Thanks Jim, I believe I have a version of this photo. Yours is very sharp and clear,I`ll save it in my digital collection for reference. We share a similar interest. I am a member of the PRR historical Society. I have thought about asking the membership if they have any info/photos of the PRR and racing cars. I`m sure the PRR had to be involved in transport to Altoona,Uniontown,etc. I read that one of the largest expenses of running a racing team in the board track era was rail transportation.
Here is the photo of the rail car I`l like to see in better detail. I model racing cars and railroads in H.0. (1/87) scale. Someday I`d like to get a car like that and letter it like Barney`s railcar. Probably an adapted baggage,circus or horse car.
Buildy somewhere I have a copy of the photo of Oldfield's cars although I have not seen it for quite some time. That may mean it is either of questionable quality or buried in a file somewhere or both. If I run across it I will see if mine is any clearer. Cool picture nevertheless. Back in the eighties I spoke twice to Mrs Herbert Book the widow of one of DePalma's partners in his racing company (DePalma Manufacturing Co-circa 1916). Her husband and brother in law Frank Book were young Detroit millionaires that enjoyed the racing cars and DePalma after bidding adiou to EC Patterson (patron of his 1914 GP Mercedes-Patterson did not like the bad press of sponsoring a German car allegedly in the wake of the great war-so the Book brothers took over the sponsorship along with some other cars). The Book brothers were glad to go into the racing business with DePalma to help defray the costs of the racing cars. In speaking to her, I learned firsthand that some if not most of these racers needed rich patrons to help defray expenses such as the rail shipping, which as you pointed out was not cheap by any means. I find this whole aspect of early racing to be fascinating. Even Oldfield had Eddie Maier the wealthy west coast brewer/distributor helping with the costs and right after his experiment with the Maxwell we spoke of above, David Joyce the wealthy lumber barron bought Barney the 14 OHC Delage when he couldn't get his Bugatti to go fast enough. Burman had his patron LC Erbes dumping tons of money into his projects. I think the more one is to dig into these times we could find some of the most fascinating stories ever to be told, only thing so little of what can be told has ever been written down. Hopefully someone will take on this herculean project and write a book on it.
Paging Joe Freeman,paging Gary Doyle.... Thanks Jim for sharing your knowledge of this era of auto racing!
I have just borrowed and read a copy of John Lucero`s book on Legion Ascot. Ralph DePalma features very prominently in here, andthe interviews at the end, especially with Historian Doug Boyd are really interesting. As an aside, The picture of Rex Mays Gilmore Special as restored on P 209 with it`s owner, Bob Drollinger....well, I remember Bob being a member of the Super Fours Dry Lakes club in the late `80`s, along with Kong Jackson,Bruce Johnson, Mark Dees and Wes Cooper...(and me..)
Kurtis another great pic-forgot about that one. Buildy as to Joe Freeman and Gary Doyle either or both would be at the top of my list to write a book on the topic. I know I have mentioned it to Gary Doyle but he keeps pretty busy. The other thing is that there are not too many original articles written on the topic and no one around anymore to tell the tall tales. Maybe some of the newspapers of the day would be a great resource. Other than that I have only run into a series of small blurbs on the topic. In my recent conversations with Bill Castle recently we spoke of all of the Millers that Cliff Durant had Miller build in 1922 and 1923. Were it not for Durant I am not sure Miller would have stayed in business. Many thanks to Cliff on that score. William Small put up enough cash to build seven cars (Monroes mainly but Frontenacs were a beneficiary of his largess) for the 1920 race (although Small wanted some publicity and Louis was very obliging in that regard). We think of the great racecars during this "Golden Era" but for every great racecar there was an even more impressive wallet behind it. That has never changed and never will-today it is corporations although back then it had some wealthy sportsmen behind it and they got very little ink for the most part-just enjoyment I guess. Pretty cool era-Jim
Some more Maxwell photos. I would like to know the names of the mechanicians. Does the Gary Doyle book have the names of mechanicians listed? 1915 American Grand Prize. San Fransisco. Barney Oldfield. DNF Eddie Rickenbaker. DNF
Kurtis, more great pics-clearer than what I have. Not sure which book of Gary Doyle you are referring to. The mechanicians get a bit of the short end of the stick. Occasionally they will be mentioned and of course they were registered but finding the records may be tough. It seems when they were mentioned it was generally in relation to the injuries they suffered when they were thrown clear or the car turned turtle or whatever. No one seemed to go into great detail as to their prowess of airing up the fuel tank or using the oil pump. These guys actually helped as another set of eyes and in those days the driver and mechanic were the only ones allowed to work on the car in the pits so they were nice to have aboard. Plus a good mechanic that knew the workings of the car was invaluable. I seemed to remember DePaolo crawled across the hood of DePalma's Ballot at speed trying to put out a fire in the 1920 Indy classic. It is one thing to be driving these cars at or near 100mph but to be a passenger holding on for dear life with no safety equipment-they had to have had a pretty big set.-Jim
I have George Hill Usually riding with Oldfield. Eric Schroeder was usually riding with Rick. I do have copies of some hand written records with riding Mechs for 1915,but I don`t have the Pan Pacific records. If you are interested,I can post some results with riding mechs on here.
A cool thread! My dad and I go to Hershey every year for the swap-meet. Several years ago at the Saturday show we got to help push start a Mercer Raceabout. It was Yellow, had the ORIGINAL paint still on it. An amazing car. The sound of it was something to be heard. The 427 Shelby Cobra of its day.
"Is that a Moto Meter beside the radiator cap on both of these cars?" Yes, Moto Meter type devices were common on the racers even into the 20s.
Heres some pics of the Maroonish-Brown Mercer that was at Hershey this year. Have pics of the yellow one, somewhere...
Lindley Bothwells "Traveling Circus"...traveled up and down the USWC putting on recreations, they even re-ran a few of the early road races. I have a good article from the 50's on it, when they recreated the Santa Monica GP?
Yes. That would be great. I have a record of most of the Mechs. in the Lazarnik Collection also, although i don't know if they are accurate. If i recall, the 2nd edition of "The Golden Age of the American Racing Car" book has a list of all Mechs. so it may not be a Gary Doyle book as i had previously thought. As Jim said, it would be wonderful to know the names behind those brave faces and the faces we can't see.
Sure,I will post some of the results-they were written by Floyd Clymer I believe. Moto meters were usually right oon the cap. Not sure why the Maxwells had them mounted alongside.
Tank, I heard that both the yellow Mercer you speak of and the maroon Mercer from this year had "new" original paint. And yes it sounded great. I'm betting someone that drove the yellow car will post in the AM.
No,they ARE both original paint cars and the red one was owned by Jerry Helck since the 1940s.... Unless I was lied to.....
Kurtis and Buildy it would be great to find out where a list of the mechanics during this era would be available. It is not in my copy of the Golden Age (Borgeson's book). Kurtis if you have it in your 2nd edition let me know. I have some of the mechanics but my records are pitiful for any type of order. It would be nice to see a list that has some semblance of credibility (and order). FB that article would be kind of cool. I had heard of some staged races but did not know of an article-Jim
First race of the 1915 season. Sorry for the low-res-this is how I found them on e-bay.... Chicago 1915 with a very nice list of Riding Mechs. 1915-Sheepshead Bay.
Jim, I don't have the Borgeson book but i seem to recall reading about it's contents somewhere. It may have been a discription from an E-bay seller. I did a quick check and found the Dick Wallen 'Boardtrack' book has a list although i don't know how extensive that list may be. I'll try to put a list of all the info i have from the Lazarnik photos. Thanks Buildy.
Yes, the Eastman house collection and some from the Chicago Library. Some are as early as 1904 i think. Nearly all the descriptions are from the road races. Elgin, Cobe Cup, American GP, some Vanderbilt, Fairmont Park and i think some of the smaller races. I found this on the net some time ago but i haven't been able to find it since. It's good that i made a copy.
Not sure if this link has been posted but here before but if so check it out again. http://www.chuckstoyland.com/national/racing/index.html
The Jalopy Journal
