Vanderbilt Cup Races

What a great film, the excitement and the experience you had, that you would never dream you would have, but you thought it was a dream at one point

From Video: "Black Beast Wins INDY 500...100 Years Later!"

This car was included in a Jay Leno segment in 2012, when it won its class at Pebble Beach.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5f_vUbzh5l8

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From Howard Kroplick:

Thanks, I have added the YouTube above.

From Hemmings Blog (2010) "Sand Special Riding: Ralph Hamlin's 1911 Franklin Special desert racer"

My favorite pic is the one with the Socony filling station.  Are you sure it’s from 1936?  The cars make it more like 1932 or ‘33.  But than again, it could be older cars at the time the photo was taken.

From Mystery Foto #58 Solved: The White Steamer at Bulls Head Corner in Greenvale in 1905

Boy was I way off track on this one

From Mystery Foto #59 Solved: The Van Ausdall's Hotel in Cold Spring Harbor, NY Circa 1914

Howard , what top speed can the Black Beast hit these days?
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From Howard Kroplick:

The Black Beast reached 70 miles per hour during Legends’ Day laps at the 2012 Indy 500 Race:
http://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com/blog/article/videothe_alco_black_beast_at_legends_day_at_the_2012_indy_500

From Alco-6 Racer at the 2011 Lime Rock Historic Festival

Well deserved award . Well done Howard .....

From Alco-6 Racer at the 2011 Lime Rock Historic Festival

The cars are photographed in front of Van Ausdall’s Hotel (now Harbor Mist Restaurant) in Cold Spring Harbor, LI. The cars are not easy to determine. The two cars on the left carry 1914 NY dealer plates (M6145). The left car seems to be a circa 1909 Speedwell, the other car a 1913 Thomas. The light racing cars could be self-made and used in a local amateur race. I can’t find anything about it, but the date must be somewhere in 1914 or little later. It could be helpful to trace the dealer of these license plates, but that is too local history for me.

From Mystery Foto #59 Solved: The Van Ausdall's Hotel in Cold Spring Harbor, NY Circa 1914

  i have absolutely no idea on any of the quetions but it sure looks like an inviting place. 
Would love to stop in and try an Interoboro on draught.

From Mystery Foto #59 Solved: The Van Ausdall's Hotel in Cold Spring Harbor, NY Circa 1914

-Identify the hotel and its location (known)

Van Ausdall Hotel. Now the Harbor Mist Restaurant on Harbor Road in Cold Spring Harbor.

-What year was the photo taken? (known)

The license plates look to be 1914 NY dealer plates -1914

-Identify the autos in the photo?(unknown)
-What race were the #5 and #23 cars preparing for? (unknown)

The two touring cars appear to be manufacturer or dealer cars indicated by the identical dealer plates. I would assume this is the manufacturer’s garage to prep for the race. The two race cars are very small and would look like they would be suited for the 1909 Massapequa Sweepstakes, but neither the 5 or the 23 match ANY VCR cars from any years. Zooming in tight on the 23 car reveals an ‘M13’ below the radiator, but that doesn’t match anything either. My guess for the year also doesn’t correspond with any VC races either. Maybe they were being prepped for a local hillclimb race?

After researching and discovering about hauntings, murders and accidental deaths at the Van Ausdall for most of the weekend, I’m officially stumped!

From Mystery Foto #59 Solved: The Van Ausdall's Hotel in Cold Spring Harbor, NY Circa 1914

The cars, The first 3, I don’t think were in a race, they were just driving by looking at the other 2 cars

From Mystery Foto #59 Solved: The Van Ausdall's Hotel in Cold Spring Harbor, NY Circa 1914

It was awesome. I think the best part was when Ray got to see the Vanderbilt Cup Trophy, the excitement it gave him, the amazement that he actually saw it live and up close. There were part that I have never seen. I wanted to watch it again, but didn’t have the time

From Behind the Scenes: Velocity Channel's AmeriCarna Vanderbilt Cup Race Episode

From Rich L:

Great job Friday night. We really enjoyed it!!

From Great Turnout at Book Revue "North Hempstead" Book Signing!

Hotel is the Van Ausdall’s Hotel on Harbor Road in Cold Spring Harbor. 

As Interboro Beer was brewed between 1913 and 1920 that would be a general date of the photo.  Exact date might be sometime just prior to Oct. 9, 1915 which was the running of the first Astor Cup Race on the Sheepshead Bay Speedway.  Reasoning as follows:

Assuming the picture was taken after 1913, I found a car #5 and a car #23 listed as entries in that first Astor Cup race (I couldn’t find other LI races in that time frame).  #5 is a Stutz and driven by Gil Anderson, who happened to finish first - other pics of the Stutz racers of that time are similar.  #23 is a Mercedes Erwin Special driven by Erwin Bergdoll (later charged as a draft dodger).

So I’m assuming the cars were preparing for the 1915 Astor Cup Race. 

Will leave IDing the other cars to those who know best. 

From Mystery Foto #59 Solved: The Van Ausdall's Hotel in Cold Spring Harbor, NY Circa 1914

Great presentation Howard!

Went through the book a few times already and it’s just as much of a home run as your previous two. Had a laugh to myself each time I came across another previously used mystery photo.

Most importantly, it was nice to be able to contribute to the JCC’s cause. Once again, from someone who has experienced and benefited from the amazing program firsthand with my Stepdad Martin Senzer, thank you and the JCC for something wonderful for Altzheimers patients and their families. The JCC’s unmatched care and concern for people continues currently with my Mom’s support groups since my stepdad’s passing last year.

From Great Turnout at Book Revue "North Hempstead" Book Signing!

From Roger P.

Great to see you and the Old Girl doing your thing around Lime Rock, Howard!

From Alco-6 Racer at the 2011 Lime Rock Historic Festival

Nice shot of Bette Noir Howard. I can’t help to keep staring at the work involved. You and Sam did an awesome job here.

From Alco-6 Racer at the 2011 Lime Rock Historic Festival

I know there was 4 hotels, but don’t know which one, pictures don’t match, something must have changed about the hotel, the name or the size, so that means that I can’t give you the date, location or what they were preparing for. To be continued

From Mystery Foto #59 Solved: The Van Ausdall's Hotel in Cold Spring Harbor, NY Circa 1914

There I am, the back of my head. You certainly met a lot of people, now that more people know about your website. You are a very popular and famous person, being so involved with a lot of things that were never known in the past 100 years or more, that are very interesting to a lot of people. It’s amazing the way you get around to finding things out, that’s why I’m always there, not to miss a thing that you might do or find out about to

From Great Turnout at Book Revue "North Hempstead" Book Signing!

Dear Howard, Yours is excellent historical and archival work.  I salute you for it.  It will benefit not only the present generation but future ones as well.  Sincerely, David Kahn. D. Phil. Oxon.  (that means, for those who are not up on their Latin or on British scholarly abbreviations, Doctor Philosophiae Oxoniensis = Ph.D. from Oxford.)
      I can’t help boasting that a high school friend from Great Neck High and I explored the Nassau portion of the Motor Parkway during summer vacations in the late 1940s.  A few years later I wrote an article about the Parkway for the Lincoln-Mercury Times, which I think you have in your archives.  I called it the Granddaddy of Superhighways, because I believe it was the first road to have no intersections, only over- or underpasses. If you don’t have a copy, let me know and I can try to dig it out from my papers, which have been given to NSA’s National Cryptologic Museum library at Fort Meade, Maryland.  When it gets warmer, I hope to come out to one of your meetings, if I may.  Sincerely, David Kahn
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From Howard Kroplick:
Thank you Dr. Kahn for the salute.

Your wonderful article was reposted on the website in 2011:

http://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com/blog/article/1955_motor_parkway_article_granddaddy_of_superhighways

Please contact me when you are back on Long Island! Enjoy, Howard

From Long Island Motor Parkway Bridge Series #45: Central Avenue/LIRR Railroad Bridge in Bethpage

Finally going to watch it, at my daughters house on Sunday, she invited us, for my wife’s birthday, which is tomorrow, she’s taping it tonight for me and maybe you’ll get another website fan, her husband

From Behind the Scenes: Velocity Channel's AmeriCarna Vanderbilt Cup Race Episode