Period RACE CAR Images to Relieve some of the Stress

[AHa]

 

 

Edited May 22, 2020 by AHa (see edit history)

[AHa]

Vauxhall

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Edited May 23, 2020 by AHa (see edit history)

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Pope

Edited May 22, 2020 by AHa (see edit history)

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Apperson

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Apperson

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Edited May 23, 2020 by AHa (see edit history)

[Walt G]

On Long Island in a crowd, I wonder how many fellows standing close got burned by the straight pipe exhaust?

[AHa]

 

Walt, if you'll notice, the stupendous, great, and wonderful old 16 has been fitted with an exhaust manifold in this picture.  Normally, two short exhaust pipes would be visible coming through the side of the hood. Those pipes are missing in this photo.

 

On 6/1/2020 at 10:13 AM, Walt G said:

On Long Island in a crowd, I wonder how many fellows standing close got burned by the straight pipe exhaust?

 

Both old 16 and the 1905 car had to be fitted with manifolds and receive variances from local officials due to noise, in order to be run on the streets. Here is a picture of the Thomas commissioned 1905 car with exhaust manifold and short exhaust pipe fitted. Normally, there would be 4 short exhaust pipes exiting the hood of this car.

 

[Walt G]

Thanks! It was hard to see in the original photo which is smaller then the way it came out when posted, but I still can't see a pipe below Old 16 , that is on the 1905 car.

[AHa]

Yes Walt, I understand your confusion. I recently read a period article describing how locomobile had to get permission to test drive the 1905 car on the streets before the car was raced and one requirement was to fit an exhaust manifold. I'm sure you can understand. I have never seen old 16 in person or been blessed to hear it run but the reports are it shook the ground beneath your feet. Not many people would feel blessed to have their windows rattle as the car was test drove over the streets. The fact that no exhaust pipes are visible exiting the hood, indicates to me a manifold is fitted even though I cannot see the pipe hanging below.

 

Here is the "Merry Widow" before the crash. It is a Pope Toledo. The Merry Widow was crashed on the Atlanta Race Track in 1908. Both occupants were thrown clear of the car, some 150 feet, and down a steep embankment. The driver suffered some scrapes and bruises and was slightly burned but both walked away. Walter Christie warned, "The car has too much power."

 

Edited June 5, 2020 by AHa (see edit history)

[Walt G]

AHa  I have seen and ridden in Old 16 , it was in 1988 when the Long Island Old Car Club a chapter of the VMCCA hosted  the 80th anniversary of the 1908 Vanderbilt Cup Race with a dinner and driving tour. Jerry Helck kindly brought Old 16 to long island to take part in the festivities and as one of the organizers of that event I am happy to recall we had over 90 pre 1938 cars out and on the tour before sitting down for a meal at a restaurant that we occupied completely. That race car indeed does shake the ground when it is running!  On the tour when it went under a bridge overpass in the dark you could see the flames coming out from the exhaust pipes ! That is Jerry Helck behind the wheel and me next to him. I am in a suit because we urged all participating to wear clothes of the era for the car they were riding in. I had two cars at the event, my 1931 Franklin Airman and 1927 R-R Phantom I. 

Walt

[AHa]

 

 

Walt, I cannot even imagine!

 

Edited June 5, 2020 by AHa (see edit history)

[Walt G]

I dug this out of my archives - nice to share, but also want to keep Steve Moskowitz happy since he has so much to contend with the headquarters move, reworking and reconstruction of the building , etc. Perhaps this may give him a moment to think about older race cars. 😮

ANYWAY here is a Renault in the USA as photographed "in the era" by Spooner & Wells Photographers. It does not say on the back what, who or where, but I am guessing it is at one of the Long Island Vanderbilt Cup Races . Must have started that particular race it was participating in when it was dark - note the tiny headlamps up front.

With our current health pandemic, also note that the driver of the Renault has his face covered and goggles on. This must have been to be able to contend with the poor roads of the era. and debris blowing up . Everyone in this photo is wearing a hat.

[A. Ballard 35R]

3 hours ago, Walt G said:

AHa  I have seen and ridden in Old 16 , it was in 1988 when the Long Island Old Car Club a chapter of the VMCCA hosted  the 80th anniversary of the 1908 Vanderbilt Cup Race with a dinner and driving tour. Jerry Helck kindly brought Old 16 to long island to take part in the festivities and as one of the organizers of that event I am happy to recall we had over 90 pre 1938 cars out and on the tour before sitting down for a meal at a restaurant that we occupied completely. That race car indeed does shake the ground when it is running!  On the tour when it went under a bridge overpass in the dark you could see the flames coming out from the exhaust pipes ! That is Jerry Helck behind the wheel and me next to him. I am in a suit because we urged all participating to wear clothes of the era for the car they were riding in. I had two cars at the event, my 1931 Franklin Airman and 1927 R-R Phantom I. 

Walt

 

 

Walt, that picture sure brings back some pleasant memories. At the Mercer reunion in Trenton earlier that year, Jerry strongly pushed for my son, a friend, and me to attend the 80th event which we did. It was quite a time with David  Helck taking my son for a ride in 16. I came out of the restaurant and saw no sign of my son or 16, whereupon David's wife said that they were off in 16. At least I had my turn later. You did a great job, Walt, on organizing the event that was marred only by standing next to Jerry when a NY state cop informed Jerry that his mother Priscilla had died.

 

The next time I saw 16 was at the Philadelphia Vintage Gran Prix when I was fortunate enough to have Jerry bring it to the event and parpticipate in our exhibition "race" around the Fairmount Park course. Needless to say, David started in first place and finished in first. 

 

[Walt G]

Alan, thank you for your comments of that anniversary celebration held over 30 years ago! The L.I. Old Car Club used to celebrate the Vanderbilt Cup anniversaries when they could  for the assorted years that the Cup Races were held. It gave those of us that belonged to LIOCC good reason to get our cars out ( the cut off date usually was pre WWII) and every one was a driving event of at least 30-40 miles over what was near or on the route of the original races. There were about 10 to 12 of us that would organize it Austin Clark would usually try to put together a "goodie bag" for all who registered. It was also a good excuse to go out to dinner with friends, in fact most LIOCC events were a good excuse to go out with friends and drive around in old cars. My 1931 Franklin was one of the newer cars on the events/tours but the rest of the people/members on the tour never busted my chops to much about having a 'modern car' to drive! Well to much anyway!  To plan the route for the drive on the day of the event we would usually take Austin's 1929 Lincoln dual cowl phaeton and go over it and make notes to type up ( on a manual typewriter!) the instructions. Pit stops along the way "for refreshments" were usually in order to "keep the dust down" as Austin would say.

It seems that we usually had some tour to celebrate a Vanderbilt Cup anniversary every year or every other year 3 decades ago .Walt

[jukejunkie1015]

On July 4th 1922, thirty thousand fans crowded into the stands at the Tacoma Speedway to watch what turned out to be the last car race held at the Tacoma track. Ten drivers competed in the 250-mile race. The cars are lining up behind the pace car, driven by Barney Oldfield, prior to the checkered flag. Lined up are (l to r): front row- Tommy Milton #8 Leach Special, Harry Hartz #12 Duesenberg, Jimmy Murphy #35 Murphy Special; 2nd row- Joe Thomas #10 Duesenberg, Roscoe Sarles in the #31 Duesenberg, Cliff Durant in the #34 Durant Special; 3rd row- "Howdy" Wilcox in the #16 Puegeot, Art Klein in the #2 Frontenac, Ralph Mulford in the #9 Leach Special; 4th row- Jerry Wonderlich #24 Duesenberg. The man standing between cars 8 and 12, wearing the straw hat and knickers is Fred "Pops" Wagner, the starter. Jimmy Murphy and Tommy Milton battled for the lead, but Murphy finally pulled ahead in the last few laps and won in the record setting time of 2:33:55 with an average speed of 97.6 mph. Just seconds later Milton crossed the line at 2:34:01. The track was closed at the end of 1922, a victim of falling revenue.

 

[jukejunkie1015]

A confident Ralph DePalma is perched on the back tire of a borrowed Duesenberg parked on the board track of the Tacoma Speedway. Mr. DePalma had come to Tacoma to compete in the July, 1920, 225-mile race along with other famous names including Gaston Chevrolet, Cliff Durant, Tommy Milton and Ralph Mulford. His French Ballot was the only foreign entry in a field crowded with Duesenbergs, Monroes and Frontenacs. Unfortunately his Ballot broke a connecting rod on July 1st and although the Smith Cannery Machine Co. and Western Gear Works of Seattle rushed to make eight connecting rods, the Ballot was not able to be repaired in time. In the spirit of good sportsmanship, Eddie O'Donnell of the Duesenberg team offered Mr. DePalma the use of his ride so that Mr. DePalma would not disappoint the thousands who had come to see him race. Thus, the reason for the Duesenberg shown above with the #2 (number formerly assigned to the Ballot) painted on. Even with the powerful Duesenberg, Mr. DePalma did not win the race as the car broke down before finishing. Tommy Milton, winner of the recent Uniontown, Pennsylvania 225-miler, drove his Duesenberg to a $10,000 payday. 

[Ozstatman]

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[Walt G]

Ozstatman mentions that J.W. Christie went on to build Taxis, indeed he did and the hood for one of his taxis was in the loft of the Long Island Auto Museum owned by Austin Clark for decades. I used to see it up there while looking for parts to buy when Austin's had parts sales he called "Iron Range Days". I am not sure what ever happened to that hood, most people didn't know what it was, I only learned what it was because I asked Austin about it as it was so odd looking.

[AHa]

 

Edited June 13, 2020 by AHa (see edit history)

[AHa]

[AHa]

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[Ozstatman]

14 hours ago, Walt G said:

Ozstatman mentions that J.W. Christie went on to build Taxis

Walt,

 

I'd love to claim that description as mine. I actually copied the photos and any accompanying descriptions from a host of early photos, known as the Alex Gow collection, which were forwarded to me by email

[AHa]

Where are the parts to Christie's racer today? It is amazing to me and doesn't sound realistic that Bill Harrah had an opportunity to acquire one of the great race cars of the early days and passed over it to take home a few parts. These stories of how these cars survived, or not, is amazing in themselves. If true, it is such a tragedy that parts of Christie's race car survived till 1995, only to be destroyed.

 

More info: John Walter Christie died in Falls Church Virginia in 1944 but during his early racing days, he lived in New York. I assume the barn the car was placed in was in New York. So when Harrah came calling in the 1950s, it is possible Harrah did not know the parts were from the Christie car and by 1995 all memory of the barn once belonging to John Walter Christie was lost to history. It is doubtful Harrah actually came to New York to see what he was buying. My understanding is he had people watching out for interesting pieces all over. The cost of shipping parts may have prohibited all the parts from being shipped to Reno.

Edited June 13, 2020 by AHa (see edit history)

[AHa]

[AHa]

Wolseley Beetle