CatBird Posted July 30, 2018 Share Posted July 30, 2018 July 30. 110 Years ago today a Thomas Flyer car completed a 22,000 mile endurance race around the World. This was 1908, starting in New York to Paris. Against the best custom-made European cars, an American made production car from a showroom floor Thomas. Beat all comers in 169 days, and won first place. The longest distance race in history that still stands today. No windshield. No top. No heater. No roads. The Thomas Flyer put American engineering and car production on the map. https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=ffS8YDFgkTg&feature=youtu.be Our 1908 Thomas Flyer. 60 HP, 577 cubic inches. Chain drive. Frame up restoration. Is on a ship, right now, coming home to America! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modeleh Posted July 30, 2018 Share Posted July 30, 2018 Not to take anything away from George Shuster and his team but it’s a known fact that they stopped in Buffalo to change the front axle to a different design so it wouldn’t drag so much snow. They were also permitted to travel through some railroad tunnels owned by American railroads but the foreign cars were not granted permission and had to go the hard way. National pride for all teams was huge at the time and there were acts of sabotage against the teams by proud patriots. One team discovered nails had been thrown into their gearbox through the oil fill hole when their car was unattended. All three cars that completed were winners. But it was the men who coaxed them around the world and they were the real stars. All that being said, the Thomas was a very fine car and I think the best made car did indeed come in first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8E45E Posted July 30, 2018 Share Posted July 30, 2018 I believe the Protos was given a 15-day penalty because they rode it on a train for a few thousand miles or so. If anyone is able to latch onto George Schuster's autobiography on that event, "The Longest Auto Race" from 1965 or so, its definitely fun reading. Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe in Canada Posted July 30, 2018 Share Posted July 30, 2018 (edited) On 7/30/2018 at 2:37 PM, 8E45E said: I believe the Protos was given a 15-day penalty because they rode it on a train for a few thousand miles or so. If anyone is able to latch onto George Schuster's autobiography on that event, "The Longest Auto Race" from 1965 or so, its definitely fun reading. Craig I understand that the Thomas drove on the train tracks out west where it was impossible to drive through the Rockies. The other teams were not allowed to drive on the tracks for reason that the Thomas did so much damage to the tracks. The other competitor's were loaded on flat cars in Ogden, Utah and road to Seattle to so they were penalized 15 days. The Proto team actually finished in first place but lost over this train ride. Races back then were run very questionably by today's standards. Edited October 30, 2020 by Joe in Canada (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 30, 2018 Share Posted July 30, 2018 Great video! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Dobbin Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 (edited) That Thomas Flyer ran the 1986 Great American Race too (1986 LA to NYC) while on loan to Ginni Withers from the Harrah's Collection. The following year she borrowed the real Bonnie & Clyde death car (1934 Ford Fordor like mine) for the Disneyland to Disney World Great American Race. Proving again, It's always good to know somebody. Edited December 23, 2020 by Paul Dobbin (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe in Canada Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 Did she not have a wheel issue when running the Flyer at some point during the race? I remember her being at Hershey promoting the 1987 race at the GAR booth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wayne sheldon Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 I have read a lot about this race over the years. It amazes me how much certain details have been forgotten. All completing cars received some penalties, including the Thomas. after the finish times were totaled with the various penalties, the Thomas was the winner. The key penalty was that the original route included shipping the cars from Seattle to Alaska and run across part of that territory. The Thomas, first to reach Seattle (in part due to the railroad trick), was shipped to Alaska, and found the extra severe previous winter had left the roads (what little there were there) unusable. The other cars, instead shipped directly to Japan where they crossed that nation's narrow streets. The Thomas, meantime, was shipped back down to Seattle, then transferred to another ship to cross to Japan after the others were done there. THAT delay put the Thomas way behind. The resulting penalties the other cars got and the Thomas did not (because they WENT to Alaska), were the difference that made the Thomas the winner. When the time for the side trip to Alaska is taken out? The Thomas, that arrived in Paris second, was actually the fastest car. Barely. From all I have read, I think the international group that tried to referee this race tried to be as fair as they could be. There have been all kinds of nationalistic accusations (then and still!) (Always seems to be that way?). But with violations of rules both major and small, breakdowns, some sabotage attempts, changes in routes etc? And let us not forget that the Thomas crew pulled one of their competitors out of a mud bog in the middle of Russia! I think they did good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatBird Posted July 31, 2018 Author Share Posted July 31, 2018 One of the best books, well written in novel form, 95% historically accurate and a great fun to read whether you know about the Great Race or not. Free on Kindle, Amazon https://www.amazon.com/KING-ALL-MEN-G-Singer-ebook/dp/B006Z2ERIS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1533023619&sr=8-1&keywords=the+king+of+all+men+singer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8E45E Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 Amazon also has George Schuster's autobiography available used: https://www.amazon.com/Longest-Auto-Race-George-Schuster/dp/B0007DTU8S Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatBird Posted October 30, 2020 Author Share Posted October 30, 2020 We added another Thomas to our collection. 1910 Thomas Flyer 6/40 M. Green. Perfect frame off restoration and just also had the engine refreshed. It was a show car and I had it sorted out for touring by an excellent Thomas mechanic. If you look closely you can see the lighter green as Thomas often used contrasting colors for the chassis/frame/running gear and another color for the body darker green. The Flag behind the 1908 Thomas shows 45 stars. 8 feet long and I got lucky on eBay We had to remove the windscreen so it would fit the the transporter that brought it to us. Kinda like it as it is! The last picture (eBay again!) is an exact copy model of our 1910 Thomas. All the plastic parts are already colored to match our 1910 Thomas. 1/16th scale. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Cole Posted December 23, 2020 Share Posted December 23, 2020 Anyone wanting to practice their railroad track driving skills needs to find where this picture was taken. No chance of a train coming here. I tried it several years ago with a 4x4 Ford Expedition on the Kennedy Space Center railroad tracks. I eased it onto the tracks at a highway crossing, straddling one rail barely inside the left wheels. Got out and checked, and I had less than 1/4" clearance between the top of the rail and the bottom of the suspension wishbone. I carefully backed it up onto the road. Obviously they don't make 'em like they used to. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PFindlay Posted December 23, 2020 Share Posted December 23, 2020 4 hours ago, George Cole said: I tried it several years ago with a 4x4 Ford Expedition on the Kennedy Space Center railroad tracks. We tried driving on the tracks in 1997 as we re-created the first auto trip across Canada. It was brutal! No problem with clearance but certainly a recipe for broken springs and lost parts. But we wanted to be authentic. We drove about 50 feet. In 1912 they drove several hours, at night because the freight agent told them there was no train expected until morning. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
padgett Posted December 23, 2020 Share Posted December 23, 2020 (edited) Perhaps the rails were graded better then. Agree to drive on rails you need a rail car. Do suspect in '07 they drove at a walking pace (or less) then. How slow could the Thomas cruise in low ? ps Are any left who can tell by the patina on the rail how busy the line is ? Or how to listen for an oncoming train ? Edited December 23, 2020 by padgett (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe in Canada Posted December 23, 2020 Share Posted December 23, 2020 The Thomas would have large tires making the ride a little smoother. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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