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Here's Part 2 of Bob Brannon's seminal History of Racing. We haven't gotten to 24 hour races, yet. Are you surprised? We're not. Bobby found lots of other very important (and entertaining) stuff we need to know first. If you haven't yet, start with Part 1, here.
When Nicolaus Otto, of Deutz, Germany received a patent for his internal combustion engine on August 14, 1877, the Second Industrial Revolution was in full swing.
The first commutator-type direct current (DC) electric motor capable of turning machinery had been invented by Briton William Sturgeon in 1832. The Transcontinental Railroad had been completed in 1869 at Promotory Point, Utah linking the entire U.S. by rail and that news was sent by telegraph throughout the land. The first news ever sent by the newfangled telegraph was in 1844. Steamboats and steam ships were employed on nearly every navigable body of water around the world.
Queen Victoria ruled Great Britain from 1837 to 1901. When Queen Victoria died in 1901, after the longest reign in English history, the British Empire and British world power had reached its zenith. England would be involved in no less than eleven wars from 1877 – 1901, including the Anglo – Zanzibar War of 1896, at 38 minutes, the shortest war in history!
The United States – now 38 states strong—was engaged in its own state of war against its indigenous population. The American Civil War (1861-5) had been over for 12 years, but the Indian problem remained.
The discovery of gold in the Black Hills resulted in the gold rush of 1875-78, which led to the Great Sioux War of 1876-7. The U.S. started the war in March of 1876, and on June 25, 1876, General George Armstrong Custer and the Seventh Cavalry were decimated at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. After continuous military campaigns and diplomatic negotiations, the majority of the Lakota surrendered and went to the reservations in the spring of 1877. Crazy Horse was killed in captivity, while Sitting Bull crossed into Canada with many warriors in tow. The Indian Wars in the West would continue for many years.
Ever-cognizant of an advertising opportunity, the Anheuser-Busch Brewery ordered reprints of a dramatic painting that depicted “Custer’s Last Stand” and had them framed and hung in many American saloons, helping to create lasting impressions of the battle and the brewery’s products in the minds of bar patrons. Had the brewery been in existence in 1836, they could have proclaimed. “Remember the Alamo – Have a Bud!”
Other notable events in 1877 included: Queen Victoria proclaimed Empress of India, Chief Joseph surrenders, ending the Nez Perce War, Rutherford B. Hayes becomes President and instituted the first Easter Egg Roll on the White House lawn, Reconstruction ended in the South, the first tennis championships were played at Wimbledon, Thomas Edison announced his “talking machine” invention (phonograph), the Washington Post published its first edition, and the telephone was invented.
Sports in the United States
When the internal combustion engine was patented in 1877, many sporting activities were popular in America. Pedestrianism was at its peak, and bicycling was taking off in popularity. Baseball was invented in 1845, a derivative of the British game called Rounders. The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs was founded in 1876, and the American Association was founded in 1882. Ice hockey was invented in the 1850’s by British soldiers stationed in Nova Scotia, Canada and was soon introduced to America. Rugby was started in England in 1823, but was modified into American football by Walter Camp around 1876.
And of course, there were the horses. Every town in America enjoyed a horse race. Tracks sprung up all over the nation. The Belmont Stakes began in 1867 at Jerome Park, New York and the inaugural race was won by “Ruthless.” The Preakness began in 1873 at Pimlico, Baltimore, Maryland, and the Kentucky Derby began in 1875 at Churchill Downs.
Auto Racing Begins
Amedee Bollee of Le Mans, France built a series of steam-powered passenger vehicles able to carry 6 to 12 people at speeds up to 37 mph between the years 1873 and 1883. The boiler was mounted in the rear, the engine in the front driving the differential through a shaft with chain drive to the rear wheels. The driver steered with a wheel mounted on a vertical shaft. These vehicles resembled later motor cars.
In 1878, eight years before the first gasoline-powered vehicle ever turned a wheel, an ‘automobile’ race was scheduled from Green Bay to Madison, Wisconsin, a distance of 201 miles. It drew entries for six steamers, of which two started and one finished. The winning Oshkosh averaged about 6 mph during the 18-day event, including tests for load-hauling and plowing ability! “Title Town” was born!
Karl Benz (born Karl Friedrich Michael Vaillant) was a German engine designer and automobile engineer and is generally regarded as the inventor of the gasoline-powered automobile and pioneering founder of the automobile manufacturer Mercedes-Benz. In 1879, Benz was granted a patent for his first engine. In 1883, the new company Benz & Cie was formed, and the first automobile, named the Benz Patent Motorwagen (pictured below), was produced in 1885. It featured wire wheels, a four-stroke engine with a very advanced coil ignition. It was the first automobile entirely designed to generate its own power, not simply a motorized stage coach or horse carriage. Benz began to sell the vehicle in 1888, making it the first commercially available automobile in history. Most Benz automobiles were sold in France through a dealer, Emile Roger.
Early customers could only purchase gasoline sold at pharmacies in small quantities as a cleaning solution. On August 5, 1888, Benz’ wife Bertha, took the little Benz (without her husband’s knowledge) on a 65 mile long trip to see her mother, stopping at pharmacies along the way for gas. It had been her intention to demonstrate the feasibility of her husband’s invention for travel and to obtain publicity that would make more people aware of it. She succeeded spectacularly, as evidenced by the antique automobile rally now held every two years in Germany. In 2008, the Bertha Benz Memorial Route was designated along the route of the world’s first long-distance automobile journey of 65 miles.
Paris-Rouen
The first recorded automobile race (other than the steamer race above) with a multiple entry was the French newspaper (Le Petit Journal) sponsored Paris-Rouen “Rally” of 1894. Each manufacturer was anxious to prove that his automobile was the best, and winning a race would prove the superiority of his car. Thus was born the adage, “Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday.”
The “Course de Voitures sans Chevaux – Race of the Horseless Carriages” would cover a 78-mile route. The common Frenchman thought the idea foolish, as these carriages were nothing more than a play toy for the wealthy. 102 people paid the 10-franc entry fee, and 69 cars started the 50 km selection race to determine the main event’s starters. Twenty one entrants roared away from Paris at 30 second intervals seeking glory in the big race. They flew (or chugged) over a rutted, unpaved road with the Count Jules-Albert de Dion leading in his steam-powered De Dion steam tractor, towing a conventional horse carriage minus the front axle. The vehicle used coal as fuel and disgorged chunks of fiery coal as it ran, scattering glowing embers along the road.
After nearly seven bone-shaking hours, the Count crossed the finish line first in his De Dion tractor with an average speed of 11.9 mph, but the judges refused to acknowledge this device as a true automobile and the $5,000 Franc first prize was awarded jointly to Georges Lemaitre (pictured below) and Emile Levassor, both driving vehicles powered by Gottlieb Daimler’s German patent gasoline engines, Peugeot and Panhard-Levassor, respectively.
The race failed to make headlines, getting only a few lines in the middle of the paper, but to the new, ambitious automobile manufacturers it was a glorious day. Plans began immediately for another, grander race the following year. Before the year was over, a group of French manufacturers formed the Automobile Club de France (the ACF) and they planned the next year’s event. Auto racing was on its way!
City to City Races
In May of 1895, a 62-mile race was held in Italy, going from Turin to the village of Asti and back. The Paris to Bordeaux and back race for 1895 was announced to a dumbfounded public. Over 700 Miles! Impossible! Crazy! The news of this race spread far and wide.
An entry of 97 produced 22 actual starters. Emile Levassor sat high atop his ugly No. 5 Daimler Phenix-engined 3 ½ hp Panhard-Levassor and drove single-handed for an incredible 48 hr. 48 minutes, virtually non-stop, to win the race with a 15.07 mph average. Levassor became a national hero for this accomplishment.
That same year, the Chicago Times Herald sponsored a race from Chicago’s Jackson Park to Evanston, Illinois and back, a distance of 54.36 miles. Held on November 28, a foot of fresh snow hampered the event and only six of 11 entrants started. There were three imported Benz cars, two electric-powered vehicles and Frank Duryea’s car of his own design, which won at a slow 7.5 mph average speed. A Benz finished second and both electric vehicles ran out of charge before the race was over, highlighting their weakness. A similar race, the Cosmopolitan magazine race, was held in New York the following year, and turned out to be a dull affair with six starters, none of which could climb the final hill and had to be pushed.
An important event took place in 1896 which would have a major influence on the history of auto racing in the United States. The first track race was run over 5 laps of a one-mile dirt course at Narragansett Park in Cranston, Rhode Island, where A.H. Whiting’s Riker electric car beat seven competitors at a blinding average speed of 24 mph. Utilizing an enclosed track where the crowd could be properly controlled, where free entry was eliminated making race promotion profitable for the promoter, and where the spectators could see the entire race basically struck a death blow to road racing in the U.S. for many years to come.
In 1896, the great race of the year was the Paris-Marseilles-Paris, a 1,062-mile event. It was run through terrible storms and fell to Mayade’s Panhard at an average of 15.7 mph. Emile Levassor, the national hero, swerved his Panhard-Levassor to avoid a stray dog and crashed heavily, suffering a severe head injury which contributed to his early death the following year.
In 1897, G. Hourgieres, driving a Panhard, won a 108-mile race from Paris to Troubille with a 25 mph average, the fastest on record. The same year saw the first race (Paris-Dieppe) in which cars were divided into classes. There were voiturettes (very small cars), two-seaters, four-seaters, and six-seaters.
1898 saw a different type of record set. A daredevil named Chasseloup-Laubat became the first “speed demon” when he pushed his car to a 39.24 mph over a one-mile stretch of road. The feat earned him French national hero status. The French loved to hand out awards to almost anyone, much like the modern-era Nobel Peace Prizes.
The durability record was set by a 12 hp Panhard in the longest race to date – Paris to Amsterdam to Paris, a 1,073-mile distance. The Panhard averaged 26.9 mph during the race. Another long distance race was held in 1901, the Paris-Berlin event.
The nine years of city-to-city racing from 1895 to 1903 were dominated initially by Panhard, with Peugeot, Renault and De Dion in the mix, occasionally scoring a win. Auto racing’s first immediate fatality occurred during the 1898 Course de Perigueux race, which was run over a one lap circuit of public roads. The Marquis de Montaignac and his riding mechanic were killed when their Landry et Beyroux turned over and crushed them. This vehicle, like Levassor’s, had been tiller-steered, and the move to wheel-steering, which allowed better car control, soon followed this accident.
Gordon Bennett Races
Inter-marque rivalry was important, but an American newspaper proprietor living in Paris, James Gordon Bennett, perceived that Nationalism – pitting nation against nation – was the next logical progression. Bennett put up a Challenge Cup for an international race series to be contested by no more than three entries from each country. Each car had to be built entirely, from engine-to-chassis-to-tires by the entering nation. The winning nation would host the following year’s race. The ACF organized the first race held in 1900 with a race from Paris to Lyon.
The French entered three Panhards against a single Belgian Bolide and an American Winton. Only two Panhards finished the 353-mile race, with the winning driver Fernand Charron averaging 38.6 mph. The win allowed France to host the 1901 race, which was incorporated as a separate class in the Paris-Bordeaux race. The only Bennett team car to finish the race was Girardot’s Panhard, and he was only tenth overall at the finish.
In 1902, the race was run in the Paris-Innsbruck section of the greater race onwards to Vienna. The French cars failed and the Bennett Cup fell to England’s S.F. Edge driving a Napier. With racing prohibited in England, the 1903 race was held at a road course at Ballyshannon in Ireland, with Camille Jenatzy winning for Mercedes and Germany. The 1904 race was held over a closed-circuit course in Taunus Hills, Germany and Leon Thery won the Trophy for Richard-Brasier and France. The ACF selected a tortuous course in the Auvergne for the 1905 event where Thery (pictured below) repeated as winner.
The French, dissatisfied as usual, decided that the restrictive three-car entry of the Gordon Bennett series was unacceptable, and they laid out plans to run their own “Grand Prix” (Grand Prize) race in 1906, which would be open to more entries from all countries. They allowed the Bennett Cup races to die that year. Other countries were enraged, especially Britain, but it didn’t matter to the French, the world center of racing.
Circuit racing had been on the rise, instead of the city-to-city races, due in part to the fact that one only saw the participants one time only (or twice on a return race) during those city-to-city races compared to several times during a closed-circuit race. In 1900, the Course du Catalogue had been run over two laps of a triangular 45-mile public road course near Melun in northern France.
In July 1902, the Circuit des Ardennes, was run over six laps on a 53-mile circuit near Bastogne in Belgium, and was won by Britain’s Charles Jarrot in a Panhard at an amazing 54 mph average.
Race of Death
1903 would see the end of city-to-city races when the Paris-Madrid “Race of Death” was held. Of course, it wasn’t billed as “The Race of Death,” at the time, but would be labeled as such after the fact.
By the time of the Paris-Madrid race, engines had increased to 90 horsepower, and speeds of 80 mph were possible. Improvements to the chassis, suspension and brakes had not kept pace and were inferior to the stresses placed upon them. The cars were still big and bulky with the drivers sitting high off the ground.
The plan was for the cars to race to Bordeaux the first day, rest overnight and continue to Madrid the next day. 216 examples of the fastest machinery on Earth lined up for the 4 A.M. start. Thousands of spectators lined up for the start and all along the narrow dirt road to Bordeaux. As the first cars started away, their feeble, flickering acetylene lamps barely penetrated the darkness.
Not only were the driver’s headlamps inadequate, but the amount of dust thrown up made driving while blind a reality. The eager group of spectators surged against the police and crowded close to the narrow, twisting road to catch a glimpse of these goggled daredevils as they roared past.
Within the first 50 miles, a woman crept too far into the road and was struck and crushed under the wheels of one of the juggernauts. A few miles farther on, a child ran into the road and a man rushed to the rescue. The driver tried to stop and swerved, hitting the pair and careened into a ditch where the car flipped and crashed into a group of startled spectators. The ground was littered with blood, broken bones, the dead and the dying.
Before the 100-mile mark, the carnage grew when a car had a blowout and swerved off the road into a group of spectators like a bowling ball knocking down pins. Eleven people were injured and four killed. Another car hit a woman trying to cross the road and rocketed into the crowd killing two more.
Before the day had completely dawned, half the cars were already eliminated from the race. One driver was killed when he tried to avoid a dog and smashed into a tree. At least one car caught fire and roasted its driver and mechanic as they lay pinned beneath the wreckage, but the race roared on.
Fernand Gabriel, averaging 65.3 mph for 342 miles in his 70hp Mors, was the first in the heavy-car group to reach Bordeaux. Louis Renault, in the light car category, brought his Renault in at 63.2. As he caught his breath after his exciting drive, a stunned Renault found out that his brother Marcel (pictured below) had been killed in one of the accidents earlier in the race.
The race was called off after the disastrous first half, and the cars were hauled back to Paris. Spanish authorities had said they would not allow the racing machines to cross their border after the news of the tragedy had been telegraphed ahead. Public reaction was outrage. The people would have no more of these death races. Thus, the city-to-city races came to an end. Closed circuit racing would now become the norm.
Elsewhere in the world in 1903, the Wright brothers flew the first powered, controlled, heavier-than-air plane at Kitty Hawk, Henry Ford organized Ford Motor Company, and the Boston Red Sox won the first World Series over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Bob Brannon |
