The Waterbury Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1917-1946, 1940-09-28

bOLn Gne exterior ana interior OF
the Palace are being dressed up for
the, big event. In this face-lifting
process, the large Lexington avenue
marquee is being repainted andf1uo-
resent lighting installed to give
more brilliance to the entrance. New
fluorescent lighting also win make
the lobby a gayer, more inviting
place, and there also will be new
modern ticket offices. Further
more, 10000 square feet of new wood
flooring have been laid on the main
floor, while all four floors to be
used for the show are being renovat-
ed and redecorated one way or an
other. And while construction and
installation work proceeds in the
building, hundreds of exhibits, NOV
ing and otherwise, are being pre-
pared for the admiration of the Wis
iting public, and are either in course
of building or en- route to Grand
Central Palace from many distant
places.
Old-Timers Plan
While, of course, the new cars
themselves naturally are to be the
chief attraction at Motordom's an
nual gala affair, Show Week this
season will be replete with a num-
Der of novel events. One of these
will be get-together of many vet
Grams Of the industry for the Old
Timers Day luncheon at Hotel
Roosevelt on Wednesday, October Is,
and the following day there will be
a luncheon given by the show COM
mittee to a score or more famous
racing drivers, both active and re-
tired. Among those invited are
Henry Ford, who once held the mile
Straightaway record of 80 As sec
onds, and William K. Vanderbilt,
Jr., who created the mile record of
80 seconds at Ormond Beach, Flori-
da, in 1904, and donor of the original
Vanderbilt Cup. Other old-time pi-
lots invited include Barney Oldfield,
who began with Henry Ford'S ia
nous $685.; Percy Owen, driver of
the American entry in the James
Gordon Bennett Cup race at the
turn of the century; Webb Jay, who
became famous with the "Whistling
Billy" White Steamer; Fred Mar
riott, whose record of Is LIS seconds
a mile made at Ormond Beach, Flo
rida, stayed for many years; Ralph
De Palma, famous racing champion,
who, during his career won 2,557
races and special events; Walter
Christie of the front wheel drive
and early Vanderbilt Cup Race
fame; Louis Chevrolet, for whom
the famous car was named; Frank
Kulick, who made records with some
of the earlier Ford cars; George H.
Robertson, first American to win
Vanderbilt Cup race back in 1908;
Ray Harroun, winner of the first
500-mile race at Indianapolis; Joe
Dawson of speedway fame; Caleb
S. Bragg who as an amateur did
most of his racing with profession
ais; Ralph Mulford, famous 24-hour
race winner; Captain e. v. Ricken-
hacker, who drove and won many
automobile races before he became
a World War ace in the Air Service;
Montague H. Roberts, winner of the
New York to-PariS race in 1908; Guy
Vaughan speed star. who has since
become president of the Curtiss-
Wright Airplane Company; Joseph
Tracy of early road racing fame, and
others. Among the notables also
will be Oscar B. Mueller, who drove
in the first automobile race held in
America back in 1895 when he fin
ished second to Charles E. Duryea
in the Chicago Times Herald race,
covering distance Of So IL miles
at the sensational speed of z IL
miles per hour.
Many Rare Specimens
While the glistening new 1891
models are being displayed on the
lower floors Of the Palace, there