Tom Laferriere Posted December 29, 2005 Share Posted December 29, 2005 Hi all,I am seeking any photos anyone might have on The Great Race, actual 1907 Thomas Flyer photos from the great race, or any other cars from the 1908 race to Paris. Also any Pre-1920 speedster photos would be great! I am seeking ideas for a speedster project I am working on. If you have any photos you could share, you could email them to me tom@tomlaferriere.com or post here. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Gariepy Posted December 29, 2005 Share Posted December 29, 2005 there is a whole site dedicated to the race, with lots of picts.http://www.thegreatautorace.com/Lots of images on Google Images too. Google Images Here's an image: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest De Soto Frank Posted December 29, 2005 Share Posted December 29, 2005 Where's Professor Fate and Max ? The Thomas is a MUCH better-looking car than the "Leslie Special"...( Press the button, Frank !) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Gariepy Posted December 29, 2005 Share Posted December 29, 2005 Desoto... WHAT???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aanderson44 Posted December 29, 2005 Share Posted December 29, 2005 <div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Where's Professor Fate and Max ? The Thomas is a MUCH better-looking car than the "Leslie Special"...( Press the button, Frank !) </div></div>Oh, I dunno!!!!! The 1907 Leslie movie car resides just 20 miles from me, in the JW Goodwin collection--other than being a typical, rather crudely built and finished movie prop, it's actually quite a looker.Art Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olcarherb Posted December 31, 2005 Share Posted December 31, 2005 Comparing the 'Round the World Thomas, or any chain drive Thomas to a movie prop is like comparing Michael Jordan to Coolidge (the high school basketball player on the White Shadow TV show)....or the Hope Diamond to a zircon. Oh well to each his own! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1937hd45 Posted December 31, 2005 Share Posted December 31, 2005 Herb, When you consider that they started with a worn out studio pickup truck the Leslie Special doesn't look that bad. Love those front fenders! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olcarherb Posted January 1, 2006 Share Posted January 1, 2006 Hey Bob, those imported french engineers up in Buffalo in 1905-06-07 started out with a few pieces of metal, some belt and pulley driven machinery and probably a smaller budget (albeit in "1906 dollars" rather than "1966 dollars") than the movie special effects wizards of 40 years ago. And remember, not only were the movie guys "recreating" only a 60 year old car, not unlike doing a 1945 (or 1946 in a few hours - a Happy and Healthy New Year to all!) vehicle nowadays, but they had about 1000 times more automotive technical and engineering know-how available to them. Honestly, I kinda forget exactly what Tony Curtis' ride looked like and couldn't find a relevant site while "surfin'", but, if memory serves me right, it looked too new for the 1908 period, rather more like a late teens english or early teens Mercedes 2 passenger (underslung or at least low slung) touring roadster. But I'll never forget what an '06/'07/'08 Thomas Flyer looks like! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1937hd45 Posted January 1, 2006 Share Posted January 1, 2006 This photo of the New York to Paris winning Thomas Flyer was in the 1949 Philadelphia & National Antique Auto Show program along with a reprint of an article that was in the Horseless Carrage Gazette. Mr. F.V.du Pont owned the unrestored Thomas at that time. I always thought Austin Clark had it and in turn sold it to Bill Harrah. One of my goals for 2006 is to get more of this true ANTIQUE AUTOMOBILE information out to the general public before we're truly forgotten by the modern stuff. Happy New Year! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1937hd45 Posted January 1, 2006 Share Posted January 1, 2006 ............meanwhile back in France the competition was chasing the GP Renault in the 1907 Grand Prix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D Binger Posted January 1, 2006 Share Posted January 1, 2006 Bob,The Wyoming State Museum has some great photos when the race went through Cheyenne, Wyoming in March of 1908. They are part of the Stimson Collection and are on 8X10 glass negatives. Here is the Thomas West of Cheyenne. I don't know what flag that is on the car.Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D Binger Posted January 1, 2006 Share Posted January 1, 2006 Bob,Here is the Italian car. It is a Zust. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D Binger Posted January 1, 2006 Share Posted January 1, 2006 Bob,This is the French car. it is a DeDion Boreton.The local newspaper account of the race going through is interesting to read.DanIf you are going to publish these pictures you will need to give credit to the Wyoming State Museum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1937hd45 Posted January 1, 2006 Share Posted January 1, 2006 Great photos Dan, can you look at the radiator of the car following the Zust and confirm that it is a Model K Ford or a Winton? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D Binger Posted January 1, 2006 Share Posted January 1, 2006 Bob,That second car is a Winton.Here is another piture of the crew pushing the Thomas up a hill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D Binger Posted January 1, 2006 Share Posted January 1, 2006 This picture is at Sherman, Wyoming, the highest point on the transcontenial railroad Over 8,600 ft). It will also be the higheat point on the Lincoln Highway when it comes into being.Interestion point here is the Olds is the pilot car to Sherman and the Franklin on the far end is the pilot car from Sherman to Rawlins, Wyoming. The driver of the Franklin was Elemer Lovejoy from Laramie,Wyoming. He built the Lovejoy automobile in Laramie in 1895. Sorry that none surived. Another point is he invented the air brakes for railroads but gave the idea to Westinghouse and didn't get a dime for it. Also think of the Lovejoy shock absober. He was also the Franklin deler in Laramie and Cheyenne. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olcarherb Posted January 1, 2006 Share Posted January 1, 2006 Great pictures of REAL CARS, but still no picture of the fake (the "Leslie Special"). Hey, I guess even the "Leslie Special" is an "antique" according to the AACA (over 25 yrs. old, though it is a "modified" vehicle!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1937hd45 Posted January 2, 2006 Share Posted January 2, 2006 Here you are Herb, one of the 4 Leslie Specials they built for the movie, there were 5 Hannibal 8's built. Both were on display at the Petersen Collection. Google Petersen Collection for some details on the cars. http://www.river-road.net/oldcars/oldcustoms/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amphicar BUYER Posted January 2, 2006 Share Posted January 2, 2006 Looked through the Barris and Daddy cars in that site. WOW! Broght back memories. Aout 5 years ago I ended up at the Volo museum and to my surprise, I looked acroos the showroon and there was "Boothill Express" which floored me! I had built a couple models of it as a kid and there it was! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest De Soto Frank Posted January 3, 2006 Share Posted January 3, 2006 Peter,Sorry for the "detour"...The "Speed Channel" was running "The Great Race" the night before I made this post...it was fresh in my mind (crooked little place that it is... )...Please tell me you've watched "The Great Race" at least once...I believe Jack Lemmon "chewed his way through more scenery" in this movie than any other that he made...Cheers ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Laferriere Posted January 7, 2006 Author Share Posted January 7, 2006 Great Pictures and info1 Thanks for sharing.Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hornwrecker Posted January 8, 2006 Share Posted January 8, 2006 GIS turns up this veteran Flyer.From what info I've gathered, Thomas was also made in Detroit from 1906-08, occupying the former Michigan Match factory on Harper and Dequindre, which was later bought by Chalmers and became Chalmers-Detroit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hornwrecker Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 I posted a photo of a 1907 Thomas-Detroit that I found in an archive at OCF page 16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter J.Heizmann Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 Hi, Tom...The AACA Library & Research Center retains thousands of categorized research material. <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> Well worth your while to see what has been collected, donated, catalogued, and, professionally maintained by the AACA's full-time librarian and staff.(Click on "Resources" at the top of this page and then "AACA Library".)Regards,Peter J. <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frame30 Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 There are a few pictures on our site The Great Auto Race 1908 | In the Beginning but there are a lot more in the film we made The Greatest Auto Race on Earth. We spent 8 years researching and making the film. We found over a 1000 original photos in an attic in Buffalo, several hundred Alaska/Indiana pictures in a show box in Las Vegas, and then another couple of hundred from other researchers in Europe. They were all carefully scanned at 600 DPI to discs. Our originals are now in the hands of an archivist and photo specialist to preserve them. Oh, we even found the trophy given to Schuster in San Francisco, and the trophy given to Koeppen in Moscow. Cheers. Michael. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Hinckley Posted November 21, 2009 Share Posted November 21, 2009 ROUTE 66 CHRONICLES: Search results for thomas flyerI posted several photos from that race on my blog some time ago. I may others in my file and will check later this weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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