History Auto racing 1894-1942

it is the mortal remains of a 1922 GP Vauxhaul, one of the greater flops in GP history, as right after the cars were completed the rules changed. This is it Raymond May's life long love affair, that and Peter Berthon or Amherst Villiers. May's details everything he does to make that car go faster and faster and faster in his books.

Raymond May's lost the Shelsey Walsh record to Hans Stuck in the ADMR Austro Daimler. He spends the next 10 years trying to reclaim the record (maybe some English person could explain the desire to motor up a drive way fast than anyone else...)

Then in one day he breaks the record twice, once with the Vauxhaul and agian with his new ERA.

 

Thanx Paul, but... I really want to get another model! I've been reading up on the race and the rerun. This car is amazing. Gary

 

I don't think we want to go down that road. But he liked musical theatre too ..

Until the mid 30s it was our only permanent hillclimb course - essentially the Brooklands of hillclimbing - so it assumed great importance, especially after it became impossible to run climbs on public roads.

Add to that the beautiful setting and the opportunity (even today) to stand right by the course looking down on the cars at the most spectacular point of the course - Bottom S - and you can see where that desire came from.

 

The crack road crew getting the course ready for the 1911 Elgin National Road Races.

 

Lest We Forget

 

These images are provided for research purposes only and must not be reproduced without the prior permission of the State Library of NSW

'Olympia Motor Speedway, late 1925 : left to right: probably Austin 7, Amilcar, Cleveland Six; Jewett; and Vauxhall 1914 "Fifty Bob" '



'Penrith Speedway, 1925 : (from camera) 1914 Vauxhall of R.McKellar; Bugatti of H.Bartlett; Diatto of Smith; Ford T of Twomey; Lexington of Cohen and Mercedes of Jacobs'



more Penrith...

http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/item/itemDetailPaged.aspx?itemID=6419

http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/item/itemDetailPaged.aspx?itemID=51924

http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/item/itemDetailPaged.aspx?itemID=51918

 

1. Sydney Vauxhall and later GM dealer Boyd Edkins in the Prince Henry Vauxhall above in the guise he set many point to point Australian records. I don't know where the name comes from, I heard it was some kind of reward for sales so perhaps it was what he paid for it. The car is a survivor.

2. Another survivor from that grid, said to be later owner AJ Roycroft at the wheel but I'm not sure.

3. And another sales reward colonial Vauxhall racer and survivor, 1910 Y2 Old Blue in a famous airbrushed pose.

 

More great photos by Lartigue from the October 1912 Hillclimb at Gaillon France.

The first a photo of Boillot's Peugeot parked at the event and the second showing him changing a tire on the way back to Paris after the event.

The third photo shows Wagner in his Fiat and the forth Chevaz on his way to setting a 26.4 second record.

 

This would be the Rube Goldberg Paving Co., then? Gary

 

To gnichols and others -
The definitive work on the Peking-Paris rally is "Peking to Paris" by Luigi Barzini. It was originally published right after the rally then reprinted sometime in the 1970's and can be found on-line or through used book sellers. It would be well worh your while to track a copy of it down. The book is loaded with good reference photos for model building.

As far as models go, the one I have of the Itala was made by the now defunct ENTEX company in the late 70's or early 80's. They often pop up for sale on e-bay and can still be found.

The origianal 1907 Itala still exists and many photos of it can be found about the internet.
Bob.

 

Great stuff, thanx. Now I have another tack for the model search. Gary

 

Frank Kulick well known early driver for Ford behind the wheel of what looks like a Model T racing car.

 

Here's another better shot of the nail removers on the rear tires of the crashed Renault driven by Marcel Renault in the 1903 Paris-Madrid race.

BTW, thanks to T-Head for all the wonderful Lartigue photos. The book is high on my priority list.

 

Kurtis, glad you are enjoying them, he was such a talented photographer and the best is yet to come. We are now at the 1913 French GP July 12th.

The first photo a Delage parked at a restaurant. The second photo is Champoiseau and his Schneider. The third photo is Guyot whizzing by. The last photo is Moriondo in an Itala and followed by Bablot in a Delage.

 

Go here www.g-eng.cam.ac.uk/125/achievements/ricardo 'The Ricardo Exhibition' to learn more about Sir Harry Ricardo's designs. There is a good cross section drawing of the engine.

 

You wouldn't happen to have the photo of the bicyclist riding next to the street/racing car on Avenue des Acacias in Paris?

I've seen that image in a book i borrow from my local library. The word 'BUNNY' is written on the side near the grille.

 

What was he thinking ?

 

Another set of photos by master photographer, Lartigue of the 1913 French GP.

The first photo is Goux in his Peugeot. The second is Boillot the winner of the GP and his Peugeot passing by at 140 KMH or 87 MPH, that fact that he was able to compose these photos with what he wanted to include and capture them at the precise instant shows us how good he was. Boillot again at 140 KMH in the third photo. The forth photo shows the famous duel between Boillot and Guyot, note the soldier guarding the road.

 

Bunny is usually associated with the first Aston Martins although I've yet to see one with it written on, the cars, driver and twin cam engine all get called Bunny. It seems to be something that stuck with Lionel Martin from his Singer days.
Frank Rollason and Bramwell Haywood French GP 1912...

 

Yep. Lots of power and some wild thinking but it's all a little too extravagant for me.

 

It took me a while to find it.

 

A straight eight Duesenberg and driver along with boxer Jack Dempsey posing for a photo at Rogers Airport possibly in the early 20's. The last time we have seen Dempsey on this thread he was sitting in "Dr. Hahn's" Essex racer in Spokane. I have found that there is a Will Rogers airport in Oklahoma City, a Rogers Airport in Rogers, Arkansas and a Rogers Airport in Los Angeles which opened in 1918 and closed in the early thirties. The last one in LA makes the most sense being close to the board tracks and it also appears there are oil dericks in the right side of the photo which were common there.

Jack "Manassa Mauler" Dempsey (June 24, 1895 – May 31, 1983) was an American boxer who held the world heavyweight title from 1919 to 1926. Dempsey's aggressive style and punching power made him one of the most popular boxers in history. Many of his fights set financial and attendance records. He is listed #7 on Ring Magazine's list of 100 greatest punchers of all time.

 

One of the most famous racing photos by Lartigue will finish the off the 1913 French GP.

The first photo is considered by many to be the Mona Lisa of auto racing photos. It is Croquet's Schneider that he finished in 10th place with. The second photo is another Schneider that Champpoiseau brought to 7th. place. The third photo shows the winner Boillot on the other side of the road from the earlier photos.

The forth photo shows Chassagne in his Sunbeam. The fifth photo is Esser in the Baby Mathis. The last photo shows Nazzaro in his teammate Moriondo's Itala. He was forced to abandon the race.

 

Some of my favorite's from the 1912 GP de l'ACF. They are all captioned correctly.

David Bruce-Brown & mechanic, Scudelari.
Georges Boillot & mech, Prevost.
Ralph DePalma & mech, Fagnano.
Victor Rigal & mech, Chassagne.

 

I have been racking my brain most of the night after reading this. I knew i had read something somewhere about Dempsey but i couldn't put a finger on it. Just now it dawned on me to get out my motorcycle book and sure enough there is a referance to Dempsey. He was also good friends with Leslie "Red" Parkhurst. "Red" was the first rider for the Harley Davidson factory team in the early teens.

There, i can go to sleep now.

 

A Gamy hand colored Lithograph of Boillot the 1912 French GP winner.

Kurtis, do you know who the photographer was who took the photo of Boillot about to go under the bridge in your post?

 

Yes i do but i can't think of his name at this time. I'll go to the library soon, maybe later in the week and get back to you.

 

Todays find, a copy of Cyclopedia of Automobile Engineering with a photo of Harvey Herrick in a NATIONAL. I'll post Bob Burnam in the OHIO later

 

Jules Goux and his 1913 Peugeot Indy winner, which was capable of 110 MPH - 177 KPH. Nice National photo Bob. Kurtis, no rush, Thanks.