Kleiner’s Korner: “Big George” Robertson and “Fireball” Glenn Ethridge tell their story of winning the 1908 Vanderbilt Cup Race
At a 1951 dinner in Philadelphia given by "Antique Automobile", Robertson and Ethridge delivered their account of winning the 1908 Vanderbilt Cup Race in "Old 16" 34 years earlier. With flair and adventure, the attendees got a true flavor of riding along with these racing icons.
Their descriptive tale was written up by Edwin S. (Ned) Jordan in the March 5, 1951 edition of Automotive News. Jordan (Nov. 21, 1882 - Dec. 30, 1958) was founder of the Jordan Motor Company in 1916 and went on to be a writer, advertising executive and automobile industrialist throughout his long association with the industry. He was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in 2010.
Grab your seat belt and enjoy!
Art Kleiner
Find the reference to the Long Island Motor Parkway - lol!
Comments
AT the time of the interview in the early 1950s George Robertson lived in the Village of Bellerose , next to the village of Floral Park where my family has resided since 1924. Robertson lived about a 10 minute walk from my house. Crawford Robertson , his son, lived in Garden City in an apartment house just east of the old Garden City Hotel and Crawford, Austin Clark and I frequently would meet and go out to lunch together. Hard to imagine that this was 50 years ago.
Great reading Howard. Thank you for posting. Do we have a bio of Mr. Ethridge?