Eddie Lawson (Class of 2002) was born on this date in 1958.
Malcolm Campbell (Class of 1994) was born on this date in 1885....
Troy Ruttman (Class of 2005) was born on this date in 1930....
In 1904, William Kissam Vanderbilt II became one of the foundational figures in American motorsports when he launched the Vanderbilt Cup, the first major trophy in U.S. racing. A lasting icon to this day, the Vanderbilt Cup was introduced a full two years before the initial French Grand Prix and seven before the first Indianapolis 500. The Vanderbilt Cup spurred the involvement of American manufacturers in motorsports and attracted the world’s top racers. Winners included inductees or nominees George Robertson, Ralph De Palma (MSHFA Class of 1992), Louis Chevrolet (MSHFA Class of 1995) and Dario Resta. The races were held in New York, Savannah, Milwaukee, Santa Monica and finally San Francisco before being halted for WWI. Heir to a railroading fortune, Vanderbilt had previously established himself as a world-class driver, scoring several noteworthy victories and finishing third against top-flight European competition in the 318-mile International Circuit des Ardennes in France in 1902. He broke Henry Ford's 999 land speed record for the measured mile by averaging 92.307 mph on the sand at Daytona Beach in January 1904, piloting a 90 horsepower Mercedes racer, in addition to seven other U.S. marks for distances from 5 to 50 miles.
By Howard Kroplick and Art Kleiner of VanderbiltCupRaces.com
William K. Vanderbilt, Jr. (1878 – 1944), the great-grandson of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt and heir to the Vanderbilt railroad and shipping fortune, was a young gentleman who loved speed, in sailboats and automobiles. It was his passion as a pioneering auto-racing driver that led him to bring road racing to America. From 1902 to 1903, “Willie K.”, as his friends called him, took his thirst for automobile racing to Europe where the automobile industry and racing were already well established. After successfully competing in major European road races, he was determined to bring the sport back home to Long Island. In Vanderbilt’s own words: “Foreign cars then seemed to be always about five years ahead of the American cars. If something could be done to induce the leading foreign makers to race in this country, our manufacturers would benefit by it.”
At the age of only 26, Willie K. invited automobile manufacturers to participate in the inaugural William K. Vanderbilt Jr. Cup Race, to be held on public roads in Queens and Nassau counties on Long Island on October 8, 1904. As America’s first major international automobile road race, it attracted automakers and drivers from here and Europe. The winner received a one-year loan of a Tiffany 30-pound silver trophy donated by Vanderbilt (on display in the “Nation of Speed” exhibit at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., until 2032). Additional Vanderbilt Cup races were held in Nassau County through 1910 (except for 1907) and continued to attract international manufacturers and drivers. Upwards of 250,000 spectators were drawn to the largely undeveloped suburbs of New York City to optimistically watch an American car defeat the more-established Europeans. The first American car and driver to win was George Robertson, in a Connecticut-built Locomobile in 1908. American Harry Grant won in 1909 and 1910, driving the Rhode Island-built ALCO Black Beast. Vanderbilt’s dream of putting American auto manufacturing on par with Europe was finally achieved as American manufacturers began producing some of the best automobiles in the world.
Crowd control issues and several fatalities during the early races caused local officials to try several times to stop the races.
Amazingly, only one spectator was among those killed from 1904 to 1906. Vanderbilt then envisioned a private parkway, a safe, smooth, police-free road without speed limits where he could conduct his beloved international races without having spectators run onto the course.
In December 1906, Vanderbilt invited wealthy friends and auto manufacturers to invest $2 million in a public company to build the 48-mile parkway, which was the first privately owned concrete paved highway and the first road with banked curves, non-skid surfaces and no grade crossings. Anyone willing to pay the $2 toll could travel down the nation’s first limited-access toll road, envisioning they were racing in the Vanderbilt Cup Race and enjoying the countryside. Operating only between 1908 and 1938, the Long Island Motor Parkway laid the foundation for motoring not just on Long Island but for all of the nation’s automobile enthusiasts.
The American automobile trade and motorsports would not be where they are today without Vanderbilt’s vision and his passion for speed.
Historian Howard Kroplick is the creator of the award-winning website VanderbiltCupRaces.com, an authority on William K. Vanderbilt, Jr., and author of books on the Races and the Parkway. Art Kleiner is a contributor to the website, manager of its research library, and Parkway tour guide.