Vanderbilt Cup Races

This is a 1907 Thomas Flyer.  It won the 1908 New York to Paris race.  It had a winning victory margin of 26 days.  A record margin that still stands to this day.  The driver that started the race in New York was Montague Roberts who participated in the 1905 and 1906 Vanderbilt American Elimination trials.  However, the replacement driver George Schuster took over driving duties for Roberts before the car finished the North American leg and continued till Paris and ended up driving the majority of the race.  As for the Thomas Flyer,  3 Thomas Flyers competed in the 1908 Vanderbilt Cup Race.  They finished:  5th, 8th, and 17th.

That’s the 1907 Model 35 Thomas Flyer which participated in and WON the 1908 New York to Paris from Feb. 12, 1908 to July 30, 1908. I believe Montague Roberts was the primary driver but some diving credit should go to George Shuster and George Miller. Some links to Vanderbilt Cup Races are: Roberts drove the #8 Thomas in the 1905 American Elimination Trial and the #7 Thomas in the 1906 American Elimination Trial; other Thomas cars were entered in the 1906 and 1908 Vanderbilt Cup Races; the 1907 Thomas Flyer was once owned by Henry Austin Clark, Jr. and displayed at his Long Island Automotive Museum.

This is a 1907 Thomas Flyer that won the New York to Paris Round the World Race in 1908. It arrived in Paris on July 30, 1908. George Schuster drove most of the way. He helped Harrah restore it and identified a break in the frame a black smith did a hammer weld repair on it. This car sat with other parts car at a Los Angeles Chalmer’s dealership for many years before Bill Harrah bought it. A few years later in 1971 this dealership property was auctioned off. A friend got a 1918 Chalmers Master touring car, only known survivor and a 1922 Mercer roadster at that auction. I helped restore the Chalmers which had been made into an Ice Delivery Truck. It had a pair of 1941 California license plates on it and a newspaper clipping about it out running the LAPD. With very little effort we got it running - the motor was still in good shape.

The 1907 Thomas Speedway Flyer, preparing for the 1908 New York to Paris race.  This photo was most likely taken in Buffalo as the car was being set up.  The front fenders are still in place, and other views taken at the same time show the fenders with factory-shiny paint, and the factory chain boxes still in place.  It also shows no mountings for the canvas top frame that was on the car in Times Square, but soon discarded.

George Schuster drove for most of the race, because starting driver Montague Roberts had to leave the car at Cheyenne to return and drive in the Briarcliff race.  Roberts is in the driver’s seat, as Schuster at this moment was finishing up the Buffalo-to-Boston exploratory run in a new Thomas Model F.

Thomas entered a 6-cylinder car in the 1905 Vanderbilt, and did well in the elimination trial until there was trouble with the battery box - the mechanician ended up holding the battery and getting acid burns.  It placed 5th among the 5 finishers.  However, organizers selected another marque, that had not run the trial, because they thought it would be “more reliable.”

Thomas developed a completely different car for the 1906 race, unlike any other Thomas before or after.  Three were built, and Hubert LeBlon drove one to 8th place

For the 1907 race (which did not run), they remodeled the three, eliminating the wraparound gas tank, shortening the frame, and making other mechanical changes.  George Salzman drove one to 5th place in the 1908 race.  A 60hp Thomas also ran, finishing 8th.

The Thomas Flyer in an early part of the race as it still has the original front axle which was change to the flat axle early on in the race to Paris.

Montaque Robert’s driving the Thomas Flyer
in the 1906 race around the world which as
America’s entrant won the race.

Thomas Flyer
1908 New York - Paris Race: after numerous mishaps, adventures and extensions the car won the race, arriving in Paris July 30, 1908.
While Montague Roberts started the race, much of it was raced by George Schuster.
Roberts drove in the 1905 and 1906 American Eliminated Races, but never in the actual Vanderbilt Cup Race.  The car was eventually auctioned off in 1913. 

Documents from the Detroit Public Library Digital Collection and vanderbiltcupraces.com

History of the Thomas Race . . .

Mystery Foto #52:  The photo is of the Thomas Flyer during the 1908 New York to Paris race. Montague Roberts was the driver in this photo probably taken during a blizzard that the race went through from western New York to Chicago.  Roberts who finished 5th in the 1905 Vanderbilt Cup race left this race in Wyoming with his place being taken by George Schuster who went on to win in Paris.  Here is another photo taken at the same time as the Mystery Foto along with a booklet that the Thomas Co. put out and books by three of the race drivers, Schuster, Scarfoglio and Koeppen..

1907 Thomas Flyer

1908 New York to Paris Winner

George Schuster

It is the 1907 Thomas Flyer.  It won the New York to Paris race.  The driver was George Schuster.  The car was for some years in Austin Clark’s collection in Southampton.

This looks like the Thomas Flyer posed on the carriage roads at Mohonk Mountain House.

First photo is from the Long Island Automotive Musuem program, the second is from the Harrah’s Automobile Collection flyer.

My grandfather, Charles J Duprez was the NY Times photographer who traveled with the Thomas Flyer during the race.  He photographed the beginning of the race in Times Square to San Francisco where he was sent back to NY City.  He used to talk about the race saying it was crazy cold, too much snow, and that he knew the Thomas would not only finish the race, but would win it!!!!!  Sorry I won’t tell you how he thought they would win….....