Vanderbilt Cup Races

Additional documentation:

From Mystery Friday Foto #38 Solved: The 12-cylinder Maxwell built for the 1906 Vanderbilt Cup Race.

- 1906 Maxwell.
- 12 Cylnders, no fly-wheel, no water pump, no double pipe gravity feed system normally used.
J. Fred Betz.
Entered to race in the 1906 American Elimination Race but never started.
Some races it entered after being refitted: 1908 Atlantic City, 1908 Ormand Beach

From Mystery Friday Foto #38 Solved: The 12-cylinder Maxwell built for the 1906 Vanderbilt Cup Race.

I missed out on all that Saturday stuff. I slept most of the day. Too much traffic on weekends!

From View from The Bridge VI: 1962 Holman Moody Challenger III highlights

That’s the 1906 Maxwell-Briscoe 12 (cylinder). Its unique features included 12 horizontally opposed cylinders with 2 vertical radiators, one for each bank of 6 cylinders. It also had no flywheel or water pump. I believe that’s J. D. Maxwell driving the car although some sources report the driver as Wallace Owen or J. Fred Betz. The racer was built for the 1906 American Elimination trial but never arrived at the starting line to participate. I don’t think the car ever actually raced in competition. I’m attaching a photo of the 1906 Maxwell garage which some accounts have as being located on Jericho Road (Turnpike?).

From Mystery Friday Foto #38 Solved: The 12-cylinder Maxwell built for the 1906 Vanderbilt Cup Race.

i am glad to see the next phase being performed.  However, the underside of the bridges should not be forgotten.  There is damage to the concrete, peeling paint and the sign noting the Vanderbilt Parkway has fallen of at Hollis Hills Terrace.  The areas underneather the bridges are in need of heavy cleaning.

From Phase III reconstruction has begun of the Motor Parkway in Queens from 199th Street to Springfield Boulevard

I thought it might be a Christie, but I can’t find any pictures of Christie cars that look like that one, and it appears to have rear wheel drive. It looks like it has a flat “boxer” engine.

From Mystery Friday Foto #38 Solved: The 12-cylinder Maxwell built for the 1906 Vanderbilt Cup Race.

From the History story: “Amateur races continued for many years”. Actually, they continued, after the 1971 IMSA Enduro, won by Hurley Haywood, with SCCA Nationals, Formula Atlantic and pro motorcycle racing and many others. Rubin didn’t take over until at least 1985 and turned it into a golf course in the ‘90’s.

From View from The Bridge VI: 1962 Holman Moody Challenger III highlights

  Christie Brinkley, looking great at 68 : ) and Jon Bon Jovi. I remember Jon being on an episode of the Curse of Oak Island, which I think is going to be on its last season this Fall.

From View from The Bridge VI: 1962 Holman Moody Challenger III highlights

Looking forward to it!

From Phase III reconstruction has begun of the Motor Parkway in Queens from 199th Street to Springfield Boulevard

Looks like an electric racer with two huge batteries mounted upfront. I think that’s an electric motor mounted onto the rear driver-side wheel (another motor likely mounted on the mechanician side, one for each battery).
If true, this racer is only one example of early automotive design/technology during its infancy. The design appears to be 1900-1910

From Mystery Friday Foto #38 Solved: The 12-cylinder Maxwell built for the 1906 Vanderbilt Cup Race.

Billy & Blog Viewers - I believe the Newsday articles below from 1941 is the drowning that Billy asked about. This whole event had a happy outcome. 2 - First Grade children - David Clarke and Helen Herte, walking home ( Fordham St Williston Park ) from school. They encountered the Sand Pit. Helen decided to slide down the pit towards the water, she dropped in. David pulled her out, rescued her from drowning. Maybe I’ll search them again to see if they married later in life : ) The first 2 articles describe this happening, 3rd article tells of the dangers due to no fencing around various Sand Pits.

From Sam & Dave’s “Excellent 2019 Vanderbilt Day”- #4 Albertson

Billy - The wooded area within the park ( see it on the last aerial image above ) was a Gravel Pit. Pond was created due to the mining. I haven’t been in there, but aerials & street maps still show a depression & water. Guess this area is fenced in, maybe it became a drainage basin?
Just west of the park, next to Searingtown Rd, is Herricks Pond ( St George’s Lake )

Unless someone knows of the this off hand, think we could find out more about a drowning with a newspaper search. On the web, there’s NYS Historic Newspapers & Newsday Archives, both free.

From Sam & Dave’s “Excellent 2019 Vanderbilt Day”- #4 Albertson

Does anyone have any past pictures of Caemmerer Park. There was supposedly a lake next to motor parkway where the park is. I heard a child drowned in the lake back around 1943. Looking for more pictures and info on this.
Thanks

From Sam & Dave’s “Excellent 2019 Vanderbilt Day”- #4 Albertson

Well at first I thought this was an electric vehicle with extra batteries mounted vertically in front of the driver.  Then I saw the caps and realized they were oddly placed double radiators.  So then this must be the 1906 Maxwell with the 180 hp 12 cylinder horizontal engine.  A unique innovation at the time (and maybe very distant precursor to the boxer engine in my Subaru).  The driver was supposed to be J. Fred Betz in the 1906 American Elimination trial race but due to insufficient time for testing it never ran in competition.

From Mystery Friday Foto #38 Solved: The 12-cylinder Maxwell built for the 1906 Vanderbilt Cup Race.

Nice to see all the races in one film, and also liked how they superimposed the old TV set on the video. Nice job putting this together : )

From Film: The Vanderbilt Cup Races (1904-1965)

I pass that every day and have wondered if it is but I’m pretty sure it is not. I would say its just a concrete apron poured for an entrance to the sump. You can see how it stops at the gate. The way it flares out on the right side makes you think it could have been the LIMP as it swung southeast to the Stewart Line but it also flares on the left side (not shown in the photo) so there goes that theory. The location looks about dead-on in relation to where the LIMP crosses Bloomingdale Rd.

From Greg O's Garage: A section of Motor Parkway in Bethpage rediscovered

Yea Dan, that is exactly the piece I was talking about exiting from the sump to Polaris.

From Greg O's Garage: A section of Motor Parkway in Bethpage rediscovered

False alarm lol. The darker spaces along the game board are ‘problem spaces’

From Mystery Friday Foto #37 solved: The Oldsmobile headquarters for a 1906 American Elimination Trial racer

Below is a image of the 1906 Vanderbilt Cup Board Game ( 8/12/2011 Blog )  I know the Oldsmobile Race Team didn’t qualify. I wonder if the dark areas ( writing within ) display the headquarters for each racing team? Wording too small to read.

You came through, Gary Hammond : )

From Mystery Friday Foto #37 solved: The Oldsmobile headquarters for a 1906 American Elimination Trial racer

Gary, that deserves kudos!

From Mystery Friday Foto #37 solved: The Oldsmobile headquarters for a 1906 American Elimination Trial racer