Greg O’s Garage; The Horseless Age’s dislike of auto racing
Not every publication liked early auto racing, and The Horseless Age led the charge against it.
The early years of motoring and racing were not always looked upon favorably. While most publications of the day enjoyed the new sport of auto racing, The Horseless Age was not a fan.
Greg O.
Racing Hate
In 1905, just after the second running of extremely popular Vanderbilt Cup Races, many publications such as Automobile Topics and The Motor Way were wildly reporting on the Cup race and extolling the virtues of the races, the cars, and the daring, fearless drivers. The Horseless Age's position couldn't be any more opposite.
A more scathing article against racing could not have been written in the October 11th, 1905, issue. Siting deaths from 'freak [racing] machines' and creating a 'false conception of the purpose of the automobile', they did not hold back of their hatred of the sport.
A long-used adage of automobile manufacturers has been, 'Race on Sunday, Sell on Monday'. Even very early on, this was realized to be true by many racers and car makers alike. Technological advancements made at the racetrack have always translated to better production cars and sales, but Horseless Age was not having it and disagreed vehemently, stating that 'argument will not hold'. They viewed racing as a dangerous, reckless sport even on racetracks, much less on public roads. Bluntly stating; "Automobile racing is both suicidal and murderous- A spectacular and peculiarly offensive way in which to commit suicide, and a horrible way in which to take the lives of others."
"Racing is without a redeeming feature. Track racing is dead, having been killed by its own usefulness...Road racing, too, is nearing its end, being kept alive now only by much nursing in the hands of those whose selfish ends it serves. Soon it, too will die, for the public will no longer tolerate it, and the sober majority of the auto industry are heartily sick of its brutal follies and excesses." Could their insight into the future be possibly any more wrong?
The Horseless Age did finally come around and see the usefulness of racing, but not until around 1911, about the same time as the start of the Indy 500.
The insurance companies certainly were not in favor of racing either and refused to insure any race driver.
Vanderbilt Cup Coverage
While other publications writing endless exciting articles for weeks before and after the races, The Horseless Age's lackluster coverage amounted to about a half page. The October 18th, 1905, article was written in a very matter of fact fasion without any of the excitement displayed in other publications and placed towards the end of the issue.
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