Gentleman Champion
by Gary D. Doyle
US $80.00 plus shipping
The 9¾ x 6- 7/8 x 1¼ inch well bound hard cover book contains 374 pages of expensive paper to achieve the high quality of over 300 captivating pictures and I regret that some of them were not printed larger, using the whole page width. For its size I found it a rather heavy book due to the quality paper but its dimensions made it still a pleasure to hold in my hands when retreating from kids and dog into my armchair. Gary Doyle used 18 chapters to tell his exceptionally well researched stories about Ralph de Palma his opponents and their races. The appendices begin with analyzing the two illustrators and their art appearing in the book, followed by 13 pages of De Palma’s racing record between the years 1908 and 1933. The fascinating annotated bibliography over 26 pages is inspiring to those who have done research, are doing so now or want to do so in the future. A 6-page index, referring also to some of the pictures, concludes the blue bound book.
The following text extracts (blue font) and photographs are © by Gary D. Doyle and authorized by the author.
1908 Fiat team at Savannah consisted of these three Giants: Nazzaro, Wagner & 25-year old De Palma. © by Gary D. Doyle
We are being told that Ralph De Palma's association with Fiat began in 1908 through the New York Fiat importer E.R. Hollander, who pursued De Palma to drive a "Fiat Cyclone at the Minneapolis State Fair. He established a new one mile record at 52 seconds at this meet. While there is no direct evidence, it is probable that driving the Cyclone extended to the ride in the Grand Prize car at Savannah. Getting Lancia's seat on the best team in the world was a very heady promotion that would prove to be deserved. De Palma inherited Lancia's riding mechanic, Pietro Bordino (1890-1928) as well. Bordino was the son of the Fiat caretaker and Lancia's protégé, riding with him often. Bordino eventually became the best European driver for Fiat in the early 1920s and raced occasionally on American board tracks."
Auto racing giants – De Palma and Bordino, 1908. © by Gary D. Doyle
About the 1912 Indianapolis 500 race: Rickenbacker was there as a driver and sometime later wrote this remembrance. It is one of the most interesting accounts, and Eddie said that De Palma’s show of character after the engine failure "will be remembered as long as the concrete foundations of the Indianapolis Speedway stand. I was there and saw it all."
For one lap Ralph and his mechanic, the Australian Rupert Jeffkins, rode around the big oval at 20 miles an hour. Rickenbacker said the car "crawled like a hurt animal... the crowd groaned." He had led the race from lap three to 197 and some say with his insurmountable lead could have backed off and nursed the car home. The Mercedes expired on lap 199 and the pair got out and pushed the big rig to the pits. While this was going on, Joe Dawson in second place was going as fast as possible to take the lead. The crowd went crazy. They cheered as much for Ralph’s effort as for Dawson’s victory. Many journalist / historians mistake the effort and say Ralph pushed the Mercedes all the way to the finish. He did not. The car was retired with one lap to go. Rickenbacker remembers De Palma as a sweet character, a great gentleman, but having a heavy foot. He always gave the paying customers what they wanted. Earlier in the race Eddie said De Palma’s operation looked like a well-oiled machine. From the pit work to his driving style he felt nothing could stop him. Rickenbacker was out of the race early and a spectator. After that afternoon, Ralph De Palma would always be the crowd’s sentimental favorite and remained the revered hard luck driver for years.
De Palma with the Mercedes through “Death Curve” – 1914 Vanderbilt Cup. © by Gary D. Doyle
I found the following most entertaining. It is a description about the start of the 1914 Vanderbilt Cup (won by De Palma) as observed by "Harry Williams, the colorful sports journalist for the Los Angeles Times: "Ten O’clock was the hour set for starting the race. The cars, stripped and naked, were at the barrier in a quivering line. There was the roar and throb of engines as the hour approached and the speed monsters seemed in an ecstasy of eagerness. The announcer screamed through the megaphone that the race would not start until 10:05 or something to that effect and the roar of the motors died away, petulant and complaining.
"There was another signal from the starter. Instantly there broke out the deep-throated battle cry of the speed monsters as they leaped back into life, their frames palpitating under the throb of their mighty motors. Oh, my!"
The commentators could not stop referring to the race machines in hyperbolic terms. C.L. Edholm in "The Big Races in California," opined, "At fifteen seconds intervals the gaily painted speed monsters, flashing in the sunlight, snorted up to the line, belched blue smoke and flame, and tore away down the straight to 'Death Curve' amid the cheers of the grandstand and the spectators banked along the course." (Motor, 22:1, 48) Staggered starts in early American and European road racing were a necessity for safety. The cars left a trail of dust and smoke due to rudimentary oiling systems and poor road conditions...
The book is full of entertaining stories, presenting deep insight of what racing was like in those early years. Other drivers are not just mentioned by their name but looked at rather closely. Therefore, in the case of David Bruce Brown, it was nice to see not only several pictures but also his birth date appearing for the first time in a book, thanks to research by Robert Dick presented at TNF. This book will be sought after in years to come because it is such an important history of those early years and displays exceptional well research.
The price of US $80.00 is justified, considering that one obtains an unusually well researched period in motor racing and a significant piece of work, heavily illustrated. The book can be ordered here: http://www.king-of-the-boards.com/depalma.htm
