1904 Vanderbilt Cup Race
The First International Road Race Held in the United States
Location: Nassau and Queens Counties, Long Island
Date: October 8, 1904
The inaugural William K. Vanderbilt Jr. Cup Race in 1904 was the first major international road race in the United States. Although William K. Vanderbilt Jr. was only 26, he was heir to a transportation fortune and had figured prominently in auto racing for nearly 10 years since sponsoring auto races as a teenager. After six hours, 56 minutes, and 45 seconds, George Heath’s French Panhard was the first car over the finish line for the 1904 Vanderbilt Cup Race, averaging 52.2 mph. Only one minute and 26 seconds behind in total time, the Clement-Bayard finished in second place. What followed over the next six years was a tumultuous spectacle of romance, intense competition, and reckless danger.
Related Posts
Course
- Car Coming Part II: A Celebration of the 1904 Vanderbilt Cup Race Course
- Film “The 1904 Vanderbilt Cup Race Course”
- The Location of the 1904 Vanderbilt Cup Race Grandstand in Westbury
- Another View of the Westbury 1904 Vanderbilt Cup Race Grandstand
- The 30-Mile Course for the 1904 Vanderbilt Cup Race Course
- Then & Now: The 1904 Vanderbilt Cup Race Course in Floral Park
- Then & Now: Extant Structures on the Vanderbilt Cup Race Courses (Updated: 7/31/2019)
- Then & Now: The Vanderbilt Cup Race Grandstands & Press Boxes in Westbury
- VanderbiltCupRaces.com Exclusive: Krug’s Hotel in Mineola During the 1904 Vanderbilt Cup Race
- Then & Now: The 1904 Vanderbilt Cup Race Course Through Hicksville
- CSI Challenge: How Many People Attended the 1904 Vanderbilt Cup Race?
- Then & Now: The Massapequa Turn for the 1904 Vanderbilt Cup Race
- Mystery Foto #7 Solved: Jericho Turnpike in Floral Park Looking Towards the LIRR Bridge
- VanderbiltCupRaces.com Exclusive: Amazing Aerials from the Cradle of Aviation: #1 1956 Mitchel Field
- Kleiner’s Korner: Alternative Courses of the 1904 Vanderbilt Cup Race
- The Queens section of the 1904 Vanderbilt Cup Race
Crowd
- Another View of the Westbury 1904 Vanderbilt Cup Race Grandstand
- Was the “Man in the Leopard Coat” the Inspiration for Jay Gatsby?
- VanderbiltCupRaces.com Exclusive: Krug’s Hotel in Mineola During the 1904 Vanderbilt Cup Race
- CSI Challenge: How Many People Attended the 1904 Vanderbilt Cup Race?
Drivers
- Joe Tracy Honored By Race Fans
- Driver Profile: William Luttgen Part I: The 1904 Vanderbilt Cup Race
- Driver Profile: George Heath- The First Vanderbilt Cup Race Winner
- A Family Member Seeks Information on a 1904 Vanderbilt Cup Race Driver Edward Hawley
- A Request from the Son of the Winner of the First Motor Parkway Race: Herb Lytle
- Archives: Joe Tracy
- Rare Images Series #2: Vanderbilt Cup Race Driver Joe Tracy
- Vanderbilt Cup Race Driver William Wallace Jr.‘s 1911 FIAT Touring Car
- Driver Profile: Frank Croker (1878-1905)
Cars
- The Royal Tourist in the Vanderbilt Cup Races (1904-1910)
- Peter Helck’s Packard Gray Wolf Cover Painting for The Packard Cormorant
- The Packard Gray Wolf- One of America’s First Lightweight Racers
Images and Photo Galleries
- Rare Photos of the 1904 Vanderbilt Cup Race Discovered
- Three More Spectacular 1904 Photos
- Never Before Published Vanderbilt Cup Race Photos from a 1904 A.L.A.M. Scrapbook
- Archives: 1904 Vanderbilt Cup Race
- Peter Helck’s Packard Gray Wolf Cover Painting for The Packard Cormorant
- 108th Anniversary of the 1904 Vanderbilt Cup Race
- Nathan Lazarnick: The Pioneer of Automotive Photography
Films
- Film “1904 Vanderbilt Cup Race”
- Video: “1904 Vanderbilt Cup Race Centennial Celebration” October 2, 2004
- Film: A Tribute to Joe Tracy
- Film “The 1904 Vanderbilt Cup Race Course”
- The Mystery Segments in the Film “Old 16- An American Legend”
- Film “The Greatest Vintage Automobile Event Ever Held on Long Island”
- Video: Howard Kroplick Interview “Vanderbilt Cup Races of Long Island” on Davidson & Company
- Video:“The Location of the Start/Finish Lines of the 1904 and 1906 Vanderbilt Cup Races”
- Film of the Week-The Classic Races:The Vanderbilt Cup (1904-1960) and the 1966 Bridgehampton 200
Vanderbilia
- The Drop Box Mystery at The Henry Ford
- Peter Helck’s Packard Gray Wolf Cover Painting for The Packard Cormorant
Articles
- The Drop Box Mystery at The Henry Ford
- Peter Helck’s Packard Gray Wolf Cover Painting for The Packard Cormorant
Related Stories
- Vanderbilt Offers the Cup
- The American #4 Pope-Toledo Taking the Jericho Turn
- The American #16 Packard “Gray Wolf” Taking the Massapequa Turn
- The French #14 Panhard at the Hempstead Control
- The American #16 Packard Gray Wolf at the Hempstead Control
- Arents Crashes in Elmont
- Crowds Venture on the Course
- George Heath Wins Averaging 52.2 MPH
- Clement Protests Race
- Profile of the Winner George Heath
- The “Curve of Death” in Jericho
- Riding in the #6 Pope-Toldeo
- Nassau Farmers Protest Race
- The Map of the 30 Mile Course
- The Garden City Hotel
- Crowds Gather
- Crowds Wore Their Finest Clothes and Hats
- Filming of the Race
- The French Clement-Bayard
- The American #6 Pope-Toledo and the French #7 Panhard
- The American #17 Simplex Filled with Holes
- Race Participants Celebrate Again at the Garden City Hotel
Never figured out why a gatehouse was erected in this area.