Racing at the Beginning of the Automobile Age in America

The Quest for Speed

In real life, however, an out-of-control automobile could prove to be extremely deadly, especially when it came to racing. The origins and early history of the automobile in America are closely tied to competitions, whether it was endurance and reliability runs, road racing, hill-climbs, or oval track events. Indeed, the automobile took on new significance in American life when, on November 28, 1895, “The Race of the Century” took place in Chicago.⁵⁴

Sponsored by the Times-Herald and run during a snow storm, Frank Duryea won the race between Chicago and Evanston and back. 

While rival newspapers were harshly critical of the event, the race sparked America’s fascination with the automobile. Racing resulted in considerable publicity and this fact did not elude many of the early manufacturers, including Alexander Winton, Henry Ford, and Ransom Olds. Match races, high-speed runs, competitions on the glass-smooth beaches at Daytona and Ormond Beach, Florida, and the Vanderbilt Cup races on Long Island that began in 1904 became very popular during the first decade of the twentieth century.⁵⁵The first generation of American race heroes included Willie K. Vanderbilt, and Barney Oldfield. Oldfield’s name would become a household word. All the way to the 1960s, Drivers, when they were passed by a reckless speed demon, commonly said “Who does that guy think he is, Barney Oldfield?”⁵⁶

Of the early U.S. race drivers, perhaps no one stands out as much as William Kissam Vanderbilt II, affectionately known as "Willie K." His activities reflect important themes related to first decade of auto racing, one in which society's upper crust played a dominant role in the story of the automobile in American life. Born in New York City in 1878 to William Kissam Vanderbilt and thus was called Vanderbilt Jr. until the death of his father, he grew up living in luxury. Raised in Vanderbilt mansions, experiencing European travel at an early age, and sailing around the globe in his father's yachts, Willie K. enrolled at Harvard but left after his first year. For a time, and beginning with a ride in a steam car in France at age 10, the automobile captivated him. In 1898 he purchased a French De Dion-Bouton tricycle, and later other vehicles that he used to speed to his parents Long Island estate, Idle Hour. In 1904 Willie K. set a new land speed record at Ormond Beach near Daytona, and later that year he organized the Vanderbilt Cup, the first important American trophy race. The Vanderbilt Cup was America's answer to the Gordon-Bennett Cup races held in Europe, and showcased the competition between the U.S. and European manufacturers. Europeans dominated the road race until 1908, when American George Robertson finally took home the honors for the U.S. 

Tracey finishing in the Vanderbilt cup race, for racing cars sponsored by W.K. Vanderbilt, Jr.(LC).

Because of crowd control problems and the 1906 death of a spectator, beginning in 1907 Willie K. organized a firm that built the Long Island Motor Parkway. His 48-mile toll road was not only used in future competitions, but led to the economic development of Long Island. Later involved in long-distance sea and air voyages, exploration, and a very messy divorce, the Vanderbilts’ involvement with the automobile ended tragically when Willie K.'s son, William Kissam III, died in an auto accident in South Carolina while traveling back to New York from the family's Florida estate.⁵⁷

Vanderbilt Race, W.K. Vanderbilt, Jr.'s "Mercedes"

W.K. Vanderbilt, Jr.'s "Mercedes" in cup race [Vanderbilt Cup Auto Race] 1908 (LC).

W.K. Vanderbilt Jr's "Mercedes" taking gasoline [Vanderbilt Cup Auto Race] 1908 (LC)

In contrast to the wealth and privilege that came with being a Vanderbilt, Barney Oldfield was a brash and hardscrabble outsider. Oldfield (1878-1946) lived through an impoverished childhood while working a host of manual jobs before he began racing bicycles towards the end of the 19^thcentury. His big break in automobile racing came in 1902, when he agreed to pilot Henry Ford’s 999 racer, and winning a highly publicized match race against Alexander Winton. The first driver to go a mile a minute in a closed course, he doubled that speed a year later. And while he never won the most prestigious of events – the Gordon Bennett Trophy, the Vanderbilt Cup, or the Indianapolis 500, Oldfield, more than any other driver of his era, shifted the focus of auto racing from the car to the driver, and from a sport being dominated by well-to-do elites to the middle classes. Oldfield, seen chomping on a cigar as he waved to the crowd while taking the checkered flag, or coming out of the dust on the outside of the track, excited the public imagination with thoughts of speed, exhilaration and courage. Wearing little protective gear so that spectators could see his face and demeanor, Oldfield became the human face to a sport where drivers were now recognized as being at the heart of competition as much or more than the cars.

Photograph shows Berna Eli "Barney" Oldfield (1878-1946), an early automobile racer. (Source: Flickr Commons project, 2015) (LC)

Race between Lincoln Beechey in airplane and Barney Oldfield in automobile, going around race track, June 28, 1912. (LC).

A second type of competition took place on public roads, emphasizing reliability over speed. Of these contests, the Glidden Tour was preeminent. Typically more than 1000 miles in length, it was held between 1905 and 1913. Automobile owners rather than professionals usually drove the entered vehicles, although a number of manufacturers piloted their own cars. With different locations set from year to year, the Glidden tours were held to demonstrate which makes of cars were best. And indeed, the runs clearly showed that existing suspension and chassis designs were for the most part inadequate for the largely unimproved roads that existed in the America of that day. These results enabled the leading luxury marque Pierce-Arrow to establish an enviable reputation among the well-to-do.⁵⁸

Events became trans-national as well; the 1908 New York to Paris race featured seven cars from France, Germany, Italy, and the United States, with a Buffalo, New York-made Thomas winning the 17,000-mile event.⁵⁹And while road racing’s popularity would decline somewhat by 1910, as critics of the blood sport were increasingly heard, the construction of large closed circuits like Indianapolis and wood plank circular racetracks across the country beginning in 1913 ensured that automobile racing was here to stay as an important spectator sport in America.⁶⁰That same year the mass-produced Ford Model T was introduced. With its low cost and reliability, even an Alabama farmer at the wheel of a modified Model T at the local county fair could at least think he was driving like Barney Oldfield.