About
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.
All Content © 2026 VanderbiltCupRaces.com
Co-Founder and Writer: Howard Kroplick
Co-Founder: Dana Kroplick
Website by Eric Miller Design
Site maintained by Hop Studios
Recent Comments
Thanks Howard for the link to this fantastic collection. I’ll be spending part of the holiday weekend browsing through it. It may take a few months to check them all out but it will sure be interesting.
From Favorite Website: A Treasure of 34,407 Automotive Photos Posted Online
What did I do? Dorn it, How did I not see the 1 in front of the 5? that would have changed my whole answer and might of gotten it right, because I did say Louis Chevrolet and that was my first thought too, you know the rest. I’m so annoyed at myself
From Mystery Foto #95 Solved: Louis Chevrolet and Joe Nelson Preparing for the 1908 Vanderbilt Cup Race
Quickly answered this one and fell for the tricky nature of this week’s photo! That’ll teach me for being cavalier and dig deeper even when they seem easy!
From Mystery Foto #95 Solved: Louis Chevrolet and Joe Nelson Preparing for the 1908 Vanderbilt Cup Race
Mark Dill says
November 24, 2014 at 10:17 am
Really wonderful article supported by images, Art. One point about your closing. Tony George, while still part of the ownership family of the IndyCar series is no longer part of the management team and has little influence on day-to-day operations. That said, I do believe a revival of the Vanderbilt Cup in some form would be special. Howard Kroplick would know about the rights and the legal complications. It also requires a marketing strategy, of course, and all sanctioning bodies look for entitlement sponsorships associated with trophies/races/prizes. Again, congratulations on the great work Art.
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From Howard Kroplick
Mark, thanks for the comment
From Sportscardigest.com Race Profile: "The Vanderbilt Cup, America’s First International Series"
Well I’m pretty sure that’s Louis Chevrolet and his mechanician Joe Nelson. The tricky part is deciding which Vanderbilt Cup Race the photo is from. It’s either the 1908 or 1909 race since Chevrolet was entered as number 15 in both. The key should be how the number 15 is painted on the tank since the type-style or font is different in both races. However, there is some mis-identification of the racer depending on where you see the photo published. Is it the Matheson from 1908 or the Buick from 1909? I’m going with the Matheson from the 1908 race.
From Mystery Foto #95 Solved: Louis Chevrolet and Joe Nelson Preparing for the 1908 Vanderbilt Cup Race
Austin was a very important part of my husband’s and my life when we were organizing the 1981 Glidden Tour on the Island for AACA. I found a trophy of James Melton’s(past AACA Pres) in the loft in one of the Buildings at the L.I. Auto Museum. Austin donated it to us and we had a trophy made for the tour. It remains at the National headquarters in Hershey .
From Film of the Week: The 1990 Testimonial Dinner for Henry Austin Clark, Jr.
Without any research, I’d guess it’s Louis Chevrolet - further deponent sayeth not. Sam, III
From Mystery Foto #95 Solved: Louis Chevrolet and Joe Nelson Preparing for the 1908 Vanderbilt Cup Race
Ha Greg O, you’re so right about that, along with so many questions could be asked with unsolved answers and I didn’t even finish looking at them yet, which I will do by the end of the week, just in case there’s a mystery about them for this weekend
From Favorite Website: A Treasure of 34,407 Automotive Photos Posted Online
Mystery photo #95 is Louis Chevrolet at the wheel of a Matheson that ran in the 1908 vanderbilt cup race.
From Mystery Foto #95 Solved: Louis Chevrolet and Joe Nelson Preparing for the 1908 Vanderbilt Cup Race
A Treasure of 34,407 mystery photos!
From Favorite Website: A Treasure of 34,407 Automotive Photos Posted Online
mystery photo #95 is Louis Chevrolet in the #15 Buick, that ran the 1909 Vanderbilt cup race.
From Mystery Foto #95 Solved: Louis Chevrolet and Joe Nelson Preparing for the 1908 Vanderbilt Cup Race
Wow! Lots of work went into this. Nice catch Howard.
From Favorite Website: A Treasure of 34,407 Automotive Photos Posted Online
Driver: Louis Chevrolet
Mechanician: Joe Nelson
#15 Matheson, cracked a cylinder on lap 2, finished 16/17 entrants.
1908 Vanderbilt Cup Race, Long Island. In 1909, the 15 was painted differently.
Other Matheson (#7) 60hp, caught fire on lap 4 in front of the grandstand, finished 12/17.
Driver: Jim Ryall
Mechanician: Roy Hook
From Mystery Foto #95 Solved: Louis Chevrolet and Joe Nelson Preparing for the 1908 Vanderbilt Cup Race
The driver is Louis Chevrolet, driving a Chevrolet, or maybe a Peug…..?
From Mystery Foto #95 Solved: Louis Chevrolet and Joe Nelson Preparing for the 1908 Vanderbilt Cup Race
Howard, Thanks so much for this tip. This is a really amazing collection! I knew parts of it were online, but this is really fantastic and besides, the resolution of the pictures has much improved. I already spotted some real treasures, so I guess all my spare time for the coming months has been spent in advance. However I’m afraid, there is one person in the house, who will probably not be as delighted as I am 😉
From Favorite Website: A Treasure of 34,407 Automotive Photos Posted Online
Excellent collection
From Favorite Website: A Treasure of 34,407 Automotive Photos Posted Online
I put it on the north side based on the shadow.
From Mystery Foto #94 Solved: The Stymus Farmway Underpass of the Motor Parkway's Longest Bridge
Those eyes can only belong to Louis Chevrolet. I think he is in his 1909 Buick Marquette racer, which appears from photos to have an enclosed driveshaft, not chain, drive system. I can’t see enough of the mechanic, but it may be his brother Arthur, who joined the Buick racing team with Louis in March of 1909. This car raced successfully in various events, especially in 1909, before The Chevrolets joined Wm Durant and Little in the Chevrolet automobile. When Durant wanted Louis to sanction a cheaper Chevrolet, he left the company, and Durant used the stock he had purchased to help him regain control of GM.
From Mystery Foto #95 Solved: Louis Chevrolet and Joe Nelson Preparing for the 1908 Vanderbilt Cup Race
Driver: Louis Chevrolet
Mechanic: Joe Nelson
Racer: Matheson
Race: 1908 Vanderbilt Cup
From Mystery Foto #95 Solved: Louis Chevrolet and Joe Nelson Preparing for the 1908 Vanderbilt Cup Race
Howard,
I know I speak for many in saying how much we appreciate your continued efforts at uncovering, preserving and sharing our motorsports heritage.
From Favorite Website: A Treasure of 34,407 Automotive Photos Posted Online
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