Mystery Friday Foto #20 Solved: Ralph DePalma in the 1914 Vanderbilt Cup Race and the 1908 American Grand Prize
A Mystery Friday Foto 'twofer' this weekend of a race between two racers, and another photo of a driver and mechanician.
For Mystery Foto #1, Identify;
- The driver and car on the left
- Race, date and location
- Outcome for the car and driver
Ralph DePalma driving a Mercedes to victory at the 1904 Vanderbilt Cup Race held in Santa Monica, California on February 26, 1914.
- Kudos question; Identify the car and driver on the right
Barney Oldfield driving a Mercer to a second place finish
Bonus Mystery Photo #2
Ralph DePalma who drove a FIAT to a 9th place finish at the 1908 American Grand Prize Race held in Savannah, Georgia on November 26, 1908.
Comments (5)
Congrats to David Miller, Steve Lucas and Ariejan Bos for correctly identifying Ralph DePalma and Barney Oldfield battling at the 1914 Vanderbilt Cup Race.
Kudos to David Miller and Ariejan Bos for identifying DePalma at the 1908 American grand Prize,
Greg O. and Howard Kroplick
________________________________________________________________________________________________
The best documentation of the 1914 Vanderbilt Cup Race is a Mack Sennett-produced slapstick comedy starring Mabel Normand, Ben Turpin and Charlie Chaplin called Mabel at the Wheel. Actual scenes of the race, won by Ralph DePalma in a Mercedes, were used as part of the film.
Friday Mystery Foto #1
See questions above
Friday Mystery Foto #2
Nathan Zang emailed a photo of a newly acquired postcard in his collection asking for some insight into the photo.
The caption reads; 'DePalma "FIAT"'
Is the caption correct? If so, can you place the date and race? Currently unknown.
If the caption is wrong: Identify the two men and their location.
Comments
This is Ralph DePalma driving a Mercedes in the Vanderbilt Cup Race in Santa Monica California on February 26, 1914. Ralph finished first in the race. The location here specifically looks like the infamous “death curve”. The car on the right is a Mercer driven by Barney Oldfield.
Bonus mystery photo #2: My only guess for this picture is that if this is Ralph Depalma, it’s when he was part of the Fiat team for the “American Grand Prize Race” in Savannah Georgia held on November 26th, 1908. He finished 9th.
In foto number 1, the #12 car is a Mercedes driven by Ralph DePalma in the process of winning the 1914 Vanderbilt Cup Race on Thursday, February 26, 1914 in Santa Monica, CA. The car on the right is a Mercer, driven by Barney Oldfield, who finished second behind DePalma.
... wonderful photos this week!
The first photo was the most straightforward: it shows on the left the winning Mercedes with Ralph DePalma at the wheel during the 1914 Vanderbilt Cup (Santa Monica, 26 February). On the right the Mercer of Barney Oldfield, who would end up in second place.
The other photo was slightly more complicated, but shows Ralph DePalma during the 1908 American Grand Prize (Savannah, 26 November), where he would finish on 9th place in a Fiat. The uploaded photo shows that the head gear and goggles of both driver and mechanician are identical. Wagner would win the race on another Fiat.
Know Mystery Foto #2 is solved, but below is a few images of Ralph DePalma for comparison. Absolutely him, but no luck with his passenger/mechanician.
I found a list of drivers and mechanicians in the 26 November 1908 issue of Motor Age. All Fiat mechanicians appeared to be Italian, as was the case with the Itala participants. Which made sense of course. DePalma’s mechanician was Bordino, who would become a famous racing driver himself.
Ariejan - A quick search on the site here produced a comment of yours, almost 10 yrs ago. You were aware of Pietro Bordino back then, too. You’re an excellent researcher : )
Thanks for the compliment, but I’m even amazed now myself 😊