The Washington herald., 1912-09-16
GASOLINE GOSSIPBy SPARK PLUG
COST OF WINNING
VANDERBILT CUP
Enormous Sum Spent by Owners and
Manufacturers to Capture the
Famous Trophy.

| On Saturday next at Milwaukee two
dozen or more owners and manufacturers
of motor cars will wager from $4,000 to
900 apiece on the chances of their car
! winning the famous trophy donated by
William X. Vanderbilt Just eight years
| ago. That this is a modest estimate of
| what II costs to construct and race a
| car capable of making a fair showing in
| the Vanderbilt contest is vouched for by
men who have had long connection with
the racing game. And the high cost of
| racing has been steadily climbing with
the call for more speed.
Charles A. Emise, who directed the
racing fortunes OF the Lozier. which has
been prominent in American road and
track events for the past five years.
claims that foreign and American car
owners and manufacturers have spent
more than 100000 in their efforts to
win the Vanderbilt Cup.
Cup Is Highly Valued.
The entry lists Of the seven years In
which the race has been run show a to-
tai Of 13i cars that have actually started
in the Vanderbilt race" says Mr.. Emise.
The cost Of building these cars. main-
tanning a racing crew, and the expense
3,
and afford a striking idea of the value in
which the cup is held by motor car
owners and manufacturers Take the
foreign cars, for instance. Practically
all the foreign cars taking part in the
Vanderbilt race have been specially built
racing machines. In few instances have
these cars cost less than 5000 to build,
and the cost Of shipping them to Amer
lea with q big retinue of mechanics and
M ~
well over $4,000. In many cases two or
more specially built cars have been sent
over by the same company for the Van
derbilt race. To the average man these
figures may seem an outrageously large
investment and out Of all proportion to
and possible benefit to be derived from
winning the cup. But in the early DAYS
OF the race the Vanderbilt contest was
practically the only opportunity offered
the foreign makers to present their cars
to the American public in a favorable
way. Wealthy Americans who were in
the market for expensive foreign cars
had adopted the habit of measuring the
cars worth by the position in which it
finished the Vanderbilt race. It simply
behooved the foreign maker. then. to get
into the game. and an outlay of sSo, 900
was not at all unreasonable II the sale
OF fifty or sixty of his $4,000 product
followed in the wake OF a Vanderbilt
victory.
Foreign Makers Interest Declines.
TT is interesting to note the change of
attitude that has come over the foreign
makers with regard to taking part in
American races. While there are still
several foreign cars active In American
road racing, only two makes represented
In the first Vanderbilt will again be seen
at Milwaukee on the 21st. With the i'm
mr. 1arr of hA
cessive defeats in the Vanderbilt race.
European makers have gradually with
drawn from contests in this country.
This is well illustrated by the entry lists
OF the years 1904 and 1910 In the former
year only five of the twenty entrants
were Amerioan-built cars, while in 1910
twenty-seven OF thirty-one cars entered
were OF American manufacture.
Vanderbilt Race Has Cost o Lives.
THE cost Of running the Vanderbilt
race for seven years has not been en-
tirely paid in money. Five lives have
been forfeited in the efforts to win this
famous trophy. So great was the hostil-
ity Of portions OF the press and public
toward the first race in 1904 that an
Injunction was served on the promoters
at the last moment In an attempt to
have 1t declared OF. But In spite of
wretched police surveillance only one
death occurred, the machanic OF a for
eign car being killed when the car left
the course. When compared with the
record of fatalities in aviation. even for
the past two years, automobile racing
cannot rightfully be called a dangerous
sport. 1t has played an important part
in the development Of the motor car, and
there are few good American cars built
to-day whose makers have not profted
by the lessons learned from racing.