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February 12, 1908. Montague Roberts in Times Square driving the Thomas Flyer at the start of the New York to Paris automobile race 100 years ago today. Five months later the car rolled into Paree and won, with considerable drama along the way. There's an entertaining account of the competition in the New York Times, which sponsored the event a century ago. View full size. 5x7 glass negative by George Grantham Bain, whose photos illustrate the NYT article.
I've ridden in this same automobile a couple of years ago. It was brought to the HCCA (Horseless Carriage Club of America) 75th Anniversary Convention in SoCal. Before loading up for the return trip back to Reno (National Automobile Museum collection) some lucky attendees were invited to take a few laps around the parking lot! A great highlight of my life.
Notice the wooden plank and the shovels and other gear. No doubt they planned for rough unpaved roads complete with mud and other obstructions.
Also, notice the rifle case hanging in plain sight. Like that would happen today!
Thems was the days.
The Great Leslie currently resides in Texas. Cheers. www.thegreatestautorace.com
The Thomas Flyer is on display at the National Automobile Museum in Reno, Nevada.
Where's The Great Leslie? Professor Fate (and his faithful compendium, Max)? Inquiring girl reporter Maggie Dubois?
Have you ever noticed in many of these old photos of crowds or events that somewhere in the photo there is a cop, here he is right in the center.
A group is setting out, today, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Great Race by retracing the route. This time, they're employing state-of-the-art hybrid vehicles.
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