Kleiner’s Korner: Part 1 - The Race that Brought Willie K. “Racing” to America”
Found in the Helck Family Collection are over 30 photographs of the 1903 Paris to Madrid race of which Willie K. Foxhall Keene and Fernand Gabriel participated. Over 200 vehicles were entered in the race, however as a result of multiple deaths during the race the French and Spanish governments stopped the "race to death" early and began to rethink the value of racing on public roads. This could be a contributing factor to Willie K.'s desire to bringing international road racing to America.
Art Kleiner
This series of posts will provide photographs and material found among the Helck Family Collection. First the intended route of the course and our very own Willie K. and fellow Long Islander Foxhall Keene, followed by other cars and drivers.
A Shortened Race
The race ended in Bordeaux when the authorities of both countries decided enough carnage had been done.
Willie K. and his 70 hp Mors
Unfortunately (or fortunately) Willie K. dropped out of the race due to his Mors being outclassed according to this account by Ralph Stein.
Foxhall Keene and his 60 hp Mercedes
Did not finish.
Other Cars and their Drivers
40 hp Darracq (Baras). Finshed 10th in general class.
90 Mercedes (Baron de Caters). Finished 27th.
According to Peter Helck, the man with the beard and cigarette is Baron de Rothschild aside a 90 hp Mercedes.
45 De Dietrich (Barrow). Did not finish due to crash. Barrow contracted pneumonia during his recuperation and eventually died.
Darracq (Edmond). Placed 31st.
80 hp Panhard (Farman). Did not finish.
70 hp Mors (Fernand Gabriel). Peter Helck: "The greatest record in early race history - winner at 65.3 mph."
A daunting look at the race by author Marcel Dupre'. (The Automobile Magazine July, 1903)
Additional photographs will be provided in the next installments of this series.
Comments
Howard,
I wonder if any of your readers are up for a challenge. Can anyone identify the two cars pictured in the above section of my grandfather’s painting? I’ve been trying to figure it out. Here’s what I’ve come up with.
The wrecked grey car:
Bayard-Clements, Lorraine de Dietrichs and Darracqs each had somewhat similar radiators.
It also resembles a Richard-Brasier (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brasier)— but the 3 of those that were entered all finished the race.
As far as I can tell there was no #123 in the race.
The blue car:
Possibly a Panhard de Levassor that Jarrott drove at Ardennes.
Or possibly the de Dietrich #18 that Stead drove.
In the part of the painting that is cropped, the winning Mors is easily identifiable and there is the wreck of a red car too far gone to even try to guess at.
My opinion: this painting was done in 1948 (for True Magazine, article by Ralph Stein), one of the first race car commissions that my grandfather received after the success of the Esquire series. In later years he became extremely conscientious about portraying the details of a race as accurately as possible. But I think in the early stages of his new career as a “history painter” he was willing to allow his artistic freedom full play. So these may not represent any exact cars, just the types of cars that he knew so well.
Also, in 1948 he probably had not amassed the large archive of photos and other historical documents, so his ability to research all of the contestants may have been limited.
However, your audience consist of people who know much more about this stuff than I do. So maybe somebody will come up with some solid identifications.
I hope you and all your readers have a safe and happy holiday. And thank you, once again, for making this material available to the public!
Regards,
Tim Helck
Tim:
Thanks so much for the comment. Happy holidays to the entire Helck family! Howard
Willie K’s 60 hp Mercedes in the freight yard!