Vanderbilt Cup Races

I dunno about Louis; not with THAT brush.  Every photo I can find of him (dozens) shows a consistently bushier, shorter-width mustache.  Not likely to be brothers Gaston or Arthur either for the same reason.  Sam, III

From Updated (11/3/17): The Course for the Long Island Automobile Club's 1902 100-Mile Endurance Test

The car is a Mors, the hood, 1902?, model ?

From Updated (11/3/17): The Course for the Long Island Automobile Club's 1902 100-Mile Endurance Test

Closest I’ve ever got to the Old Bethpage bridge was at the back gate on Sweet Hollow Rd and Claremont St. (location of the former LIMP bridge). Dripping wet from cycling during a previous downpour, I explained to the young gate attendant that I just wanted to see the bridge that was nearby (~900 feet east). She wouldn’t let me in. So I rode back home to Valley Stream dripping wet. The saga continues.

From Updated: Sam & Dave's "Excellent Motor Parkway Hike" IV: Old Bethpage

Amazing finds Howard, I wouldn’t know where to begin.

It really looks like Louis Chevrolet and A.R. Pardington in the front seats! I would bet my train collection on that assumption. 

FANTASTIC Roslyn clock tower photo, as it still stands today! The house to the left (east) of the tower still stands as well, at least the east half of it. The west half was converted into a larger structure accommodating the theatre today.

The house on the right of tower still stands intact as well with some modifications over the years.

This village preserves its integrity that one can feel passing through it.

Wish more LI villages were like this.
______________________________________________________

Howard Kroplick

Frank, Great eye! A.R. Pardington is definitely the passenger. He was a member of the L.I.A.C. racing committee.

And that may be Louis Chevrolet!  In 1900 Chevrolet immigrated to Montreal to ply his skills in the North American automobile industry. After a stint as a chauffeur, he moved to New York to work for de Dion. By 1902 he began working at New York Fiat importer Hollander and Tangeman and may have been hired out for the inspection of the course.

From Updated (11/3/17): The Course for the Long Island Automobile Club's 1902 100-Mile Endurance Test

I searched the “NYS Historic Newspapers” website for Lou W Austin ( embossed on sign in front). Although I bookmarked the few “interesting” articles concerning him, not so sure about submitting them here. 1926 was a rough year for him. In July 1946, he and his wife moved to Maine.

From Mystery Foto #43 Solved:Lou Austin's Commack Gas Station/Restaurant on the Long Island Motor Parkway

  Identify the exact location and date of the Mystery Foto.  1924, southside intersection of the Motor Parkway and Commack Road. 
  Who was the owner of the gas station and what was his relationship with the Motor Parkway?  Lou W. Austin owned the gas station and “hot dog stand” (see documentation) which he built after the toll lodge on the northern side was opened.  Austin was the original toll keeper at Brentwood location.
  What was located on this site before and after this gas station?  The site before the gas station was the site of the original Brentwood toll booth (e.g., not lodge) afterwards eventually became the Bonwit Inn Restaurant.
  Can you spot other things in this photo that may be of interest? Gas, water or air pumps, signs which I can’t make out

From Mystery Foto #43 Solved:Lou Austin's Commack Gas Station/Restaurant on the Long Island Motor Parkway

What an adventure!!  So glad you documented the LIMP, 2017!
Ann

From Updated: Sam & Dave's "Excellent Motor Parkway Hike" IV: Old Bethpage

Hope all are enjoying this mystery!

On the 3rd closeup ( right corner of station, with fuel pump ); there looks to be an octagonal structure that’s may be attached to the station. It appears that about 1/3 of this structure was removed, or just out of sight ( where it looks to be connected to the station building. ) Could this be the kiosk that was previously located at Washington Ave/LIMP? I know this location was the kiosk’s 2nd and final home. The only differences is it’s no longer painted white, and the windows may have been replaced.

The 3rd “Brentwood Lodge Designation” was at the opposite corner of this intersection ( southeast ). An entirely new structure was built there.

The 4th “Brentwood Lodge Designation” was at the intersection of Harned Rd/LIMP. This was also a entirely new structure.

From Mystery Foto #43 Solved:Lou Austin's Commack Gas Station/Restaurant on the Long Island Motor Parkway

Like the article especially the course going thru my neighborhood of Oyster Bay, In the Course Description describing whose is in the car, the photo taken by W.B. Fullerton, should it be H.B. Fullerton? Had done work for L.I.R.R.? Also the chauffeur look to be Louis Chevrolet, is it possible??
_____________________________________________

Howard Kroplick

Mark, good catch!

From Updated (11/3/17): The Course for the Long Island Automobile Club's 1902 100-Mile Endurance Test

Once again playing “I am SOOO old”, I remember my mother taking me out to Shirley (by LIRR steamer) in early 1945, thence by cab to Matic Acres to look at beachfront property, just ravaged by a hurricane.  I remember an endless expanse of cleared scrub land with curbs and fire hydrants everywhere.  Sure ain’t like that no mo’!  As to “the New York state legislature banned racing anywhere but on a dedicated race track”, how does one then account for the post-war Watkins Glen races, very much on local roads to 1956?  Payola?  Sam, III

From Hemmings: Ronkonkoma: the never-was speedway that could have brought Indianapolis-scale racing to LI

This is one of the best such posts yet; love it!  I’m just old enough to remember riding most of these roads pre-WWII, when the area was still largely bucolic.  Some still is.  O. K., Frank F., I’d appreciate one of your masterful modern-day overlays, please; I did get a wee bit off course (deliberate pun) here and there..  Keep ‘em coming, Howard!  Sam, III

From Updated (11/3/17): The Course for the Long Island Automobile Club's 1902 100-Mile Endurance Test

Intriguing.  As someone who grew up in Lake Ronkonkoma, this is brand new to me.  One can only imagine how different the area would have developed had the project come to fruition.  Thanks for the detective work.

From Hemmings: Ronkonkoma: the never-was speedway that could have brought Indianapolis-scale racing to LI

This photo contains a caption that solves the mystery. I eagerly read it unwittingly disqualifying myself. Without the caption I don’t believe I would’ve solved it. Good luck to all on this tough mystery. 

Hint: This must be somewhere in Suffolk where the Motor Parkway was not bounded by posts or fencing

From Mystery Foto #43 Solved:Lou Austin's Commack Gas Station/Restaurant on the Long Island Motor Parkway

This photo dates from around 1924 and shows Lewis Austin’s gas & oil station (he probably did repairs as well) on the north side of the LIMP slightly east of Commack Road. Prior to this it had been the second site of the Brentwood Lodge, which actually had been the ticket booth / shanty that was moved from Washington Avenue with Austin as toll collector. Years later the Bonwit Inn would occupy this site. The building has the look of a diner so it could be one of the first “drive-in” burger joints. I also see telephone poles which are unusual for the LIMP right-of-way.

From Mystery Foto #43 Solved:Lou Austin's Commack Gas Station/Restaurant on the Long Island Motor Parkway

I realize this is not uncharted territory for LIMP lovers but the LIMP from Round Swamp Rd through Battle Row is really cool. And many people think that once you reach the campground that is the end of the pavement, not true! The pavement continues underneath the thickets all the way to Spagnoli where the bridge was. There are many posts along this stretch as well. Several way down on both sides of the bridge near Round Swamp - further away then they typically are.

The Bethpage bridge is wonderful. We hopped the fence because the farm people at the gates can sometimes talk forever! When you go to this bridge you feel like you are in the middle of nowhere and nobody is around and it’s probably very much like 1910 in that regard, minus the giant sand pit to your east. Hopefully this bridge will enjoy landmark status one day, like its 1 year older brother bridge in New Hyde Park.

More interesting things to follow as we head further east…...stay tuned. I miss the LIMP discussions and discoveries. Did anyone ever move into that house in Garden City??? Mayan Ruins?? We never went digging!

Chris—-I dont think there is an attorney alive capable of writing an adequate enough waiver for you to sign to protect Sammy and I from a law suit!!

From Updated: Sam & Dave's "Excellent Motor Parkway Hike" IV: Old Bethpage

Nice tour guys. The underside of bridge is looking good for 107. That last clean up made such a difference.

From Updated: Sam & Dave's "Excellent Motor Parkway Hike" IV: Old Bethpage

Northeast corner Commack Road and LIMP in 1924.
Lou Austin (his name on sign, top of pole)
He ran the Brentwood Lodge of the LIMP there.
The lodge moved to the other side of the road, so he built the Socony station there.
Currently it is the Bonwit Inn location.
The right side porch has what appears to be a 55 gal. Drum and hand pump….kerosene?

From Mystery Foto #43 Solved:Lou Austin's Commack Gas Station/Restaurant on the Long Island Motor Parkway

Hello Howard:
Thought that you would be interested in THE ILLGEN CLASSIC…
a four hour race sponsored by the RDC (Racing Drivers Club) and SCCA San Francisco Region in honor of Martin and Margaret Illgen. 
Margaret was Charles Burman’s niece.

  The automobile defined both Martin and Margaret Illgen’s entire lives, and we can be sure that there was rejoicing in auto racing heaven when they became a couple.  They were certainly an effective team and dedicated workers you could count on to “get the job done,” which was one of Martin’s favorite sayings.  Theirs was a union of complimentary skills. 
  From the first light of a race weekend helping Margaret set up registration with his jovial “top of the morning” greeting- accompanied by one of the strongest handshakes you would experience in a lifetime- to the last cleanup details at the end of Sundays’ racing, Martin’s forceful, yet always friendly and positive attitude seemed to dissolve most problems and challenges.  He was there to help, sweeping a turn, pushing a car, passing out paper plates, or flipping a burger, it did not matter.
  They were both the embodiment of race workers everywhere who show passion, dedication, and the camaraderie that is necessary to organize and conduct a safe race.  That exchange of social support went both ways and was never so important as when the racing community rallied to Margaret’s side at the time of Martin’s passing in 1983.  The racing clubs provided immense emotional support, giving her strength and meaning to continue on- without her companion.  The automotive “family” named the Enduro first in Martin’s honor, then included Margaret, and it is especially fitting that the event is as much about the team work and comradeship as it is about the racing. 
    Born in Oakland, a major industrial center that celebrated motor racing early, Martin was attracted to the local wooden board tracks that were cheaper to produce than paving a road.  There were raceways, dirt tracks, and motorcycle motordromes in the amusement parks of Alameda, Emeryville, and Berkeley.  In Elmhurst- a suburb of Oakland before it was incorporated- was a one quarter mile track, with a perfect circle and forty degree banking that would send racers flinging at the spectators lining the upper, outer rim.  Later, midget racers were everywhere in the bay area, including inside the Oakland Exposition Building, where your eyes would burn from the smoke and fumes, and Bob Sweikert, 1955 Indy winner would show the way. 
  Martin’s engineering and technical skills were put to use early, as he made major repairs to the family Cadillac while he was still in high school.  The great depression limited his choices, and he worked as a mechanic and tow truck driver for AAA in a shop that one of Margaret’s uncles owned, where she worked as secretary.  Love blossomed, and in 1931 a marriage was celebrated and four children followed.
  In the late 30’s Martin was working at the motorcycle drome inside the Oakland Oaks ball park and at the Oakland Speedway, maintaining the equipment and driving the “crash truck” that would push the disabled racers aside.  The speedway was known as “the fastest dirt track in the nation” where drivers like two time AAA national champion and four time Indianapolis pole starter Rex Mays was unbeatable.  Martin- with his huge “popeye” like arms and massive “front feet,” could repair just about any automotive device and used his services throughout the years keeping the “big rigs” running.
  Margaret’s family was all things automotive, and had owned a foundry, then a radiator manufacturing business in the “rust belt.”  They set up a rental car agency in Victoria B.C. where Margaret was born, and then her uncles- who served as father figures- set up repair shops and automotive dealerships in Oakland and the Bay Area.
  In Cleveland, her Uncle Charles Burman- a bicycle racer- worked for Winton Motor Carriage Company in 1900, and moved to Peerless Motor Company a year later.  These car builders were the first two American manufacturers to race in Europe in an International competition- The Gordon Bennett Cup. That event in France would become what we now know as Formula One.  Europe had a large head start building automobiles and both American companies were soundly beaten.  Within two years, the brilliant Peerless designer- Louis P. Mooers- would take the lessons he learned in Europe, build the underslung Peerless “Green Dragons,” and with Barney Oldfield at the wheel and clenching a cigar in his mouth, defeated two time Gordon Bennett winner, Leon Therey, French champion Maurice Bernin, and Italian ace Paul Satori.  Oldfield was billed as the “The World’s Premiere Motorist” and Margaret’s uncle was there as his mechanic and racing team mate. 
  Uncle Charles Burman, as Peerless riding mechanic, raced the sands of Ormond and Daytona Beach at the beginning of 1904 in the reworked Gordon Bennett car. By mid-summer he was driving against Barney’s Green Dragon on a Peerless stripped touring car, setting class and “world” records while barnstorming together in their “mile a minute” racers across the country.  In 1905, for the first American National Championship (sponsored by AAA) designer Mooers provided Burma with a purpose built “Peerless Blue Streak.”  In the over-slung car, with the engine set low in the frame, Charlie won the Cleveland National race and finished in a four way tie for third place for the year.  Barney and the Green Dragon took the first American Championship that today is the The Indycar Series.  As track racing became extremely dangerous and drivers were being hurt, a call went out to abolish “the track game.”  Peerless dropped from track racing to concentrate on reliability runs as a way of advertising their car’s dependability.  Burman stayed on with Peerless and lead three teams to three consecutive year’s perfect Glidden Tour scores and then came to the Bay Area as their west coast representative. 
  As a conversation piece, Margaret loved to wear her Uncle Charlie’s Champ Car gold medal (from Cleveland) to the races.  Working registration, helping out at Race Central, or as head of membership, she was a talker and enjoyed the social aspect of the races.  She and Martin would organize the SCCA membership booth at the Import Auto Show, and adjust the family’s Thanksgiving dinner schedule to suit.   
  In the 1950s, when urban sprawl would claim The Oakland Speedway for a shopping mall, the sports car road races held at places like Golden Gate Park and Pebble Beach, were gaining momentum.  Janet Illgen (the oldest daughter) was engaged to Jack Carpenter- an M.G. driving, sports car enthusiast.  Jack was working the turns and Martin was immediately on board.  In those days, sports car clubs would form a team and “man” a turn, so it was natural that the Illgen family joined up with Jack’s Highland Touring Club.  As Buddies, rally co-drivers, and course workers, Jack and “Mart” would come to organize the turn crews, write the first workers manual that unified the flag and emergency signals, set up flagging stations at tracks such as Crow’s Landing, The Port of Stockton, Sears Point and Laguna Seca.  They helped pioneer many of the safety features that made the San Francisco SCCA one of the best racing organizations in the world.  Between them they would hold the Chief Turn Marshal title for decades.  Martin was particularly proud when Stirling Moss- driving his first day of practice at Laguna Seca- pulled to the side of the course at the top of the corkscrew, pointed at “Marty”, motioned him over, and told him he had the best flagging crew in the world!  Stirling liked the team’s use of the passing flag.
  The Illgens would continue working until their last days as Race Chairman and Membership Chief, giving as only they could, and pulling from the vast reservoir of love and support that is the racing community.

https://www.facebook.com/Racing-Drivers-Club-139573216074670/

*

From In Search of Driver/Mechanician Charles Burman Updated: 10/30/2019

Location - Commack, the N/E corner of the intersection of the LIMP and Commack Rd in 1924
The owner of the Standard Oil Company of NY gas station was Lou Austin, the lodge keeper of the Brentwood #2 lodge that was on that site from 1922-23. In 1924 a new lodge was built on the S/E corner.  The Bonwit Inn restaurant now occupies the original site.

From Mystery Foto #43 Solved:Lou Austin's Commack Gas Station/Restaurant on the Long Island Motor Parkway

Commack Road and Vanderbilt Motor Parkway, in 1924
Lou W. Austin, formerly the toll lodge keeper at this location, opened the Standard Oil Company of NY (SOCONY) station when the lodge moved to the south side of Vanderbilt.  Currently, this is the site of the Bonwit Inn.

From Mystery Foto #43 Solved:Lou Austin's Commack Gas Station/Restaurant on the Long Island Motor Parkway