13 replies to this topic

[smarjoram]

Some of the hi-res scans on the Shorpy site are fantastic - you can really imagine being present at the scene...

http://www.shorpy.co...?size=_original

[HDonaldCapps]

The Rockville (MD) Fair race, 1923 is an excellent photograph from the period. The same for the photo of Brighton Beach 1910; this particular photograph is great in that it gives you an idea of the area in which the track was located, something far too often overlooked when this period is discussed. This is a great photograph.

[smarjoram]

I agree - terrific atmosphere. I love the way the slit-scan shutters make the moving cars lean forward - I tried to build my own shutter to get the same effect but it only works at slow speeds as it's manually operated - got some interesting effects though.

[dbw]

that might just be an American Underslung .....


restorers may note the fine finish on the first racer...typical of the period.

[fines]

Wow, excellent! A picture of Don Moore as a young man!!!

You may chose not to believe it, but this guy, together with his (presumably younger) brother Frank "Babe" Moore raced Sprint Cars until the early fifties! I believe they originally hailed from Richmond (VA), but Don's home is sometimes given as Washington (DC), or Boonton (NJ). According to the press, he was "in his early fifties" in 1939 already, so that would make him about thirty in this pic - believable!

[fines]

Originally posted by dbw
that might just be an American Underslung .....

There were several car companies going by the name "American" in the early 20th, but this does indeed look like an American Underslung. Willie Haupt up, the car did not even survive the first lap!

[fines]

Originally posted by HDonaldCapps
The Rockville (MD) Fair race, 1923 is an excellent photograph from the period.

A nice "dropframe" Duesenberg leading the field! Those gorgeous cars were already ten years old by then, but still good enough to win a lot of dough on the halfmiles and the fair circuit. Hmm, that star on the radiator cowling is very distinctive - might that be "Texas Red" Shafer? To be sure, I have him driving a Duesenberg at the Orange County Fair in Middletown (NY) just a week earlier --- but the car is described as being "black"!

[smarjoram]

Today there's a fantastic picture of the 1920 Pikes Peak winner outside the Hummer Motors Showroom (is that the same Hummer as the celebs use these days?)...

http://www.shorpy.co...?size=_original

[MPea3]

The Thomas Flyer. Listed under cities and sports.

[sramoa]

A nice "dropframe" Duesenberg leading the field! Those gorgeous cars were already ten years old by then, but still good enough to win a lot of dough on the halfmiles and the fair circuit. Hmm, that star on the radiator cowling is very distinctive - might that be "Texas Red" Shafer? To be sure, I have him driving a Duesenberg at the Orange County Fair in Middletown (NY) just a week earlier --- but the car is described as being "black"!

 

The white Duesenberg possible Reich's car, and possible X6 in the photo was #16 Frank Ripple "canadian champion" in Disbrow car.

 

Other entries were:

#55 Bunce (Haynes 12)

#18 Reich (Duesenberg)

#61 Fetterman (own Special)

#32 Johnny Rose (Benz)

#14 Condon (Wisconsin)

#17 Jack Cottrell (Frontenac)

#66 Clark (Marmon)

[ReWind]

G�bor Talm�csi WC 125cc in2007
Ferenc Szisz first GP winner in 1906
Zsolt Baumgartner 1 point in F1 2004

 

You definitely should update your signature.

Norbert Michelisz will become depressed if he ever sees it.

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by HDonaldCapps
The Rockville (MD) Fair race, 1923 is an excellent photograph from the period. The same for the photo of Brighton Beach 1910; this particular photograph is great in that it gives you an idea of the area in which the track was located, something far too often overlooked when this period is discussed. This is a great photograph.

Staged or was there a camera mounted on a competing car?

The impact of the photo is fantastic, either way...

[Michael Ferner]

Ray, that's a picture taken from the pace car during the "warm up"/"parade" lap(s), they're not racing!

[Michael Ferner]

The white Duesenberg possible Reich's car, and possible X6 in the photo was #16 Frank Ripple "canadian champion" in Disbrow car.

 

That's a good call, actuaslly - you don't see a Disbrow every day, but this is indeed a bonafide Disbrow car! And directly behind it, in the dust, that could well be a Haynes Twelve.

 

This is the "travelling circus" of Austin C. Wilson, former AAA driver and car owner from Eastern Ohio or Western PA, iirc. Most of the drivers were from the same area, and they toured some Eastern seabord states in the early to mid twnties. Strictly "carnie business", you see... flying the flag of the "Midwestern Motor Contest Association", and that name did not accidentally conjure up images of IMCA's "show biz racing"!! Wilson advertized in the grand manner, drivers like "the well known millionaire sportsman George Clark", which may have been his real name but he definitely wasn't thew famous IMCA driver George Clark from Texas! Also, "Red Fetterman of board track fame" wasn't realy I. P. Fetterman, the AAA National Championship race winner, but his kid brother, Nat Fetterman instead. And the "Benz Special" wasn't really a German Benz, but a nondescript American special built by Leo Bentz... I have even a date for this event, August 25, but no results... Likely it was a contest between Frank Ripple and Jack Cottrell, the only drivers with at least some credentials in this gang. Maybe Benny Bunce or Nat Fetterman, but the rest was a positively obscure lot!