History Auto racing 1894-1942

I wonder if that is the first straight eight? I count eight cylinders and exhaust ports. If not the first here in this country it must be near it. It also appears to have OHV valves.

 

It's aircooled too, was Franklin building any race cars that early?

 

I don't know but this car looks a lot like our favorite OHC monster the Premier which was also built in 1905.

Premier started in 1902 and I am just wondering if that could possibly be Fisher and maybe Premier built this car for him also????

 

Same builder???? Some similarities.

Where is Harlem Illinois? I wonder if there are any race coverage in the Chicago papers where the race was? If so it may give info on the makes entered? Unfortunately I don't have time for the search, to many cars here to fix and to little time......

 

Hi Harley and the Gang:

Thanks for the feedback on my website. Much appreciated!

The car could be the Premier which was built for the 1905 Vanderbilt Cup Race with Carl Fisher as the driver. The car never competed in the American Elimination Trial for the Vanderbilt because it was 300 pounds over the max weight:

http://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com/i..._premier_vanderbilt_cup_race_that_never_raced


Enjoy,


Howard Kroplick
East Hills, NY

 

A friend of mine called me today to say, " Hey Gene, come see the old race I found in a barn yesterday".....well, almost ripped the hinges off the door getting out of here. Here ya go and what is it?
HG

 

That's a Mercury body for a T (although they DID make them for Chevrolet as well)- FANTASTIC find!!!

 

NICE FIND! When someone says Mercury that is what first pops into my mind. The one Bill Harrah has was one of the best IMO

 

There was one restored a while back that the shop took MANY pictures of during the process... needless to say my "right click" finger got a little sore

I'll see if I can scare them up and the few there are of the Chevy that I found online.

 

I have not been having great success for the last couple of years with magnetos sent out for rebuilding. Most of them I have had to redo a lot details to get them to work right.

So I took the plunge and educated myself to the point where I was comfortable trying my hand at it. I am fortunate to have a good coil rewinder not to far away which is a big part of it. Reusing old ones can be trouble and the condenser which is inside the biggest brass end housing sometimes goes as most rebuilders leave the old one in. I found a supply of modern condensers with the correct rating after some searching. They are less than half the size of the originals so I am able to put in two of them, both wired in which leaves a spare if one goes bad.

The other key is to recharge the magnets as they lose their strength with time. A friend has a magnet recharger that I am able to use until I find my own.

This mag is a German Bosch ZR4 Two Spark as was produced from around 1914 - 1930's

The rest of it is relatively straight forward. I was able to get this one finished up so it could test it today using the lathe to spin it and I was delighted to find out it works fine. By tying it down to the lathe I can run it 1500 rpm and really test it out at the speed it will be turning on the car and run it until it gets warm.

The first photo shows a rewound coil and the two ends. The second photo shows machining the slip ring smooth and true. The high tension current passes from the brass segments to carbon brushes which then transfer it down the line to the rotor. This is a two spark mag which is why you see the two leads set up for testing. The cap and rotor are not on and I am testing it with two wires like what feeds the rotor.

 

All good guesses but neither car seems to fit any of the classes at the race meeting. Not even the Harroun Custom i mentioned.
At first glance the driver has many similarities to Earl Kiser and an even quicker glance at the car reminds me of the Tincher that Onelung was seeking info and identification just recently.

BTW, Welcome Howard. Great to have you onboard.

Race results below.

Harlem, Chicago. IL.
May 27th-30th May 1905​

27th-5 miles, Interclub Thomas Trophy-Heat 1
1- Walter Christie - Christie -0:05.10
2- Carl Fisher - Pope-Toledo - 5 laps
27th-3 miles, Touring cars + 3 passengers-Heat 1
1- Charles Soules - Pope-Toledo - 0:04.08 43.51mph
2- Jack Frey - Apperson - 3 laps
3- Charles Coey - Thomas - 3 laps
Heat 2
1- Jerry Ellis - Apperson - 0:04.40.0 38.57mph
2 - Edgar Apperson - Apperson - 3 laps
3 - George Bird - Premier - 3 laps
27th-5 miles, Stock cars - 881-1432 pounds
1 - W.F.Winchester - Franklin - 0:6.16
2 - Ray Harroun - Harroun custom - 5 laps
27th-10 miles Open
1- Web Jay - White Steamer - 0:11.36 - 51.68mph
2- Ollie Savin - Pope-Toledo - 10 laps
3- Ray Harroun - Harroun custom - 10 laps
29th-5 miles, Cars, $2.000 + under
1- Charles Coey - Thomas 0:6.45 - 44.4mph
2- J.McDuffie - Stoddard-Dayton 5 laps
29th-10 miles-Chicago Owners Handicap
1- Jerry Ellis - Apperson - 0:13.21 44.9mph
2- H.M.Dailey - Pope-Toledo - 10 laps
29th-5 mile Challenge Race
1- Charles Coey - Thomas - 0:6.22 - 47.12mph
2- J.McDuffie - Stoddard-Dayton - 10 laps
30th-10 miles Open-Heat 1
1- Web Jay - White Steamer - 0:10.45 - 55.8mph
2- Jesse Illingworth - Packard Gray Wolf - 10 laps
3- Dan Canary - Thomas Flyer - 10 laps
Heat 2
1- B.Oldfield - Peerless 'Green Dragon' - 0:10.30 - 57.1mph
2- Jerry Ellis - Apperson - 0:10.40
3- Earl Kiser - Tincher - 10 laps
30th-10 iles Open Final
1- Web Jay - White Steamer - 0:9.49- 61.08mph
2- B.Oldfield - Peerless 'Green Dragon' - 10 laps
30th-5 miles-Cars, $2.000 + under
1- Joseph McDuffie - Stoddard-Dayton - 0:6.36 - 45.41mph
2- J.W.Hayden -
30th-5 miles-Match Race
1- Charles Coey - Thomas - 0:16.4 - 47.82mph
2- Edgar Apperson - Apperson - 5 laps
30th-5 miles- Interclub Thomas Trophy-Heat 2
1- Louis Chevrolet - Fiat - 0:04.54 - 61.6mph
2- Web jay - White Steamer - 0:04.58
30th-10 miles-Grand Handicap
1- Jesse Illingworth - Packard Gray Wolf - 0:10.29
2- Earl Kiser - Tincher - 10 laps
30th-Special Event
1- Web Jay - White Steamer - 0:04.58 - 60.4mpg
2- Louis Chevrolet - Fiat - 5 laps​

N.B. The Interclub Trophy was given by Dr. Harold E. Thomas to the winner in competition between the Chicago and New York Auto Club's.

​

 

The Harlem, Illinois. Washington Park track was one of two horse racing tracks in the area at the time and until 1881 it was known as South Park. It was one of Chicago southside's largest and most popular ammusement spaces during the early 20th century. Banded by 51st and 60th Streets on the north and south, and South Parkway { now Martin Luther King Drive } and Cottage Grove Ave. on the west and east, the park occupied a total of 371 acres and was located approximately 6 miles south of the central buisness district { The Loop }. The International Exibit and Race Meeting was held at the track in September 1900. The May 1905 race meeting was the first time the Chicago Auto Club held an event there.

 

Great find HG. I can see you sitting in that thing. There might be a little more room compared to the dirt cars i've seen you wheeling.

Excellent tech info you have been posting lately here and on the Banger Board thread. Many many thanks.

What car will this mag be going to?

 

More info about the Mercury Speedster body find.
HG

http://www.coachbuilt.com/bui/m/mercury/mercury.htm

 

Howard, I regard your site so highly I let that article throw me off Premier according to this article the 1905 car never showed for the weigh in...

New-York tribune September 23, 1905

and to muddy the waters further I see a pay news article summary speculating the Premier entry is to be a six.

This is also said to be Carl Fisher at Harlem 1905 in what looks more like a Pope...

 

Sorry I should have explained, that one is going on a Mercer Raceabout. I am rebuilding four of them at the moment, three four cylinders and one six.

They were used in both four and six cylinder versions on racing and high performance cars of the day with two plugs per cylinder. The last use of this type of mag I have seen is on an SSK Mercedes that we rebuilt, so they were used from the teens to the early thirties.

The more common mag is a single spark that was used on many cars and trucks of the time.

 

Quote: ehdubya:This is also said to be Carl Fisher at Harlem 1905 in what looks more like a Pope...

I agree with you, it has many of the features including the water jackets that were on the Pope-Toledo photo we looked at a while back in the 05? VC elimination race. Neat photo.

 

There's dozens of great Chicago area pics here...
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpcoop/ichihtml/cdnSubjects19.html

Pullen Elgin 1912...

 

A different photo of a Hudson we have seen before.

 

Seeing Harley Gene's Merc body reminded me that I took a pic of a Merc bodied Ford at the Glenmoor Gathering several years ago. If you had to drive a Ford from this era it is not a bad way to go-Jim

 

Here are some Mercury pics- the first is the Chevrolet and the last is the more recent resto:

 

Hello Howard,

Thanks for your wonderful site! Can I make a request for more pictures of the 1936 & '37 races? FYI, I have added a few IDs to the photos on this page: http://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com/i...up_race_photos_from_the_nassau_county_divisio

 

Just bringing this one back as among the new 1936 pictures on Howard's excellent website is one showing the Alfa Romeo team in front of the garages. You can clearly see the beginning of the word ITALY above one of them.

@ Howard: do you have any details - over and above what can be found in Cliff Rueter's book - on the ARCA race meeting held at Roosevelt Field in 1937? And can I seond Michael's request?

 

Richard, thanks for the Brian Lewis ID - I wasn't really familiar with his face, and the only picture I could find in a hurry was one with lots of racing grime on his face!

Any ideas on the unidentified man in the Shaw/Nuvolari picture?

 

Pretty snappy dresser, so likely Italian Just a guess, but I wonder if it might be Giovanni Canestrini, the Gazzetta dello Sport journalist? Try as I might, I can't find a picture of him!

 

A little action from the Minnesota State Fair track, the photo being dated 1935.

 

I found this additional info from before Chevrolet was a household name, Monday was wet which is why the faster cars ran on the Tuesday overlapping an Empire City meet.

Code:

The San Francisco Call Sunday May 28th
Ten -mile open 
first heat— Won by Webb  Jay 20 horsepower Ollie Savin, 30 horsepower second R. W. Harroun, 20 horsepower third Time. ll:36 2-6: 
Second Heat Won by.Barney Oldfield, Carl Fisher second 
Ten miles $1000 purse, open— Won by Webb Jay's 20 'horsepower Carl Fisher's 50 horsepower, second Ollle Savin's 30 horsepower third."J Time.l10:20. ' 
Louis Cheriola in Major C.J.S  Miller's car, broke the track record for mile made by Carl Fisher, Cherlola made the second lap in :58 4/5

This looks like the start of an open race with Whistling Billy's hind just visible on the left, next ?, then Soules Pope, Harroun Custom, Green Dragon and Tincher 60

 

Another racing photo from the Minnesota State Fair. This one is captioned the Northwest Championship 1932. I do not know if there were divisional championships back them. Can anyone clarify this?

 

A photo just surfaced from 1915 of Edward Waterman who won 2nd prize of $1,500 in the Fresno Road Race. A link below gives just a little info on Fresno and some of the other road races popular at the time.

It looks like a small displacement 4 - 6 cyl. engine based on the exhaust stubs. Can anyone identify the chassis?

http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Page:Motoring_Magazine_and_Motor_Life_February_1915.djvu/13

 

Charles Root, starter for the 1913 Indy 500.