The Washington herald., 1911-02-12

The year 1910 witnessed a great re-
vival of public interest in automobile
speed and endurance contests A half
dozen years ago automobile enthusiasts
were aroused to fever heat over the
marvellous contests Of speed IN the great
struggles for the Vanderbilt trophy down
on the Long Island roads. Manufactur-
ers began preparations for this event
months in advance. The race was talked
about and discussed all over the world.
and careful plans were laid IN the big
factories of the world n an attempt TO
win the Vanderbilt trophy. and incident
ally, increase the sales OF cars, q result
certain 10 follow victory.
A car won, and II became IN day
famous throughout the world The de-
| feated contestants went homo to build
and plan anew. Bigger and more power
| full cars were built Weights were re-
duced, and still bigger motors were con-
| ceived, until monstrous machines ft only
| for a race course were contending for
| honoFs. Thousands upon thousands Of
dollars were spent ON these racing
| '+frealss- until the manufacturers grew
| tired of the enormous expense, and in
|
| who had been playing this game the
hardest agreed that the result did not
| justify the enormous expense, and rae
ing was stopped.
When American Cars Were Beaten.
| The American manufacturer had been
too busy building cars to take care of
the apparently Unsuitable demand to go
into the racing game against his big
| IL
had found out that it needed automo-
| biles, and lots of them, and every Amer
lean factory was working night and day
attempting the almost impossible task of
building enough automobiles to supply
| the demand.
a few times one or two American man
ufacturers had in the fall paused long
enough in their work to tune up one or
Two cars, and after few hurried ex-
periments with a view to making them
faster, had entered them in the big an
nual contest. A few times the manu-
facturer had even been ambitious enough
to build two or three racing cars, but
he had not hoped to win, and as a rule
made but a sorry showing The Ameri-
can public year after year was forced TO
view with chagrin the spectacle OF Amer
lean cars entering races on American
ting in advance that all they expected
was to see the American cars make a
good showing"
With the agreement of the foreign man.
ufacturers to withdraw from racing came
the opportunity of the American builder.
He conceived the idea of racing with his
stock car. Here was a form OF contest
that was inexpensive. He had learned
through the hard service to which his
had hai
in touring over the rough country roads
of America how to build a car which
would stand up and endure, and with
bigger motors and the increased demand
for bigger cars and more power, he had
learned also how to build for speed.
The First Road Race.
In 1907 the Vanderbilt Cup race had
almost become a memory, and automobile
racing had become, in America as in |
Europe, apparently thing of the past. |
A number of manufacturers and dealers |
conceived the idea and entered an agree !
ment to conduLs a road race between |
stock cars, or cars they were building |
or selling to their customers. This in |
yolved little expense, for the cars re- |
quired no special preparation, it being |
only necessary to strip them down to |
racing condition and start them away. !
The Briarcliff race, held in New York |
City in April, 1905 was the result. and |
it furnished one of the most interesting |
and most stirring road races that had
ever been seen in America
A foreign stock car won, but the-Show- |
ing made by the American cars gave |
demonstration of the fact that the Amer
ican builder was learning how to build a |
car that would at least make a showing |
much more creditable than had ever
been witnessed in former racing events.
Even before this the idea of a contest
between stock cars had been put into ex-
ecution in twenty-four-hour races. In
Philadelphia the season before an Amer
ican-built LoZier had won twenty-four
hour race. defeating the Mercedes and
Darracq, both of these makes of cars
having been winners or important fac
tors in the big Vanderbilt cup race; and
later in the season at Brighton Beach,
N. Y, an American Thomas and a Lo-
zier had finished first and second in
events, again defeating
the Darracq, as well as a De Dietrich.
Pilafn, and De la Haye, all of them cars
prominent in the great road-racing events
OF the world. At Morris Park in the
same year the Renault and Fiat had each
won a twenty-four-hour event, but the
American cars had run them hard race
and had left the Hotchkiss and De |.
Dietrich in the rear.
Stock Cars in Racing Events.
These events marked, the beginning of
The supremacy of the American stock
car in racing contests limited to the
lass of cars built and offered for sale,
Ior in 1915 two American Lozier cars
inished first and second, defeating a
,oreign-built Renault and Fiat and
thirty days later an American Simplex
epeated the performance by winning the
Iecond Neutrality-suspicious. race, an Amer
can Lozier finishing second, and both
ars defeating, in addition to the Fiat and
2enault, an imported Zust. In fact, In
III of the twenty-four-hour races of 1908,
9O9, and f910 American cars were, with
me or two exceptions, universally vieto-
ious.
rack races and their splendid showing
n the road race at Briarclin encouraged
he American builder to engage in other