Vanderbilt Cup Races

Most of the original buildings of Air Cooled Motors in Liverpool, NY just north of Syracuse, NY still stand. If you crawl under a Tucker and look up at the base of the engine you will see the name Franklin cast into that.
Carl Doman and Ed Marks were the two chief Engineers at Franklin in Syracuse,NY and formed Air Cooled Motors after the Franklin car ceased production in 1934. I owned a 1931 Franklin for over 40 years and drove it tens of thousands of miles. I was active in the research of Franklin history and knew Carl Doman and Ed Marks. Carl for only a brief time as he passed away very early. His son Dave Doman was an engineer at Ford in Michigan and was an active member of the Franklin club. He and I were good friends . Mr. Marks ( you never ever called him Ed) was full of information if you knew how to get him to talk. I organized for years the annual reunion of former Franklin employees when the annual Franklin Club car meet was held. Got to know a lot of people who built the cars and then engines at Air Cooled Motors. I have lots of stories I recall of their experiences. Dave Doman was a great guy - he and I and 3 others went to a house in north Syracuse decades ago to look at a barrel of new old stock Franklin rampant lion hood ornaments that were owned by the family of a fellow who worked for Franklin. The club bought them and resold to its members. Many still had the casting sand in them . Yes another story! I bought two car heavy lap robes from the same family that were new from the 1920s and used in cars of that era to keep the passengers warm due to lack of heaters! The trip to get those was most interesting as was the ability to pay for them even at a very reasonable price as there were 100 of them!

From Update-Cradle of Aviation Archives: The 1948 purchase of Aircooled Motors, Inc by Tucker Corporation from Republic Aviation

I have a picture somewhere of my grandpa in a Tucker Special race car. His name was Charles Hampton Davidson. I also have a photo or two of him with a bunch of guys working on a car inside of a garage. I will try and locate them & attach them & send them on.

From Mystery Foto #3 Solved: The #66 Tucker '48 Special Racer at the 1947 Indy 500

I have a picture somewhere of my grandpa in a Tucker race car. His name was Charles Hampton Davidson. I also have a photo or two of him with a bunch of guys working on a car inside of a garage. I will try and locate them & attach them & send them on.

From Mystery Foto #3 Solved: The #66 Tucker '48 Special Racer at the 1947 Indy 500

Prior to the Aircooled motor, Tucker apparently built a couple of water cooled 6 cylinder motors, one of which can be seen in the Museum of American Speed in Lincoln, NE.

From Update-Cradle of Aviation Archives: The 1948 purchase of Aircooled Motors, Inc by Tucker Corporation from Republic Aviation

Such a significant and pleasing connection between our combined lives for Tucker and The history of Long Island!

From Update-Cradle of Aviation Archives: The 1948 purchase of Aircooled Motors, Inc by Tucker Corporation from Republic Aviation

Well here goes with a couple of educated guesses and a wild guess or two. The registration, chassis, and engine numbers belong to a 1930 Bentley 6.5 litre Speed Six Weyman Sportsman’s Coupe built by Gurney Nutting coachbuilders. Winner of the 1930 Monte Carlo Rallye, the original owner was Glen Kidston. Current owner might be his nephew, Simon Kidston. Found most of that info by spending way too much time on internet searches but was unable to determine the Willie K. connection or the plate’s purpose. Looking forward to the answer.

From Mystery Friday Foto #47 Solved: A 1930s English automobile ID plate made for the son of William K. Vanderbilt, Jr.

No clue. Looks like an early old-style Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) plate, still riveted onto automobiles today, to identify automobiles and help deter against auto theft.
Likely original owner here was Willie K.
Possibly Garden City registered vehicle with license plate No. 3661.
Looking forward towards this mystery’s answers

From Mystery Friday Foto #47 Solved: A 1930s English automobile ID plate made for the son of William K. Vanderbilt, Jr.

One more opinion - From “The Automobile” of August 21, 1909.

From Greg O's Garage: Why Do We in the U.S. Drive on the Right Side of the Road?

This post is in fact incredible, the picture feature and the video is really awesome. really enjoyed to see these historical pics

From Mystery Friday Foto #23 Solved: A 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR W196S on top of the Mercedes-Benz "Blue Wonder" hauler

Thanks for the much needed update to this important inventory of LIMP license plates.

From Database of the 97 known Long Island Motor Parkway License Plates- Updated: 3/15/2024

David, some photos without the circles.

From Kleiner's Korner: Road Signs Erected for the 1905 and 1906 Vanderbilt Cup Races

Before and after (2020)

From Mystery Friday Foto #46 Solved: A 1936 Long Island flyover surveying the Hempstead Plains by the Braman-Johnson Flying Service

Mazel tov Howard.  Well deserved!!!

From Chrysler's Chrysler awarded "Best in Class- Classics Closed" at the 2022 Hilton Head Island Concours d'Elegance

Art-
If you have clean copies of the photos with the road sign (no circles drawn on them)? If so, some AI colorizing “magic” may be able to take best guess about about dark color on the road signs. (The cirles are adding color noise that is unseen by the naked eye.) A hint of what is possible is attached. (One photo is from 01/03/2015 post.)

From Kleiner's Korner: Road Signs Erected for the 1905 and 1906 Vanderbilt Cup Races

Nice find.  Thank you to the Rosenbum family for making available!

From A large collection of Long Island Motor Parkway License Plates rediscovered

How did it go?  Truly amazing car, so I’d imagine it was very well received.

From Chrysler's Chrysler to be featured at the Hilton Head Island Concours d'Elegance & Motoring Festival

Nice about the nap, great that they have such a superb actor playing the role of a man who had such a huge affect on so many neighborhoods and people for good or bad.

From Update #3-Behind the Scenes: The Long Island Parkway planning map in David's new play starring Ralph Fiennes as Robert Moses

Always welcome a new perspective Greg. Thanks for sharing this gem!

Bethpage (Central Park) looking north, close to 1920; early bi-plane design flying over a landscape missing many present roadways and dwellings. 

1 Hempstead Tpke
2 Lincoln Blvd
3 Roosevelt Dr
4 Lowell St/Park Ln
5 Rose St
6 Rose St towards the Barnes’ Tract (1908 LIMP Ground Breaking Ceremony Site)
7 Long Island Motor Parkway
8 Hicksville Rd Rt 107 (Massapequa Rd)
9 N Wantagh Av (Jerusalem Av)

LIMP structures:
N Wantagh Ave bridge (Jerusalem Ave) 1908 - 1940s is visible. The Massapequa Toll Lodge and Hicksville Rd bridge (Massapequa Rd) are hidden under the plane’s right wing.

Grumman Airport will eventually occupy the space just above the plane’s propeller, some decades later.

History in the making on early Long Island, great mystery post!

From Mystery Friday Foto #46 Solved: A 1936 Long Island flyover surveying the Hempstead Plains by the Braman-Johnson Flying Service

This plane is flying above Bethpage, NY in a east direction. Photographer in the plane that would be above and to the south snapped this image looking north. The Wantagh Ave LIMP bridge is seen. The Massapequa Lodge and Hicksville Rd LIMP bridge is obscured by the airplane. I’m figuring this is dated 1936 - 1937. Grumman in Bethpage was established in 1937. Property for Grumman looks to be in it’s early stages. Grumman Building is visible on a 1938 aerial, on this image only the footprint. Photographer’s plane and the plane seen might be capturing aerial images of Nassau County. I marked the roads on the map below.

From Mystery Friday Foto #46 Solved: A 1936 Long Island flyover surveying the Hempstead Plains by the Braman-Johnson Flying Service

George Robertson lunched with Fred Wagner and Senator Morgan in Patchogue, as reported in The Suffolk County News, Oct. 8, 1909. Readers could wonder about the next Long Island race because Wagner was a notable promoter of racing events and the previous year, he had started the 1908 Vanderbilt Cup Race that Robertson won. Robertson chaired the annual picnics Wagner hosted for the auto industry at Wagner’s Sunnybrook Farm in Smithtown, notably the 10th Annual in 1915, when 300 attendees picnicked and played sports, with racing greats taking a day off from the circuit where they were setting records—Bob Burman, Earl Cooper, Ralph De Palma, Hugh Harding, Barney Oldfield, Dario Resta, Harry Stutz, and George Robertson, all drove to Smithtown to Wagner’s place! For a look at Wagner’s [National Register] Sunnybrook home they visited that day, see “Residence of the Starter of Five Vanderbilt Cup Races Rediscovered in Smithtown,” on the Vanderbilt Cup Races at https://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com/blog/article/the_residence_of_the_starter_of_five_vanderbilt_cup_races_rediscovered_in_s

From Profile of George Robertson- Winner of the 1908 Vanderbilt Cup Race