Mystery Foto #87 Solved: A.R. Pardington at the 1905 Long Island Automobile Club Economy Run
This week's Mystery Foto featured a man associated with both the Vanderbilt Cup Races and the Long Island Motor Parkway.
Mystery Foto questions:
-Who is driving the automobile? How was he associated with the Vanderbilt Cup Races and the Long Island Motor Parkway?
The driver is A.R. Pardington, an associate referee for the Vanderbilt Cup Races and the primary salesman for the Long Island Motor Parkway as its second vice-president.
-Identify the make and model of the automobile.
1904-1905 Franklin 10-hp. Likely a Gentleman's Roadster. The automobile is parked in front of the clubhouse for the Long Island Automobile Club located in Brooklyn.
-Identify the 1905 event that was documented in this photo. Hint: It was held on Long Island but not related to the Vanderbilt Cup Races.
The event was the Long Island Automobile Club Economy Run from Brooklyn to Southampton and back held on June 10-11, 1905. Sixteen automobiles participated in this 180-mile test to compare the costs to "to carry passengers in automobiles as compared with railroad fares." A. R. Pardington was the club's chairman of tours and runs committee and also the donor of the winner's trophy.
Congrats to Mystery Foto gurus Greg O. and Ariejan Bos for correctly identifying A.R. and the Franklin. Special kudos to Ariejan for discovering the Long Island Automobile Club's Economy Run.
One note, Pardington was never the chief engineer for the Parkway. The Parkway's engineer was E.G. Williams.
Please forward any potential Mystery Fotos to me at [email protected]
Enjoy,
Howard Kroplick
Closeups
Caption: A.R. Pardington
1905 Franklin Gentleman's Roadster Model E
Long Island Automobile Club
The club was located at 360 Cumberland Road in Brooklyn. Note the doorways match the Pardington photo.
Long Island Automobile Club Economy Run, June 10-11, 1905
Pardington's Franklin is on the far right.
As a result of the run, it was declared "motor cars cheaper than railway cars".
The winner of the trophy was Dr. C.B. Parker in a 10-hp Franklin. He reived the award for "the most economical consumption of fuel."
A. R. Pardington
From left to right at the 1906 Vanderbilt Cup Race: William K. Vanderbilt Jr., A.R. Pardington, and Jefferson DeMont Thompson.
A. R. Pardington at the 1908 ground-breaking ceremony of the Motor Parkway.
A.R. Pardington's Motor Parkway business card.
A.R. Pardington was the race referee for the Inaugural 1911 Indy 500. He can be seen during the opening ceremonies in this film in which he crowned Bob Burman as the "Speed King of the World. (See the 0.24-0.29 mark.)
Comments
-Who is driving the automobile? How was he associated with the Vanderbilt Cup Races and the Long Island Motor Parkway?
A. R. Pardington
He was second vice-president and general manager of the Motor Parkway. He was also responsible for the first Vanderbilt Cup race with WKV, and beside WKV, he also acted as a referee of the race.
-Identify the make and model of the automobile.
1905 Franklin Model E Runabout
-Identify the 1905 event that was documented in this photo. Hint: It was held on Long Island but not related to the Vanderbilt Cup Races.
Not sure of the event. The building looks like the then new Long Island Automobile Club garage on Cumberland Street in Brooklyn. Possibly a grand opening or club meeting of the newly built garage?
The car is a cross engine Franklin. I think the event was run by the Long Island Automobile club. They had blue and white porcelain signs marking many of their routes.
Howard, It looks like a 1905 Franklin. Could it be that Wm. K. Vanderbilt is behind the wheel? I don’t know the event.
Roger
The driver of this Franklin is A.R. Pardington. The event is probably the two day Economy Test Run, organised in 1905 on June 10 and 11 by the Long Island Automobile Club. Behind his car a White steamer is visible, the car next to him is an identical Franklin.
Mr. Pardington was organiser of the Long Island Automobile Club. Besides he was deeply involved in the organisation of the first Vanderbilt Cup race of 1904 and he was a referee during this race. And also he was chief-engineer and vice-president of the Long Island Motor Parkway, Inc. and responsible for its construction. He hosted the Ground-Breaking Ceremony in 1908, the official start of the LIMP-construction.
By the way, the Economy Test Run was won by a Franklin, but not Pardington’s: it was Dr. C.B. Parker, who drove one of the two other Franklins in the contest.
Shucks, I didn’t have a chance to answer this one. The answers where posted, so I didn’t bother with it
From Tony Sundstrom:
C S Corris (Carris ?), who the year before with L L Whitman had made a transcontinental drive in a Franklin 4 cylinder, nearly halving the time done by a Winton the year before.
A 1904 Franklin Model A, possibly the car that made the 1904 transcontinental run.
Best guess is that Corris is participating in the Auto Club Run of 1905,
In that IMS film, something goes very wrong at 1:28; the car seems to buck. At 2:00, the mechanic at the front drops the radiator cap in the dirt, then bends over, picks it up, and screws it back on! Next, look very carefully at the scene where the mechanic falls off; at 2:31, the tie rod (or some such) breaks and the front wheels point outwards! That’s as the hapless mechanic falls overboard; he was probably trying to see what was going wrong just as it happened. Sam, III