Mystery Foto #34 Solved: The N6 Cadillac Getting Ready to Start in the 1908 Nassau Sweepstakes
Did you identify this weekend's Mystery Foto?
Answers to the Mystery Foto questions:
- Identify the following:
- the race car, its manufacturer and model
1906/1908 Cadillac Model G (Possibly Model S)
- The driver
F.W Darmstadt
- The race and date of the photo
The 1908 Nassau Sweepstakes held on October 10, 1908- the opening day of the Long Island Motor Parkway
Kudos question: Who was the photographer?
According to the Detroit Public Library, the original source, the photographer was Nathan Lazarnick.
Comments (5)
Congrats to Greg O., Dick Gorman and Steve Lucas for identifying the N6 Cadillac that raced in the 1908 Nassau Sweepstakes.
Shout-Outs to Roger Price and Sam Beliner III for identifying the 1906 Cadillac.
Kudos to Steve Lucas for identifying Nathan Lazarnick as the Mystery Foto photographer.
Enjoy,
Howard Kroplick
Close-Ups
Other 1908 Nassau Sweepstakes Racer Photos from the Detroit Public Library
N1 Mitchell driven by W. Olney. Finished 3rd. Note the matching Mitchell sweaters worn by Olney and his mechanician.
Great shot of starter Fred Wagner with the N1 Mitchell.
N3 Buick driven by Charles Ewing (C.E.) Easter. Finished 1st, averaging 44 miles per hour.
N5 Mitchell driven by H.R. Cousins. Finished 4th. In the first image, Cousins was speaking to starter Fred Wagner. Note: Like the # N1 team, Cousins and his mechanician are wearing matching Mitchell sweaters.
N6 Cadillac driven by F.W. Darmstadt. Finished 6th.
N7 Buick driven by L.H. Titus. Finished 5th. The Buick just passed the Ellison Road LIRR Bridge in Westbury
N8 Reo driven by A.F. Camacho. Finished 7th.
Comments
#N6 Cadillac driven by F.W. Darmstadt. Finished 6th on Sept 10th 1908 during the Nassau Sweepstakes.
Purely a guess here on the photographer, but I’ll say William Pickering.
Mystery Foto # 34… The race car is a 1908 Cadillac. The driver is F.W. Darmstadt. The race was the 1908 Nassau Sweepstakes for stock cars costing less than a $1000… The Cadillac finished 6th. The race held on October 10, 1908.
Howard,
To me, it looks like a 1906 Cadillac. It had a one cylinder engine under the seat.
Don’t know where the photo was taken. I’m sure that some of our fellow members will know.
Rog
Early Cadillac stripped down from something like the ‘06 Tulip with that odd inverted front axle with truss rod stiffening. Sam, III
According to the Detroit Public Library, that’s F. W. Darnstadt driving a 1908 Cadillac Model-S in the Nassau Sweepstakes on October 10, 1908 with Nathan Lazarnick as the photographer. However, the car may actually be a Model-G. According to the website http://www.newcadillacdatabase.org, the Model-G had the company name embossed on the radiator but the Model-S did not.
FYI… Long time subscriber to this blog and champion Mystery Foto solver Tim Ivers passed away back in March. Tim was a friend when we grew up in Uniondale back in the 40’s and 50’s. I saw him very occasionally when we had a Hempstead High School reunion. He moved to Florida at some point and I lost track of him for a long time, relocating him on the Vanderbilt Cup blog of all places!!! He sure was good at solving these Mystery Fotos. R.I.P.Tim.
Thank you for letting us know, Roger. I bet a good part of his overall knowledge of history is due to being with the Nassau County PD for almost half of century. Is it just a coincidence that his wife’s maiden is Gorman?
Yes, it is a coincidence. I didn’t know that till I saw the obit.
Dick, it (finally) occurred to me that aviation pioneer George C. Dade, founder of the Cradle of Aviation Museum [<http://sbiii.com/aviation.html#dade>], about whom I’ve written in these posts, was married to Edith Motte Gorman (apparently of Connecticut). If you wish, contact me at sbiii at sbiii dot com. Sam, III
Thanks for the mention of my dad, Tim Ivers—he had an incredible memory and loved to research LI history—not to mention segments of the old LIMP ran not far from where he worked during his time with the NCPD (8th Pct). I have memories of him taking myself and my siblings along the old electric tower right-of-ways than ran along some of the paths that were once part of the pkwy.
I’m just now learning about Tim Ivers’ passing. Sorry to hear about this. My belated condolences to the family. Tim, as a blog participant as myself, was well knowledgeable of early Motor Pkwy history, and capable of answering the toughest questions on this blog. Working half a century at NCPD, adjacent to the former Motor Parkway, no doubt this was an opportunity for P.O. Ivers to record and learn about the former parkway, and as it slowly deteriorated and disappeared throughout the years. I wish I had the opportunity to have met Tim.