Feb 13 2023

Mystery Friday Foto #6 Solved: William Wallace Jr. and the #19 FIAT


Did you identify William Wallace Jr. and his #19 FIAT in the Peter Helck artwork?

Mystery Foto questions

  • The ‘Gentleman driver’

William Wallace, Jr., He was chairman of the Massachusetts Automobile Club race meet committee and a member of the national racing board. Wallace was also a vice-president of the Boston Insurance Company.

  • What was unique about this driver?

Wallace was the only Vanderbilt Race commissioner to drive in the races.

  • The race car

Wallace drove the #19 90hp FIAT.

  • The race the car participated in and its finish

Finished 18th (Last Place). Wallace experienced a defective clutch in Hicksville during lap 1 of the first Vanderbilt Cup Race, October 8th, 1904.

Comments (3)

Congrats to David Miller and Jim Clark for identifying Wallace and the #19 FIAT.

Greg O

The #19 FIAT at the start/finish line in 1904.

Images from the 1904 race program.

Helck’s original artwork.


The Checkered Flag by Peter Helck (Pages 50-51)


Comments

Feb 11 2023 David Miller 4:58 PM

I’m thinking that this “gentleman driver” might be William Wallace.  Just surmising that maybe he was called that, and what made him unique was that he was the only Vanderbilt commissioner board member that also drove in a race.  The car looks like it could be the 90 hp Fiat.  The exhaust headers coming out of the side seem to substantiate this.  This car finished last (18th) in the 1904 Vanderbilt Cup Race.

Feb 12 2023 Jim Clark 10:29 PM

- There were several gentleman drivers in that era but this one is likely William Wallace.
- William Wallace was the only Vanderbilt Race commissioner to drive in the races.
- Fiat
- 18th place (last) in the1904 Vanderbilt Cup race.

Feb 12 2023 Steve Lucas 10:41 PM

Ran out of research time this weekend so I’m going with some guesses. Could this be Foxhall Keene, who was not only an accomplished race car driver, but was also a champion polo player and proficient in equestrian riding, football, shooting, and tennis. And also a millionaire stock broker. Still guessing: the car could be Keene’s Mercedes racer with which he participated in the 1903 Gordon Bennett Cup but did not finish due to a broken axle.

Mar 02 2024 Douglas Donderi 5:21 PM

The mechanic is my great-grandfather, Antonio Donderi.  He came from Italy with Fiat, and stayed in New York and opened a garage in Queens, NY.

Leave a Comment