Vanderbilt Cup Races

Thanks Ernie and Brian for your comments.  Here are three more photos - the first two are from 1966 and show the Gina Marie tower/tank and one a a little bit north on Newbridge Road indicating that both were around at the same time.  As was noted the Gina Marie tower was taken down sometime in the early 1980s with the other one surviving.  That one is now near a small strip shopping center now. Third photo is a current one showing the area.

From Kleiner's Korner: Miscellaneous Maps of the Motor Parkway and the Vanderbilt Cup Races

Two more: one more for our Hungarian speaking readership!

From Mystery Foto #41 Solved: Hungarian Ferenc Szisz driving the #10 Renault in the 1905 Vanderbilt Cup Race

Ferenc Szisz
1905 Vanderbilt Cup Race, driving a Renault
First place in the 1st Grand Prix Race at LeMans in 1906.  Also drove a Renault.
Mechanician was George Dimietrievitch

From Mystery Foto #41 Solved: Hungarian Ferenc Szisz driving the #10 Renault in the 1905 Vanderbilt Cup Race

Nice, early photos of you growing up in Levittown; Ernie! Remember one of them was a Mystery Foto you entered. I added some road names to Art’s 1950 map to pinpoint where that Water Tower was. It was very close today’s Gina Marie Court, which wasn’t a residential street until after year 2000. Water Tower was there on a 1974 aerial, but not seen on a 1980 aerial.

From Kleiner's Korner: Miscellaneous Maps of the Motor Parkway and the Vanderbilt Cup Races

That’s Ferenc (Francois) Szisz in the 90 HP Renault #10 racer at the 1905 Vanderbilt Cup Race where he finished fifth. His greatest accomplishment was winning the first Gran Prix at LeMans in 1906. His mechanician in the Vanderbilt Cup was George Dimietrievitch. His mechanician in the 1906 Gran Prix was M. Marteau.

From Mystery Foto #41 Solved: Hungarian Ferenc Szisz driving the #10 Renault in the 1905 Vanderbilt Cup Race

Hey my house is in that picture!
It appears that Levitt & Sons had yet to acquire any rights to the LIMP ROW (or the LI Aviation club) as Pintail, Heron, Skimmer, Crocus and Laurel Lanes all have one or both stubbed ends off Orchid Road but none cross the ROW.
as a kid I used to play on the LIMP ROW. I post a couple of pictures of the ROW between the sump off Skimmer and the Aviation Club, but I do not remember the LIMP being raised in that area. In a previous thread it was explained that wasn’t a farm bridge, just little creek jumper.

From Kleiner's Korner: Miscellaneous Maps of the Motor Parkway and the Vanderbilt Cup Races

Wondering if some of these cars went to the Gilmore auto museum in MIchigan.

From The InstaGRAM Report: Austin Clark Jr.‘s ‘Silent’ 1963 Long Island Automotive Museum Auction Part 2

Don’t think I’ve ever seen the last image here. I screenshot it and marked it below

From The 115th Anniversary of the Opening of the Long Island Motor Parkway and the 1908 Motor Parkway Sweepstakes

Thanks Ernie - I know that water tower well as my home in Levittown was about a 10 minute walk from it.  Here’s a 1950 photo showing what I believe to be the tower and its proximity to the LI Aviation Club.

From Kleiner's Korner: Miscellaneous Maps of the Motor Parkway and the Vanderbilt Cup Races

Amazing observation by eagle-eyed David Miller for identifying the Bethpage culvert by the water tank! I totally missed it

From Mystery Foto #40 Solved: The G21 Stoddard-Dayton during the Garden City Sweepstakes at the Bethpage Curve

Tomorrow is the 115th anniversary of this Sweepstakes race.

From Mystery Foto #40 Solved: The G21 Stoddard-Dayton during the Garden City Sweepstakes at the Bethpage Curve

That’s the G21 Stoddard-Dayton with A. R. Miller driving in the Garden City Sweepstakes on October 10, 1908. He finished third in that race. Now for the tricky part: I think we’re looking west or maybe northwest on the LIMP in the vicinity of deadman’s curve #2 in Central Park (Bethpage) between the Powell Avenue and Plainview Road bridges. I think I remember other similar photos of the area with the water tank and the hill with the tree line and cleared area in front of the trees.

From Mystery Foto #40 Solved: The G21 Stoddard-Dayton during the Garden City Sweepstakes at the Bethpage Curve

Presently there is a water tower in that approximate location from the Long Island Aviation Club. Located at 410 Newbridge Road, Hicksville, NY, now part of the Hicksville Water District which took over from the Nassau Water Company in 1921.

What little info I could find was at https://hicksvillewater.org/history-through-pictures/

From Kleiner's Korner: Miscellaneous Maps of the Motor Parkway and the Vanderbilt Cup Races

And here’s a hidden piece of Vanderbilia that was in a group of books, lot 132, that I bought ar the auction. The story of the 1912 Milwaukee Vanderbilt Cup race.

From Vanderbilia at the 2023 RM Sotheby's Auction in Hershey, Pennsylvania

Learning more about the history of the Cup, and #16 is very interesting, including changes, undone changes…

From The 1906 #1 Locomobile in the AACA's Antique Automobile Magazine

This is racer is a Stoddard-Dayton #G21 driven by A.R. Miller in the Garden City sweepstakes held on October 10th, 1908.  Finished 3rd.  The location here is just west of the Plainview rd bridge.  The presence of the water tower and culvert here corroborate this.  The photographer is facing more or less southwest.  I always love pics of a brand new Motor Parkway.  I’m impressed how the wooden guard rails match the curve in the roadway without looking like individual boards angled to each other.  It always seems to look like one long single curve board.

From Mystery Foto #40 Solved: The G21 Stoddard-Dayton during the Garden City Sweepstakes at the Bethpage Curve

The silhouette water tower looks familiar. I tried cleaning the photo a bit, see below. Could be the water tower used during Motor Parkway construction in the Bethpage Park (Central Park) area. If correct, the racer is northbound headed towards the eastbound curve under the Plainview Rd highway bridge underpass in the park. The photographer is then looking SW at ground level during the Sept 10, 1908 Motor Parkway Sweepstakes Race, with G-21 approaching the eastbound curve under the Plainview Rd highway bridge. The G-21 Stoddard-Dayton driven by A.R. Miller finished third in the Garden City group, one of five groups in the Sweepstakes Race. This first race was the christening of the newly built Motor Parkway roadway, “to test the new course, timing systems, and crowd control,” for future races to succeed.

From Mystery Foto #40 Solved: The G21 Stoddard-Dayton during the Garden City Sweepstakes at the Bethpage Curve

How can we save this building?  They want to knock it down to make an apartment building. I wouldn’t mind seeing the bowling alley go, but not this beautiful building.

From Kleiner's Korner: The Motor Parkway and the Bellmore Bank Robbery

I was there. First time I’ve seen the car since it was restored. Kudos to everyone involved in the restoration. The Andante Green paint is beautiful, and the engine compartment is spotless!

From Highlights from the 2023 Tobay Beach Fall Car Show

Incredible finds! I’ve wanted to own one of these for ages! thanks for the Info Chris, any chance you’d like to part with one of those beauties? Been a fan of Tucker since i was kid and say the film in the theater. Been amazed and in awe every since.
Thanks for sharing!
Austin

From Tucker Discovery: Original Tucker Ash Tray Sets from Their Manufacturer and Their Tooling Molds