Woah... Thanks to "Minewithnoshine" for the tip. Seems like he was doing some research for a photogr...<P><P>To read the rest of this blog entry from The Jalopy Journal, click here.
The George Eastman House has an awesome collection of stills and "Moving pictures". Any of you in the area that haven't taken a tour....get off your butts. So, what became of the Long Island Motor Parkway? Is it now the LIE?
I wanted to say so, but I wasn't sure... I couldn't find any reference to what happened to it. Cool story though.
Wow, those are some amazing photos!... And a great story to go with them. I love the "forward leaning" photography featured here, that was also discussed in another thread not too long ago. Good stuff, for sure. If you think of how young the Automobile was at that time and see those primitive machines racing around, those guys HAD to be tough. If we could have only been there! Thanks for the tip "Minewithnoshine" and for the Editorial, Ryan. Malcolm
This scene comes up in many ways besides photos Here is my Desk set and detail from a letter opener I got several years ago and several years apart. I am sure there are prints and other items too with this image
Stevie- thanks for finding that! I worked on an early Simplex some years back when I lived in Philly, PA. The car was owned, I believe, by one of Vanderbilt's sons (if he didn't have any, I sincerly apologize- not trying to BS, just have the wrong family). Anyway, he ordered the Simplex with the racing chassis, but with a 5 pass touring body so that he could take the family out in it OR race with his buddies on the family's private road... I'm guessing it's the Vanderbilt road- very cool. The car was awesome, but whoever rebuilt the engine honed the cylinder jugs at too high a speed and warped them (try to find originals) and had the camshafts out of sync. I got to tear the engine down (the level of my expertiece and my boss's trust). Once the engine was running again, I got to go for a ride in the pass seat w/o any floorboards- talk about a wild ride!
Found some more race albums within that just in case it was missed. thanks guys! http://www.geh.org/autoraces.html
It is photos like those that make me balk when people say racing is not a sport. It takes so much heart, soul and commitment. Just look at those guys in the photos and the guys that race in the La Carrera Panamerica, nothing but balls!
I saw these last nite,,,I tipped Ryan to posting a hilite.....Thanx Ryan. THESE PHOTOS ARE FILLED WITH AUTOMOTIVE SOUL
there is still about 100 feet of the race track on the side of the meadowbrook parkway in east meadow going north
The front wheels look (to me) out of round, angled forward, like an artist was trying to emphasize speed and forward motion. Awesome photo.
Okay- dumb question... Why do the wheels look out of round and the cars seem to lean in the pics? Does it have to do with shutter speed, lens...?
Great link! If you look at the races from 1914 and 1915 you can see that Kalamazoo, Michigan held an event in those years. You can still sit in the grandstands there when they give out the awards at the Nat's North. Louis Chevrolet raced there when he was nearing the end of his racing career. He had already lost sharing in two fortunes (one was AC Delco) because of his terrible temper and would finish his working years at the Flint assembly plant where he would work on the line assembling the vehicles that bore his name!!!
The photos are shot with a shutter that moves across the film. The car's moving fast enough that parts move in relation to the shutter's position and you get this image It is so wonderful that many artists doing paints, prints and sculpture have used this device to create SPEED You have to understand just what impact these photos had on people of the time!
Ryan now you are tugging at my heartstrings. This is the era of giants, those guys had great big brass balls.
Malcom, At a shop that I apprenticed in, we had an early Simplex in for work that the customer wanted to go 100MPH + in... the boss talked him down to 90- I got to go for a ride up to 60MPH... it is a COMPLETELY different experience (especially since we had the floorboards out), but one that can't be beat!
my speedster would run down the road at 75 oh so much fun. but to be in one of those great monsters tearing down a compacted dirt road course covered in road oil at 110, the crowds separated only by some chicken wire and a few stakes. Sliding into a corner, foot down on the loud pedal must have been really exhilarating. Those great big engines reving out at 1800 rpms, whirring chains. i could get lost in a dream somewhere.
I remember following Jay Leno in his Areothingie with my Mercer Kindda 80+ and thinking ''anything breaks I'm dead'' follow by WTF WHO CARES!!!!!! Yes different feeling 3inch tires..... each piston displaces the total cubic inches of your average Jap car ....... all at less that 2500rpm Life flyin a really fast blimp next to the ground
oh, ya forgot about the 3 inch tires @ 65 psi and super fast steering. when i was really young i got to ride in the mechanics seat in a 1908 coupe'del auto de dion...sitting on the floor doing 70. then of course there was a ride in one of the Paris-madrid de dion's at 70...speed can have many different meanings:
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