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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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The Marmon Wasp
Ray Haroun
Winning inaugural Indy 500
Raced in the 1910 Vanderbilt Cup
Indianapolis Speedway Museum
From Mystery Friday Foto #23 Solved: Ray Harroun in the Marmon 'Yellow Jacket'
Ray Harroun, Marmon, May races at Atlanta Speedway. I have a photo of Ray Harroun driving this car at the new Atlanta Speedway in Atlanta, GA. in May of 1910. Asa Candler constructed a 2 mile dirt oval in 1909 in Atlanta. Ray Harroun and Joe Dawson raced Marmon’s in 1910 at Atlanta. Ray won three races in Atlanta in 1910. May 5th a 10 mile free for all, May 6th a 12 mile free for all and November 3rd a 20 mile free for all. Harroun also won three races at Atlanta’s first race program in November of 1909. Ray Harroun would win the first Indianapolis 500 in 1911. Ray Harroun and Joe Dawson driving Marmon’s raced in the 1910 Vanderbilt Cup Race. The Marmon is on display at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum.
From Mystery Friday Foto #23 Solved: Ray Harroun in the Marmon 'Yellow Jacket'
The Marmon Wasp driven by Ray Harroun
The Wasp and Harroun won the first Indy 500 in 1911
Harroun finished 20th in the 1910 Vanderbilt Cup
The car is now in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum
From Mystery Friday Foto #23 Solved: Ray Harroun in the Marmon 'Yellow Jacket'
I spoke with Mr. Burnstein that is running the Sands Point Guggenheim Museum show. He said it was canceled and rescheduled for Monday September 18, 5 to 8 pm
From Upcoming November Automotive Events
Art, thanks! I knew it was somewhere here 😉
From Kleiner's Korner: A 1902 Interview with Willie K.
Ariejan, here is the link to my post which includes the information about the accident involving Charles and Caroline Decker Fair in France. It was included in a post on March 10, 2020 about Al Poole’s letters to family members, one of which referenced the accident.
https://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com/blog/article/kleiners_kolumn_al_poole_letters_from_home
From Kleiner's Korner: A 1902 Interview with Willie K.
Fascinating. I wonder if he could have imagined how overcrowded and run down Long Island roads would become?
From Kleiner's Korner: A 1902 Interview with Willie K.
The brother-in-law William Vanderbilt is referring to was Charles L(ewis) Fair, who would die on August 14, 1902, together with his wife Caroline Decker Fair (born Smith) in a horrific car accident in Normandy, France. I thought the accident was described in one of the posts in this blog, but I couldn’t find it?
From Kleiner's Korner: A 1902 Interview with Willie K.
And a few more articles - all are from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle between 1902 and 1911.
From Kleiner's Korner: A 1902 Interview with Willie K.
Lee - I’m not sure of the specific members of the Meadowbrook Colony of which the article refers but here are some articles with names associated with the Colony which was centered around the Meadowbrook Club. Mainly the polo and fox hound set in and around Hempstead and Westbury. Such as the Hitchcocks, Ladenburgs, Kernochan, Belmonts, etc.
From Kleiner's Korner: A 1902 Interview with Willie K.
Being in the old car hobby most of my life I find it strange not to have heard of these wonderful machines before now. I have heard of Amedee Bollee in reference to other early vehicles. They are truly ground-breaking. I wonder if any more of them survive.
From Greg O's Garage; From the Peter Helck Collection; Strange and Unusual cars #4- The 1873 L'Obéissante
Mystery Foto #22…The race car is the #1 Locomobile as driven by Joe Florida with mechanician Leonard M. Travis. This car was entered in the 1908 Vanderbilt Cup Race on October 24. The location was the Motor Parkway in Nassau County.The car finished in third place in the event. Sadly, it was involved in a crash with a Touring car at or near the finish line.
From Mystery Friday Foto #22 Solved: #1 Locomobile at the 1908 Vanderbilt Cup Race pits
Anyone remember the exhibit at AACA a few years back? We saw it on our way to Pittsburgh for a family event. I’m wondering how much that exhibit and this one have in common other than, as I recall the chassis.
From The nine Tuckers to be featured at the "Tucker '48 75th Anniversary Celebration" in Hershey, PA on June 16-18, 2023
Great article. It occurs to me as I read about early automobiles, that it seems really crazy for the Wright brothers (and others, less effectively) to think about taking an internal combustion engine up in the air when they could barely reliably travel across the ground. When I think further, one of the major problems for early automobiles was the condition and maintenance of roads. Perhaps the Wright brothers were trying to avoid all that infrastructure by going above it?
From Kleiner's Korner: A 1902 Interview with Willie K.
That’s the #1 Locomobile racer at the pits in the Hempstead Plains (Levittown) during the 1908 Vanderbilt Cup Race. The driver is Jim Florida with Leonard M. Travis as the mechanician. The date is October 24, 1908. Florida finished third in the race but at the end unavoidably crashed into spectator David Shuh breaking his leg. Shuh had irresponsibly ventured out onto the course. Florida also hit a private vehicle on the course but there were no reported injuries to the driver or two passengers.
From Mystery Friday Foto #22 Solved: #1 Locomobile at the 1908 Vanderbilt Cup Race pits
Art,
Who were the ‘Meadowbrook Colony members’ mentioned in the article?
Thanks.
From Kleiner's Korner: A 1902 Interview with Willie K.
I believe the 1902 Automobile Topics map proposed to have the speedway connect Manhattan to Roslyn via the Queensborough bridge in Long Island City, not Brooklyn? The Queensborough bridge opened Mar 30, 1909
From Kleiner's Korner: A 1902 Interview with Willie K.
Montague Roberts was at the museum that same evening for the cocktail party. Southampton photographer, Irving Cantor, took this photo of him in the Thomas Flyer with the HAC Jr family, but he does not appear to be in the photo out front with the helicopter.
From Mystery Friday Foto #21 Solved: Celebrating the opening of the Long Island Automotive Museum on August 27, 1948
Howard, Could one of the unidentified men be Montague Roberts ? He won the 1908 around the world race in the Thomas Flyer that Clarke ended up owing,
From Mystery Friday Foto #21 Solved: Celebrating the opening of the Long Island Automotive Museum on August 27, 1948
What a GREAT story and photos! Thought you’d like this link from 2012 at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2vfDt6yVlM
From Twelve years after saluting the Alco Black Beast, Josef Newgarden wins his second consecutive 2023 Indy 500 Race-Congrats!
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