Vanderbilt Cup Races

Howard, I almost bought the LIMP plate advertised on eBay. Thank you for the article.
Love your website, we’ve met at Amelia when you had the Tucker there.
Thanks for your work.

From Fraud Alert Update: Guide to Identifying Authentic Versus Reproduced Long Island Motor Parkway and Roosevelt Field Porcelain Plates

One more . . . results

From Mystery Friday Foto #3 Solved: The 1904 Panhard #15 At the Starting Line

90 hp Panhard
Driver George Teste, Mechanician E. Artent
1904 Vanderbilt Cup Race, October 8, 1904
Finished 12, had to pull out in 4th round due to ignition problem.

From Mystery Friday Foto #3 Solved: The 1904 Panhard #15 At the Starting Line

The 1989 FWD Mustang wasn’t completely abandoned by Ford. Instead of becoming a Mustang, it became the Probe, which was in production for about 10 years.

From MSM and Motor Junkie- 20 Ford Mustang Prototypes That Didn’t Make It To Production

Interesting article on one of the many tours in the US at the time. However in this post a few errors have crept, which I would like to correct. The car on the last photo is not a Maxwell, but a rather unknown make, a White Star. A photo of the same car is shown below, where its participant number 29 can be clearly seen. The make name can be read vaguely on the hood. The make had only a short life, from 1909 to 1911.
Further there is mention of a Mrs. Cameo and Mrs. Schwabach in an Locomobile: I suppose the first lady was the well known Mrs. Joan N. Cuneo, who was driving her own Rainier car as a press car. In the added page from Motor Age (including participant list) the second lady is named Schwaibach.
By the way I count only 38 paricipants and 8 official cars, but indeed in the Motor Age article it is mentioned that several participants had withdrawn.

From Alco, Ty Cobb & the 1909 New York to Atlanta Good Roads Tour

That’s the number 15 (90 HP) Panhard & Levassor driven by Georges Teste with mechanician E. Artent at his side. The photo was taken on October 8, 1904 during the first Vanderbilt Cup Race. The Panhard finished in the number 12 position. I’m fairly certain that’s Willie K. in the fur coat (foreground) with his back to the camera. Standing near the left rear wheel could be the starter C. H. Gillette although at first I thought it was Jefferson DeMont Thompson. Standing next to the driver (Teste) could be A. R. Pardington. In the lower right corner with the distinctive bowler hat could be Peter Prunty although he wasn’t the starter that year.

From Mystery Friday Foto #3 Solved: The 1904 Panhard #15 At the Starting Line

The French Panhard #15 at the 1904 Vanderbilt Cup Race, Oct 8, 1904. This 90hp racer driven by George Teste with mechanician E. Artent led the first three laps but then encountered ignition problems on Lap 4 in Bethpage (Central Park), ultimately finishing in 12th place. Willie K is standing at the bottom center with a cap and fur collar with his back to the camera. I believe that’s Mr Dermott by the mechanician’s rear wheel with the white band on his left arm. If the photo is at the starting line on Jericho Tpke in Westbury between Post Rd and Hitchcock Ln, the photo is looking SSW. But the photo may have also captured one of the two Controls on the 1904 course. I would assume Willie K and race officials were likely tending near the Start/Finish line in Westbury.

From Mystery Friday Foto #3 Solved: The 1904 Panhard #15 At the Starting Line

#15 Panhard (France) driven by George Teste. 90 HP. Finished 12th. Led race after first 3 laps. Ignition problems on Bethpage Road during lap 4.
The driver was George Teste
The Mechanician was E. Artent
The race was the 1904 Vanderbilt Cup Race held October 8, 1904
Finished 12th in the 1904 Vanderbilt Cup Race

From Mystery Friday Foto #3 Solved: The 1904 Panhard #15 At the Starting Line

You left at least one mustang out of the this interesting list and compilation. The electric four door car called a Mustang but it is in production. You mention the Mustang sedan but did not show a photo of a production Granada that was basically a Falcon/Mustang underneath it all. The Fairmont and Fox body Mustangs were actually big Pintos. But a Mustang II also fell in the Pinto school of cars.

From MSM and Motor Junkie- 20 Ford Mustang Prototypes That Didn’t Make It To Production

I was trying to get hold of Nick Greco I have recording of his dad while on tour in bermuda. Sorry for his loss, I ran across check he sent which was never cashed. Im not sure if he ever got his recording of the vhs in1996. Please contact Freshtvbermuda on all social media platforms.

From Sad News: We Lost a Good Friend and Master Mechanic

Mark The first year of the Motor Parkway’s version of the E-ZPASS was 1912. Rather than a plate it was a red disc about 3 inches in diameter that was wired and hung down over the radiator cap. The first plate as we know it was issued in 1915.

From VanderbiltCupRaces.com Exclusive: Found- The oldest known Long Island Motor Parkway License Plate

I inadvertently left this Brooklyn Life article (July 10, 1910) off this post which notes that the reason for the postponement was that “the intolerable heat and drought would have taken the edge of the competition”.  It also notes “The Long Island Derby” planned for Riverhead the week before had been cancelled.

From Kleiner's Korner: The 1910 Inaugural Sweepstakes: The Motor Parkway Races that Weren't

When was the motor parkway ‘EZPass’ plates first issued?

From VanderbiltCupRaces.com Exclusive: Found- The oldest known Long Island Motor Parkway License Plate

That’s Louis Chevrolet sitting in the wreckage of his 110 HP (some accounts have it at 120 HP) FIAT after having collided with a telephone pole in Lakeville near Willie K.‘s Deepdale estate during a practice run on or about October 2, 1905. Several factors combined to cause the crash: high speed (about 70 mph); slippery road surface; and early morning fog. Twelve days later on October 14th., during the 1905 Vanderbilt Cup Race, Chevrolet hit another telephone pole driving a 90 HP back-up FIAT near the “S” curve on Willis Avenue in Albertson.

From Mystery Friday Foto #2 Solved: Louis Chevrolet's Wreck on the Course

The name John Heyer has been mentioned before on various sites, but I am not related to them….as far as I know.

From A Family Discovers 1909 Vanderbilt Cup Race Photos in their Grandfather's Photo Album

Howard this is wonderful information We notice the plate# 3 is assigned to Brewster & Co. I’m wondering if that was the carriage maker who later built bodies for Rolls Royce America in Springfield Mass. They later also produced some of the most iconic automobiles, mentioned in Cole Porter’s song ” You’re the top” He also owned a Brewster.

From VanderbiltCupRaces.com Exclusive: Found- The oldest known Long Island Motor Parkway License Plate

Charles,  Thank you for sharing the race photos.
Are you related to John Heyer, Elva Courier racer 1960?

From A Family Discovers 1909 Vanderbilt Cup Race Photos in their Grandfather's Photo Album

My favorite - the Whitestone Bridge. The personification of Art Deco elegance.  I was five years old when my parents bought a brand new up and down house at 51st Ave and 199th St, Flushing, which was w/in the Fresh Meadows “65” postal zone. The “unrecognized” dividing line between Fresh Meadows and Bayside was Francis Lewis Blvd (200th St). Given that PS 162 at 201st St. and 53rd Ave the closest grade school, I started attending it in the Fall of ‘54 (First grade), having gone to PS 177 on 188th St & 58th Ave by bus for Kindergarden because PS 162 was undergoing an expansion to accommodate the growing nearby population. In or about ‘53-54,” the parents in my neighborhood were in an uproar when they learned that the “Clearview Expressway” was going to be built using not only the right of way of Francis Lewis Blvd, but 199th St itself, where we had just moved into our newly built house.  Protest to shift the location of the Clearview mounted all along the proposed right of way. I remember well carrying a little sign myself, although I, of course, didn’t know what was going on. When the Clearview was shifted to 204th St, everyone believed that the protests were the reason. They weren’t. Rather, it was better to leave Francis Lewis doing what it was intended to do when it was named “Cross Island Blvd,” which was to funnel traffic to the Whitestone Bridge. Eventually, I moved to the Island after I got married (47 years now), where I set up my law practice. My wife and I first bought a pre-construciton condo right next to the terminus of the SOB Expressway. We then moved to 1-acre Woodbury on the other side where we did a teardown and built a custom home. Then eventually to Boca Raton, and for the last few years Phoenix, where we are now. Through it all, I always of the opinion that a tunnel should have been built under the Sound. The wasted travel time and the pollution caused by it from all of those drivers who were forced to go probably 20+ miles out of their way to get to the other side of the Sound, most especially “big rig” truckers, changed the region for the worse. Indeed, the fees shippers would have paid to use such a tunnel could have been very high, given the savings generated from the wear and tear on vehicles, fuel savings, and wasted manhours.

From Update with Aerials: Video of the Week: Robert Moses: Long Island's Master Builder

Love seeing The Beast so clearly. Must note that these photos display an exceptional eye of photographic quality. This is not just incredible Motorsport reportage. These are pure photographic art.

From A Family Discovers 1909 Vanderbilt Cup Race Photos in their Grandfather's Photo Album

Hello Howard. RE: Childs Frick’s 1921 LIMP License Plate, can you give us some more information concerning its discovery “in a ditch?” When, where, by whom? Perhaps somewhere on the grounds of Nassau’s Museum of Fine Arts? Sounds like a very interesting story. Thank you.

Elliot: The person who found the plate was on the location with permission. However, they do not wish to disclose any additional details. Enjoy, Howard

From VanderbiltCupRaces.com Exclusive: Found- The oldest known Long Island Motor Parkway License Plate