Here is a good early mystery to unravel if possible. I found this photo on the Connecticut Historical Society site. While I am very familiar with Columbia automobiles I do not believe I have seen anything about to them in racing but they may have tried their hand at it. Any of you sleuths out there know anything about them actually competing? From the appearances I am guessing this car from 1904-05. Maybe this car was intended for the Vanderbilt Cup Races? The photo is captioned, Eddie Bald driving a Columbia racing car at Charter Oak Park, West Hartford. They did manufacture a conventional four cylinder automobiles with both chain and later shaft drive. This car has the appearance of having the engine inside of the surface mounted radiator. The chassis looks like a typical double chain drive chassis and may have been their production chassis. The Columbia Automobile Company was a leading early Hartford, Connecticut, United States manufacturer of automobiles. The Columbia Automobile Company was created as a joint venture of the Motor Vehicle Division of the Pope Manufacturing Company of Hartford, Connecticut, and the Electric Vehicle Company in 1899. At the turn of the Twentieth century they were producing and selling hundreds of vehicles a year under Pope's Columbia brand name. .
I have a few entries for Columbia, but apart from two second place finishes they collected mainly retirements. 1907-05-30 Benning 100 mile dirt race: Ralph Mongini, Columbia "30", ret 1909-07-10 Ferris Trophy Santa Monica (CA): Harold Stone, Columbia "29", ret 1909-09-07 Yorick Club Trophy Lowell (MA): John Coffey, Columbia, ret 1909-10-09 Fairmount Park Philadelphia (PA): John Coffey, Columbia, ret 1909-10-30 Wheatley Hills Trophy Long Island MP (NY): R. W. Wilcox, Columbia, 2nd 1909-11-06 Cactus Derby Los Angeles to Phoenix: Harold Stone, Columbia, 2nd 1910-10-01 Vanderbilt Cup Long Island MP (NY): Harold Stone, Columbia 411 CID 4-cylinder, ret 1913-01-01 San Diego (CA): Al Lambda, Columbia, ret Incidentally, most retirements happened in the first couple of laps.
Staying with the 1922 & 23 Grand Prix seasons for a moment i thought i'll share a story of a great Italian, possibly the greatest. the driver FELICE NAZZARO In 1906, at the age of 26, Felice Nazzaro was the greatest driver in the world. With his effortless and immaculate technique he stayed at the top, retiring from premier level racing after almost 25 years in the most dangerous game in the world. A cagey driver, Nazzaro would often hang back at the beginning of a race, waiting for the leaders to fail and then pounce into the lead, sometimes making the fastest lap in the process. Nazzaro was very young when he started work in the workshop of the Ceriano brothers {FIAT founders} and he was soon competing for the new FIAT racing team. He won the Padua 200 mile race in 1900 at the wheel of a red FIAT and the 1901 Giro d'Italia in a 6hp FIAT. A popular star in numerous Italian races early in the century, he even became an idol abroad with a brilliant second place finish for FIAT in the Gordon Bennett Cup of 1905. Slight of build, gentlemanly of nature and immaculate in dress, his skill as a driver, mechanic and diplomat, earned him the position as 'works' driver alongside Vincenzo Lancia in 1905. 1907 was Nazzaro's greatest year. He won the three most important races in the world, the Targa Florio in a FIAT 28-40hp, the Kaiserpreis in Germany in a FIAT Taunus and THE most important race on the calender, the French Grand Prix in the FIAT 130hp F2 racer. On the 8 June 1908, Nazzaro set the auto speed record at 193kph for 2.75 miles and briefly exceeded 200kph, the first driver in the world to do so. Felice Nazzaro, like Lancia and the many other successful drivers of the period, also wanted to try his hand at producing cars. The First World War was looming and FIAT had begun to withdraw from racing,so in 1911, together with some colleagues, he founded 'Nazzaro & C.Fabbrica di Automobili' in Turin. Initially his name was enough to ensure sales of the first model, the Tipo 2, powered by a 4.4 litre four cylinder side valve engine which emerged in 1912. His race team though, generally beset with mechanical failures had some notable success in motor sport. !n 1913 he won the Targa Florio for the second time, driving a Nazzaro Tipo 2, putting no less than three hours between himself and the runner-up! A couple of years later an improved model, the Nazzaro Tipo 3 was released. The company organisation however was weak and along with the ravages of war, the company went into liquidation in 1916 after having produced around 230 cars and some 50 trucks. At the end of the war Nazzaro tried again, this time at Firenze. 210 examples of the Tipo 5, a 3.5 litre overhead cam four cylinder powered car were built and a Nazzaro GP car, driven by Guido Meregalli won the 1920 Targa Florio before Nazzaro finally gave up Nazzaro Automobili for good. Meanwhile FIAT. who due to the war had all but stopped racing in 1912, had returned in 1921 and Nazzaro had joined the team again. His team mate was Pietro Bordino, who had been riding mechanic for FIAT and who was now regarded as the world's fastest driver. But it was Nazzaro, now 42 years old and nine years from the last time he had raced in an important long distance event, who won the 500 mile, 60 lap 1922 French Grand Prix at the fast 8.3 mile Strasbourg circuit, driving the FIAT 804/404 2 litre six cylinder racer. He had been at the wheel for 6 hrs 17 min 17 secs and had averaged 79.2mph for the 500 miles. He had also driven the fastest lap at 87.75mph. Only three of the eighteen starter's made itto the finish. After the win it was remarkable how fresh Nazzaro seemed, but he was, as always, tireless. Sadly the race was without tragedy for Nazzaro, when another FIAT, driven by his nephew, Biagio Nazzaro, broke a back axleshaft, lost a wheel and overturned with fatal results. Nazzaro had narrowly escaped death earlier in the year in an identical incident at the Targa Florio and after seeing the pointy end of a very dangerous era in motor racing, he must have been seriously considering a quieter lifestyle. Later in the year he finished second to Bordino in the Italian Grand Prix and finished second again in the European GP in Italy, his last significant race result. Nazzaro would step aside for the younger Bordino at the end of 1923. At the end of 1924, FIAT closed down their race team and Nazzaro was appointed head of the competitions department for existing cars and continued until FIAT, after Bordino's spectacular one race comeback and Grand Prix win at Monza in 1927, finally withdrew from racing in 1929. We can only speculate on how many more races Nazzaro would have won, had the war not denied him of ten years of racing at the peak of his driving powers. In 1940, after a long term illness, Felice Nazzaro passed away in his hometown aged 59 years. Unknown author. * Felice Nazzaro died 60 years ago yesterday* Just some quick notes for a better understanding of the events of 1922/23. In 1922 the ACF changed the rules on engine displacement in a move intended to combat rising speeds. The maximum engine size was reduced from 3 litres to 2 litres. FIAT responded with a six cylinder in the 804 model but would redesign a new powerplant for the 1923 season. The new car, 805/405 now had a straight eight double overhead cam engine with the first ever supercharger in a Grand Prix. This engine developed 130hp at the start of the year but when the Wittig blower was changed to a conventional roots type for the Italian GP, power rose to 150hp at 5,500rpm giving it a top speed of 132mph. In reference to Biagio Nazzaro's fatal accident it should be noted his mechanic also died. Amid the carnage, Felice Nazzaro went onto win completely unaware of what had happened to his nephew. After the race Nazzaro's winning car was examined and was found to have a crack in the same axleshaft. Pietro Bordino would have a relatively successful career until his freak death in 1928. I wrote about this many pages back if anyone is interested. **Unrelated to autoracing** For those who might have an interest in World Football, in 1922 a group of veterans from WW1 who loved the game and also had a motorcycle club formed a soccer club and named it BIAGIONAZZARO for their great respect of the man. If you have an interest here is the link to the club who are still going strong in Italy's amatuer leagues. www.biagionazzaro.it
Still with the 1923 GP de l'ACF @ Tours. The #2 Sunbeam of Kenelm Lee Guiness {4th}, #3 Rolland Pillain of Albert Guyot {dnf}, #6 Bugatti 'Tank' of Ernest Friderich {3rd}, next to him and just in front is a Voisin, behind them is the #9 Fiat 805/405 of Enrico Giaccone {dnf}, and further back is the #7 FIAT 805/405 of Albert Divo {2nd}. The Sunbeam of Henry Segrave at the same race. The Sunbeam's were very similar to the FIAT, atleast in the engine compartment, they were later branded as 'Fiat's in British racing green'
1923 Gran Premio d'Italia @ Monza. The winning FIAT 805/405 of Carlo Salamano stopping for fluids. Also of note, especially to my American friends is the 3rd place finish of Jimmy Murphy in a Miller 122. Running just under 5 minutes behind the second place FIAT of Felice Nazzaro.
Another angle of the Jimmy Murphy Miller 122 running alongside the Voisin of Eugenio Silvani and Albert Guyot at the 1923 Gran Premio d'Italia. Hopefully either Jim or Michael can add something about the Miller 122?? Duesenberg and the other race cars that went over to Europe.
Thanks for the results Michael..... I think this car is maybe from a few years before all of the ones in your results. It is now coming back to me that and I have seen photos of some of the above before. They had more conventional Mercedes style radiators.
Here is a good photo of Navarro in a big Fiat at one of the Savannah races. Kurtis did you get tired of wearing that talking mask? I see you have a new avatar.
I'm sure you are aware that this is a Miller, not a Duesenberg. It was two years earlier that Duesenberg send their cars over to win the French GP. Well, you want a summary of US racing cars in Europe? I'll try: 1921: four new Duesenbergs (two had raced at Indy that year) over for the French GP, finished 1 - 4 - 6 - R, returned to the US after the race, sold to Jimmy Murphy, Harry Hartz, Jerry Wonderlich and Eddie Hearne, all of them running for a couple of years on the Speedways before being "raced to death" on the dirt tracks. 1923: three 1922 Millers with new engines over for the Italian GP, finished 3 - R - R, two returned to the US, sold to Bobby Dunn and Steve Elmore (?) for dirt track racing, one remained in Europe and finished 2nd in Spanish GP, retired 1924 French GP, ran for a time at Brooklands (GB), then sold to New Zealand, and via Australia and the US is now in Germany. 1925: two 1924 Duesenbergs over for the Italian GP, finished 4 - R, returned to the US and sold to Tommy Milton and Ben Jones, raced for a few years on the Speedways, and at least one of them rebuilt into a two-seater Indy Car in 1930 and raced for several more years, both probably ending up on the dirt tracks. 1927: two new Coopers and one 1924 Duesenberg with 1926 engine over for the Italian GP, finished 3 - R - R, returned to the US and raced for another couple of years on the Speedways, the two Coopers rebuilt to two-seater Indy Cars in 1930 and raced for many more years, the Duesenberg fitted with various 4-cylinder engines for dirt track racing until at least 1932. 1930: one new Duesenberg "semi-stock" racing car over for Monza GP, finished 3rd in class and 8th in free-for-all, returned to the US and raced for a few more years on the Speedways and probably dirt tracks as well. 1931: one new Shafer/Buick over for German GP, retired, back to the US and raced for many more years on Speedways and Pikes Peak, won 1933 Elgin Road Race. 1934: one new Moore/Miller and one 1932 Miller 'FWD' over for Tripoli GP, finished 7 - 8, the former back to the US to race at Indy and dirt tracks, the latter raced at AVUS (retired), then back to the US, chassis rebuilt into rear-drive Moore/Miller, engine went into rebuilt Bugatti as the Phillips/Miller, both cars raced in one form or another until after WW2. I hope I haven't forgotten any. There were, of course, several European specials built from US cars such as Buick, Chrysler, Chevrolet, Ford, Dodge, Studebaker, Stutz etc. which I have ignored. I have also ignored Sports and Touring Cars, since I have no interest in and knowledge of these.
A rather interesting photo that I found that was captioned....... Special built Briscoe racing car the ran in the Indianapolis race in a show room in Missouri. I can find no evidence of one having been raced there, perhaps it did not qualify. It looks to be a rebadged and re bodied racing car to promote Briscoe. I am wondering if anyone knows anything about it? Benjamin Briscoe started U. S. Motors which was a organization of several brands simular to the later General Motors. In 1910 bankers invested $6,000,000 in U. S. Motors, but the financing proved inadequate and the firm went into receivership in 1912. Briscoe was forced out and Walter Flanders took over and reorganized the assets as Maxwell Motor Co. (Incorporated), which itself was later reorganized as the Chrysler Corporation. A few months after leaving U. S. Motors, he and his brother formed Briscoe Frères at Billancourt, France, home of the Renault, to design and build a car on the continent according to American methods. The result was the Ajax. A year later the brothers brought out the Briscoe car in America manufactured at Jackson, Michigan but which they promoted as the first French-designed American car. When World War I broke out, Benjamin Briscoe turned his manufacturing facilities over to war production and he never returned to the automobile business. His partners continued to manufacture Briscoe models until 1923.
Yeah, i did. It's my sneaky way of promoting some discussion and staying on topic for just a short while longer. I figured if there are some questions that need to be answered about the Duesenberg or the Miller GP cars, yourself, Jim or T-Head are the most qaulified to do so. Thanks. Here's a small write up about the Duesenberg at the Simeone Foundation..titled Murphy's Missing Duesie. Nothing spectacular, but it's something. www.velocetoday.com/archives/3451
Somewhere I have a picture of this car in one of the magazines of the day with a small blurb but nothing at length. Below I have a pic from Gotoff's scrapbook (Ben Giroux or Ben Gotoff or whatever he called himself on a particular day-second tier racer we have spoken of before). The one picture shows the car on a track and another with the hood off. The date of these pics would probably be sometime in 1915 or 1916. The driver at this time was Louis Lecocq. Louis had worked for the Duesenberg Brothers going back to 1913 and rode and drove several Duesenbergs in competition. I have read that Lecocq drove for Sloan during 15/16 which with this scrapbook which has a number of Sloan cars makes some sense. I would guess this Briscoe (with a Dues engine) was one of the Sloan stable. As some may know Lecocq was tragically killed at Indy in 1919 when his Roamer (owned by Sarles but Sarles picked Lecocq to drive when Sarles jumped in the rebodied Sub). Robert Bandini his mechanic was also killed (both burned to death quickly after hitting the wall I believe). Bandini had only been a riding mechanic for a short time. I have read Bandini had recently inherited quite a sum that made him a millionaire. The Roamer was a Duesenberg as well. Although the other pic I have is nothing special if and when I find it I will post it (I never scanned it-it is still in the original magazine). -Jim
Look what I found yesterday......I was on a private garage tour when I stumbled across this. Most of the complete car is there including the engine that is running and was on the dyno when I was there. That's Ok, go ahead and drool.... HG
If you mean the one folded down in front, I think it's a mesh stone guard which would have been raised to protect the real screen during the race: the main function of the glass one was to deflect airflow away from the driver!
Harley Gene, although I like the car I have heard it was a built car to look like a racecar. I saw it at the Miller Meet a few years ago for sale ( I believe by Boudeman, although I can't swear to that). When I mentioned the car to a couple of guys at the meet they had little good to say about the car for whatever reasons-never dwelled on it I suppose. They were not asking big bucks so I kind of figured it may not have a real racing past but who knows. Here are a couple of pictures of the car.-Jim
Jim and Gene thanks for posting the Duesenberg photos and information. Jim, knowing what you posted I am going to research it a little more. It is an eight valve four engine but I am not sure about the chassis. It is not a Duesenberg double drop frame so it maybe a different or later chassis. We also do not know if it is a Duesenberg racing eight valve or Rochester-Duesenberg engine. Gene, I have seen photos of the car you posted before when it was intact. The motor shown on the dyno appears to be a Model A Duesenberg which was a road car and the first ones were delivered in December of 1921. Quite a few of them were converted to race cars later. What were you told about this car? Thanks, T-Head.
Jim, That could very well be true. I did not ask about the car. To the purists (and that's not a bad thing) it's not a 'real race car', but a running, drivable, race ready Duesy can eat crackers in my garage anyday... HG
Michael although my research of American racers in Europe is quite meager, the mate to the car in my avatar raced in Europe in a couple of events for whatever it was worth. In my correspondence with T.A.S.O. Mathieson he stated the Packard 12 (299 engine #2) raced in the Susa-Moncenisio hill climb (8/1/20) retired halfway up the hill with engine problems, then on 11/13/20 it with Silvani driving at the Gallarate Speed trials made the fastest time of the day at 157.894 KPH (Enzo Ferrari was in an Alfa that day and some have reported that it was this time that Ferrari took his inspiration for his late Twelves-two published articles to that effect). Then on 1/16 21 again with Silvani at the Vermicino-Rocca di Papa hillclimb it made the fastest time of the day. The Baronessa Marie Avanzo then acquired the car and drove it at the Fanoe Speed trials in Denmark (8/20/21)and it caught fire and she drove it into the ocean (I have copies of letters from her regarding her ownership and a couple of pictures). She allegedly was so mad she apparently swore she would trade it for a 501. According to the Ferrari expert and author, Simon Moore, Antonio Ascari heard it and took her at her word and took the Packard in exchange and traded her a 501 Fiat. According to Moore, Ferrari was working for Ascari at the time so he had another run in with the OHC 12. Its last race in Europe was at Monza (10/22/22) where it was driven by Franco Caiselli finishing 9th in the pouring rain.-Jim
Yeah, back to the original. I was feeling a little lonely wearing that. Not to mention the sweat and itchiness.
The joint venture seems strange as they appear to be competitors in 1907 and Columbia not a company but a brand. (edit:} of the Electric Vehicle Co ...badge engineered Popes? (edit2): It appears the Electric Vehicle Co was set up as a subsidiary of Pope in 1899 which explains why their 1907 models appear near identical, I wonder what the extra $250 was for. (edit3) Pope made their first gas car in 1903, its looks like a prototype of their 1905 Vanderbilt car.
Gerry Mathieson who ran the Miller here in the 30s was quoted in a local article as saying he got in touch with Miller as he had trouble getting it to run properly and Harry told him he 'should never have let it out of the country' which probably had a little to do with Duray selling the FWDs to Bugatti. http://historicspeedway.co.nz/Henning's.htm
Let's try these? This is Bill Castle's Miller from Indy....Imagine that a guy from Indy having an Indy race car....I 'think' he told me that Cliff Durant drove this car in '21 or 22? This engine roars. I have heard it and it sounds mean! HG
Turn the sound up...Here it is before the disassembly last week. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zbvq8fT7oyU HG
The Jalopy Journal
