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
Website by Eric Miller Design
Site maintained by Hop Studios
Recent Comments
Howard, or anyone have a clue about the mystery writing on the grass of the ‘38 aerial? Looks like R I S _ _ I R I, possibly R E A L T O R, R O O S E V E L T ?
From Long Island Motor Parkway Bridge Series #36:The Stewart Avenue Bridge in East Meadow Updated:2/18/16
Interesting article that hints at the business mindset of 100 years ago. Not much has changed since. Also the attempt to voice out even louder towards stopping a ‘new idea’ from flourishing any further.
From Anatomy of a 1907 Motor Parkway Cartoon
I knew it was Roosevelt Raceway right off the bat,from other pics and now it’s Roosevelt Field. Joe at least we both knew something
From Mystery Foto #28 Solved:Then & Now- Courses for the 1936 and 1960 Vanderbilt Cup Races
1936 Vanderbilt Cup Race at Roosevelt Raceway in Westbury - winner was Tazio Nuvolari who received his Vanderbilt Cup replica from George Vanderbilt III.
1960 Vanderbilt Cup Race at Roosevelt Raceway in Westbury (6/19/60) - winner was Henry Carter (driving a Stanguellini) who received the cup from Cornelius Vanderbert IV. The two bridges in the picture were the Chevron Bridge and the Martini and Rossi Bridge. The Eddie Rickenbacker Cup race was run the day before.
Not sure, but I would imagine the Press Release to be close to the announcement of the 1960 race, sometime around May or June of 1960.
From Mystery Foto #28 Solved:Then & Now- Courses for the 1936 and 1960 Vanderbilt Cup Races
That was interesting and entertaining. Imagine that—politics and economic issues were involved! I especially liked the request from the LIRR. I guess things don’t change much when you factor in human nature. As the saying goes: the more things change the more they remain the same (ça change, plus c’est la même chose in the original French).
Ken
From Anatomy of a 1907 Motor Parkway Cartoon
Is this Roosevlt Field & Roosevelt Raceway (1924-1938)?
From Mystery Foto #28 Solved:Then & Now- Courses for the 1936 and 1960 Vanderbilt Cup Races
1936 Vanderbilt Cup (the dark track)
1937 Vanderbilt Cup (the course outlined in white)
From Mystery Foto #28 Solved:Then & Now- Courses for the 1936 and 1960 Vanderbilt Cup Races
Another photo that required quite a bit of (and ultimately needless) reasearching. Initially I was completely stumped, but I eventually got it- and sitting right under my nose on the VCR site the whole time! At least along the way I discovered some other interesting LIMP info and photos on the Internet that I’d never seen before…
This is the redesigned course for the revived 1960 Vanderbuilt Cup races around the Roosevelt Raceway Horsetrack.
A link for the VCR page;
http://vanderbiltcupraces.com/blog/article/the_1960_cornelius_vanderbilt_cup_race_at_roosevelt_raceway
From Mystery Foto #28 Solved:Then & Now- Courses for the 1936 and 1960 Vanderbilt Cup Races
Ok, easy part, Roosevelt Raceway. I don’t even understand the rest of your question. -joe
From Mystery Foto #28 Solved:Then & Now- Courses for the 1936 and 1960 Vanderbilt Cup Races
Wow, amazing stuff. Really enjoyed reading about it….Thanks Howard…
From Updated: Long Island's First Major Automobile Competition: The 1901 100-Mile Endurance Test
From Bruce W:
You’ll probably get a lot of correct answers from us older old-car guys to your mystery-car question.
It’s Rust Heinz’s 1938 Phantom Corsair that was shown at the 1939 World’s Fair in Flushing meadow.. It utilized the front subframe of a 1936 Cord. Heinz designed the car and the body was formed by Bohman @ Schwartz It was also shown at the Park Avenue Armory by Herb Shriner at an indoor car show. I think it was in the 1950’s.
Best -
From Mystery Foto #27 Solved: Rust Heinz' 1938 Phantom Corsair
Never mind my previous question: “The body measured an impressive 237 in (600 cm) long and 76.5 in (194 cm) wide, enough to accommodate four people in the front row, including one person to the left of the driver.” - Wikipedia
From Mystery Foto #27 Solved: Rust Heinz' 1938 Phantom Corsair
O. K., why is the elderly lady in the film driving from the right side?
From Mystery Foto #27 Solved: Rust Heinz' 1938 Phantom Corsair
What is being done to improve the strength of framing or hinges which originally were too small to hold the weight?
From Chrysler’s Chrysler Chronicle IV: The Underlying Bodywork
I went back again last week and alot was done since the last time I was their 7/19.some trees were cut and some of the road was cleared better.I thought I would give you an update on that,just in case you didn’t know about it.
From The Wonderful "Clean-Up Deadman's Curve Day" in Bethpage
I just couldn’t identify that car although I remembered seeing pictures of it. As it turns out, I probably saw the car at the original NY Worlds Fair in 1938/1939. Of course, since I was only 1 year old at the time I have no memory of it. My parents had told me that they spent 2 days at the fair(with me), and my father being greatly interested in cars was sure to have looked at it.
Ken
From Mystery Foto #27 Solved: Rust Heinz' 1938 Phantom Corsair
Where on earth was I looking? I thought I had it.I’m glad I didn’t find the time to research more
From Mystery Foto #27 Solved: Rust Heinz' 1938 Phantom Corsair
The mystery foto car is an easy one. It is the 1938 Phantom Corsair designed by Gordon Buehrig, funded by Rust Heinz and built by the Bohman Schwartz co, on a Cord 810 chassis. It was in the 1938 movie called The Young In Heart and was called the Flying Wombat. This was the only one ever built. Is the connection to the Alco Bill Harrah ?
Phil
From Mystery Foto #27 Solved: Rust Heinz' 1938 Phantom Corsair
The car is The Phantom Corsair built in 1938.
Rust Heinz of the H.J. Heinz family (the “57” Variety fortune) designed it.
Only one Phantom Corsair was built.
Herb Shriner owned the car (comedian, TV host). Here’s two clips to see Herb perform. The last one from the Chrysler Festival shows there’s another connection to the Black Beast (Black Beast’s current owner also owns a Chrysler collectible, The Phantom’s owner performed at a show sponsored by Chrysler).
Herb Shriner
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qK63gdM-TBI
1957 Chrysler Festival
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vG3vF-5bUw4
Movie was The Young In Heart and featured the car as The Flying Wombat. See this great clip to see the car in full force. The Flying Wombat
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpUHvXIXFQY
Bill Harrow owned the Phantom Corsair and the Black Beast.
From Mystery Foto #27 Solved: Rust Heinz' 1938 Phantom Corsair
It’s too bad the hill climb photo wasn’t a little bit of a wider shot. At that moment in 1901, Mackay’s amazing Harbor Hill estate was in the middle of being built (1899-1902) and we might have gotten a glimpse of the construction.
Either way, it’s still a great shot of Northern Blvd at the top of the hill east of where the viaduct is now, taken with the photographer’s back to the railroad crossing (today, the tracks cross via a bridge over N. Blvd-Brian, you were correct with your guess) Rallye Acura/Benz now sits just at the second bend on the left. Just for the hell of it, I measured the distance on Google Earth, and sure enough, the hill is just over 2800 feet long!
From Updated: Long Island's First Major Automobile Competition: The 1901 100-Mile Endurance Test
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