Wagner and Vivet drove the winning No. 10 Darracq car at the Vanderbilt Cup in 1906. The Vanderbilt Cup race was run at Long Island, New York on the 6th October, 1906.
The victorious Darracq averaged 62.7 mph over the 297.1-mile race.
Most streets where no more than sand and gravel.
This is the reason why Louis Wagner (driver) and Louis Vivet (Mechanic) wore these leather masks, to protect their faces from flying stones and dirt.
Average speed of 62.7, so they must have hit speeds well above that. Without seat belts and those sure don't look like 5 MPH bumpers....
ReplyDeleteIn the second photo Wagner looks like a Tusken Raider from Star Wars and Vivet looks like Lando's co-pilot from Return of the Jedi. Definitely not a pod race. (I'm going to stop now.)
ReplyDeleteThose early racers had two man crews, a driver and a mechanic.
ReplyDeleteI recall reading about an endurance race from the same time period, set in the southwest USA. One of the cars broke down (really, they all did, which is why they had mechanics riding in them). The clutch went out and the mechanic used a couple of tin pie-pans borrowed from a nearby house to rebuild it. Simple machines and inventive men kept those things running.
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