Vanderbilt Cup Races

Wow, great finds Art. These pics were buried deep and inaccessible to most, including myself. Thank you for sharing these gems.

From Kleiner's Korner: Mineola and the Motor Parkway, 1908

Since the Nassau County Review article of 12/6/1907 mentions “other buildings and garage”, maybe this could have been the place for a possible automobile service station.

From Kleiner's Korner: Mineola and the Motor Parkway, 1908

Updated above with 3 pdfs. from “The Automobile Magazine” of May and June, 1901.

From Updated: Long Island's First Major Automobile Competition: The 1901 100-Mile Endurance Test

Looks like the area by the dotted line loop off the LIMP was never sold for private homes and is possibly a rainwater collection sump.

From Kleiner's Korner: Mineola and the Motor Parkway, 1908

Great post Art. Nice to see this Mineola book posted.

From Kleiner's Korner: Mineola and the Motor Parkway, 1908

Nice going, guys. Two more stories concerning Willie’s “White Ghost”.  First is from the New York Times (June 2, 1900) and the second is from the Oyster Bay Guardian (Dec. 11, 1970).  The latter published the story in a column named “Do You Remeber? 70 Years Ago”.

From Mystery Foto #13 Solved: 1900 Daimler Phoenix previously owned by Willie K.

“...Surf City, here we come.”
Regarding Motor Parkway reconstruction projects of 1940, two projects come to mind:
1. The removal of the Motor Pkwy/CRR bridge near Bell Blvd, with a new installation of the greenway bridge over Bell Blvd, still there today.
2. The installation of the Francis Lewis Blvd greenway bridge, splitting the bike path from the Motor Pkwy forever. This path would be changed again in 1963 to accommodate the new Clearview Expwy.

From Kleiner's Korner: And Now For Something Completely Different: Part 3 (Motor Parkway 1931 - 1940)

“I got a ‘34 wagon and I call it a woody…”

From Kleiner's Korner: And Now For Something Completely Different: Part 3 (Motor Parkway 1931 - 1940)

Thanks, Al.

From Kleiner's Korner: And Now For Something Completely Different: Part 3 (Motor Parkway 1931 - 1940)

Art,....A minor correction, Sheridan Bowling Lanes was (and still is), located at the south east corner of Jericho and Sheridan Blvd. which opened in September , 1940. The San Su San nightclub was located on the east side of what is now the parking lot of the Lanes. San Su San opened in January 1933, had another fire in 1978, closed then, 45 years later. Prior to this parking for bowlers was on the southwest corner of Jericho & Sheridan.

From Kleiner's Korner: And Now For Something Completely Different: Part 3 (Motor Parkway 1931 - 1940)

Need some advice on how to sell a car? 1908 Nassau Sweepstakes winner Charlie Easter can help.  Easter sold automobiles for nearly 50 years, first Franklins in 1905, then Loesers in 1907 and then Buicks in 1908 which appears he sold at least through the 1950s.  So I guess he knew what he was talking about.  From “Automobile Daily News” Aug. 13, 1961.  There is a discrepancy however, in the account given in the Tanya A. Bailey book above and the article shown here.  The books states that Easter moved to Berlin in 1949 however the article doesn’t mention that.  I would have thought that would have been mentioned.  Can anyone clarify?

From Driver of the Week: Charles Ewing Easter -Winner of the 1908 Jericho Sweepstakes

The car is a 1900 Daimler Phoenix 23 HP, (Later nicknamed the White Ghost).
The car’s first owner was William K. Vanderbilt Jr.
Edward R. Thomas purchased the car from Vanderbilt. The car is considered notorious because Willie K cut the speed record between Newport and Boston to about half the previous record time. Only slightly slower than railway travel time.
As for the link to Cole Porter, the second owner of the White Ghost was, as mentioned above, Edward R. Thomas. He married a woman named Linda Lee. She later divorced him and then married Cole Porter.

From Mystery Foto #13 Solved: 1900 Daimler Phoenix previously owned by Willie K.

I didn’t know that Willy K lost a son. After looking this up, his daughter Consuelo lived a very long life ( 107 yrs old )

From Helck Family Collection: Original Transcript- "William K. Vanderbilt, Jr."

My Dad Morris A Poehler was a electrical engineer on the Alva, he was on the world cruise. Dad was involved in working at the Vanderbilt mansion. He courted my mom on the Alva, I had the pic of this.

From One of Yachting's Dozen: William K. Vanderbilt Jr.'s Alva

Dave, Sam III’s 1950 aerial comparison in 4Aug2019, and Art’s FOIL documents.

From Dave Russo re-explores a Bethpage section of the Motor Parkway

I was at the fair both in ‘64 and ‘65. my favorite ride was in the new Ford rotunda cars!

From Update: Memories of the 1964-1965 World's Fair

Previously unseen (at least to me) postcard of Elsie Janis promoting herself and “The Vanderbilt Cup” in 1907.

From Elsie Janis and The Broadway Show "The Vanderbilt Cup"

That’s a 1900 Daimler Phoenix, first imported to the USA in 1900 by Willie K. Jr., who named it the White Ghost. It was used by Willie K. to participate in his first major race in Newport, RI. He subsequently sold it to his good friend Edward Russell Thomas who, while speeding on Convent Avenue in NYC, unfortunately ran over and killed a seven year old boy, Henry Theiss. E. R. Thomas’ wife, Linda Lee of Louisville, KY, later divorced him and married Cole Porter. Attached are photos of E. R. Thomas and Linda Lee.

From Mystery Foto #13 Solved: 1900 Daimler Phoenix previously owned by Willie K.

Here is a pdf of an account of the Endurance Run that appeared in The Automobile Magazine of June, 1902.

From Ads From the Long Island Automobile Club 1902 Offical Program "One-Hundred Mile Endurance Test"

-The year, make and model of the race car

1900 23 h.p. Daimler Phoenix ‘White Ghost’

-The race car’s first owner

Willie K. Vanderbilt

-Who purchased the race car from the first owner?

Edward Russel Thomas

-Why is this race car considered notorious in automobile history?

In an accident in 1902, Thomas struck and killed a 7 year old boy.

-Kudos question: Link Cole Porter to the Mystery Foto.

E.R. Thomas was married to Linda Lee whom eventually she divorced partly due to the car and then went on to marry Cole Porter.

Below is a photo of Willie K. during his time owning he car.

From Mystery Foto #13 Solved: 1900 Daimler Phoenix previously owned by Willie K.