Vanderbilt Cup Races

Steve, The primary reason for FDR’s opposition for the bridge was that in the event of a war the bridge would be a target for destruction and essentially landlocking the the Brooklyn Navy Yard. By the way, it was his wife that first suggested that he oppose the building the bridge.

From Mystery Friday Foto #52 Solved: The 1939 Planned Brooklyn-Battery Bridge

One wonders whether the biggest problem with the proposal was that it wasn’t made by Robert Moses.  Right behind that, he might have had less control, and control / power were very important to him.

The NSP as built is, IMHO, an awful road - but then again, the SSP is even worse!

From Kleiner's Korner: The Velocci Papers Part 2 - The 1929 Proposal to Retrofit the Motor Parkway

Howard, you’ve educated us on Tuckers in a way no one else had.  Beautiful, amazing cars - including yours, of course.  Happy New Year!

From Conceptcarz.com Profile: 1948 Tucker 48 1044

Hello Frank,
From what I’ve read, I believe the exit ramp tower was proposed to be physically on Governors Island unlike the mystery photo depiction. That’s probably why the Army got involved and FDR nixed the idea.

From Mystery Friday Foto #52 Solved: The 1939 Planned Brooklyn-Battery Bridge

1906.  Wheatly Rd turn west onto Old Westbury Rd. 
Photo facing North East. 
Absolutely love this picture.

From Mystery Friday Foto #53 Solved: The #8 FIAT driven by Felice Nazzaro practicing at the 1906 Hairpin Turn in Old Westbury

This is Felice Nazzaro driving the #8 Fiat during a practice run before the 1906 Vanderbilt cup race.  The photographer/artist is facing north as the racer is headed southbound on Wheatley rd making a right at the “hairpin turn” to go northwest onto Old Westbury rd.  The photo was take sometime shortly before the October 6th 1906 VCR.  I do not know when the artist’s rendition of it was created.  The fact that this was a right turn really narrowed the search down for me.  A November 18th, 2017 vanderbiltcupraces.com entry shows corroborating information about this “hairpin turn”.

From Mystery Friday Foto #53 Solved: The #8 FIAT driven by Felice Nazzaro practicing at the 1906 Hairpin Turn in Old Westbury

Steve - great photo of the proposed circular exit ramp tower. I wonder if Moses was planning a short bridge or tunnel to access the island from the tower?

Just missed at the top right corner of the mystery photo is the Trylon and Perisphere at the 1939 NY World’s Fair at Flushing Meadows Corona Park,

From Mystery Friday Foto #52 Solved: The 1939 Planned Brooklyn-Battery Bridge

Very neat car!  And kind of crazy history! 

Are there yet more prototypes still out there?

From Video of the Week: Barn Find Hunter: The early Mustang that was owned by Henry Ford II

Thats a 1939 simplistic rendering of the Brooklyn Battery Bridge that Robert Moses wanted to build. It was well on it’s way to be built. It took the President of the United States to stop it’s construction. Unknown to most backers of the bridge, If built it meant the destruction of Castle Clinton and Battery Park.

From Mystery Friday Foto #52 Solved: The 1939 Planned Brooklyn-Battery Bridge

This was the Robert Moses’ planned suspension bridge from Bklyn to the Battery that, fortunately, wasn’t built. Instead, the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel was built, which opened in 1950; it accounts for the name Triboro Bridge and TUNNEL authority.

From Mystery Friday Foto #52 Solved: The 1939 Planned Brooklyn-Battery Bridge

Congratulations Howard You have one of the finest Tuckers on the planet Happy Holidays to you and Roz

From Conceptcarz.com Profile: 1948 Tucker 48 1044

Seems Moses is everywhere, this week.  The wealthy were ripped, but who knows how much Moses was buried with. PLUS THE SOB COULDN’T PLAY POKER WITH. WALTER O MALLEY

From Mystery Friday Foto #52 Solved: The 1939 Planned Brooklyn-Battery Bridge

E.F. Hutton’s other residence I believe connected to the back of the property now part of Post College. E. F. Hutton ordered a new 1935 Packard sedan from Packard Motor Car Co. of NY and had the body from their ca. 1927 R-R transferred to the Packard chassis. Quite a task to undertake and was done by Brewster who built the body in 1927. The car was bought from the Hutton estate by my good friend Lew Smith of Garden City who also owned R-R of the 1920s . Lew kept the car original and owned it for decades. When he retired and moved to Florida it was owned by the Dragone brothers car dealers in Ct. and now is owned by another friend of mine in California. When the Dragone’s owned it they repainted certain areas and thus wiped out the original monogram on the rear doors that had EFH on them! I rode in that Packard many many times, quite a interesting car.

From Greg O's Garage: The 1930 Motor Parkway license plate/season ticket holders Part 2

In June 2017 at Westbury Gardens Car Show I saw Tucker #44 before restoration, In May 2019 at Kings Point Naval Acadamy I saw #44 restored to original color

From Conceptcarz.com Profile: 1948 Tucker 48 1044

Wishing Howard, Roz, and everyone Happy Holidays and a very Happy New Year!
I saw this past week that the movie “Tucker the Man and his Dream” is streaming on Netflix if anyone wants to see it. Enjoy!

From Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy 2024!

Best Christmas wishes to you and Roz. Ken & Pat

From Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy 2024!

Great story and pictures. I enjoyed seeing some pictures of Tucker #1044 that I have never seen before.
Great article about one of the nicest Tuckers in existence.

From Conceptcarz.com Profile: 1948 Tucker 48 1044

No one has mentioned the 10 cents toll was used to fund construction of the Meadowbrook Parkway extension, construction of which commenced in December, 1954 and was completed by mid 1956. 

See New York Times article dated 12/20/52.  Snapshot from March, 1978, shortly before the toll booth’s demolition.

From Mystery Friday Foto #51 Solved: Widening of the Southern State Parkway near the toll booths around 1954

The Wikipedia article misses this irony: Once they saw that land values near the NSP skyrocketed (and not plummeted as they feared), some associated with the NCCC effort were lobbying Moses less than 5 years later to build a NSP connector to their lands. No surprise, Moses denied that request.

From Kleiner's Korner: The Velocci Papers Part 2 - The 1929 Proposal to Retrofit the Motor Parkway

Over New York Harbor looking north over Governors Island and Manhattan Island with Brooklyn on the right. Closest to Governors Island is a conceptual image of the proposed Battery bridge that Robert Moses wanted to build. He lost that bid and the Battery Tunnel was built instead. further north is the Brooklyn Bridge then the Manhattan Bridge. Moses proposed building a bridge in January of 1939, so my guess for when this picture was taken is late 1938 thru Jan. 1939.

From Mystery Friday Foto #52 Solved: The 1939 Planned Brooklyn-Battery Bridge