) requests for whatever documents the NYDOT has pertaining to the building of the SOB and related areas of construction. 

These are the records it pertains to:
“Record” means any information kept, held, filed, produced or reproduced by, with, or for this agency, in any physical form whatsoever including, but not limited to, reports, statements, examinations, memoranda, opinions, folders, files, books, manuals, pamphlets, forms, papers, designs, drawings, maps, photos, letters, microfilms, computer tapes or disks, rules, regulations or codes.

We can only hope some useful information will be uncovered.

From Update: Sam & Dave’s “Excellent 2019 Vanderbilt Day”- #11 Bethpage #2

Howard, In the Belcourt photo… on the right side, are those sections of a marble column lying on their sides? And if they are, any idea if they still exist, possibly erected. Al.

From Mystery Foto #32 Solved: Willie K. Going for an Early Ride in his 1899 Locomobile Runabout

Ran over my allotted three attachments; here are the other two Amityville quad excerpts - ‘69 and (20)16.  Sam, III

From Update: Sam & Dave’s “Excellent 2019 Vanderbilt Day”- #11 Bethpage #2

John, this should probably be on a separate post or private but here are the ‘47, ‘54, ‘69. and (20)16 topo maps of roughly the same area, but starting with a larger ‘47 to show the “MOTOR PARKWAY {ABANDONED}” callout.  They show a steady degradation of the depiction of that mysterious northern extension of Bethpage SP from a full, paved, two-lane highway to zero.  AHA!  Wikipedia: “Moses proposed extending the Bethpage in both directions, south to Merrick Road via Massapequa State Park and north to Caumsett State Park, via an extended Bethpage and the new Caumsett State Parkway, respectively. Both proposals were not constructed; however, bike paths leading away from both directions of the parkway have been constructed or are under construction. Several scaled-back proposals to extend the Bethpage north have been proposed, including an extension to NY 25A in Cold Spring Harbor and another to NY 135 (the Seaford–Oyster Bay Expressway) in Bethpage.”  Howzat for service, eh?  At least this diatribe MENTIONS the LIMP!  Sam, III

From Update: Sam & Dave’s “Excellent 2019 Vanderbilt Day”- #11 Bethpage #2

Great historic photos as it was. These shall come in handy someday with further findings of the historic roadway. Thank you Howard for preserving these gems.

From Malverne Treasure #5: Survey of "Toll Box" and Entrance/Exit Lanes at Rocky Hill Road (April 1914)

I have been looking for pre-WW2 pictures of Norcross Avenue/135 for a very long time and aside from the info available here, it has not been a successful endeavor.  Since there seems to be some uncertainty when it comes to old maps and aerials, allow me to add to it. In both the 1950 aerial and the Amityville map, there appears to be a road continuing north into the park at the end of the Bethpage Parkway traffic circle that to the best of my knowledge, never existed.  I know there were plans to maybe extend the Bethpage parkway at one time but I always thought there wasn’t anything completed.  Anyone know the story behind this?  I know it’s a bit off topic but I figure if anyone would know, it’d be you guys.

From Update: Sam & Dave’s “Excellent 2019 Vanderbilt Day”- #11 Bethpage #2

You guys are great. This site and everything related to LI History are great. I’m not “scolding” anyone. This is the type of thing you sit down for a few brews with and discuss and that is my vibe here. You guys are just all stubborn and wrong!! JOKING!!!

It will be my life mission to prove this. There has to be proof out there. It will be found one day.

Mayan ruins location is the other spot, I’m not at all convinced those were bridge side walls, I think there were just walls. Another day!!!

I am curious—- HOWARD??? You haven’t chimed in!!! What is your opinion???

Finally, what is the record for most comments on a post? This might be in the running!??

From Update: Sam & Dave’s “Excellent 2019 Vanderbilt Day”- #11 Bethpage #2

That red 1899 Loco Steamer is in immaculate condition for a 120 year old car. Fantastic!

From Mystery Foto #32 Solved: Willie K. Going for an Early Ride in his 1899 Locomobile Runabout