MOTORING 



*73 



the rain and mud, Vaughn drove his machine 

 1,015 Y% miles in 24 hours, and 1,000 miles 

 in 23IL, 33m. and 20 seconds. 



At present Chevrolet, a new comer in track 

 racing, seems to have established the title of 

 champion through his defeating Barney Old- 

 field in a match contest, and although the lat- 

 ter professional really holds the track record 

 for a mile, Chevrolet's performance of a mile 

 in 52 1-5 seconds is unquestionably the fast- 

 est mile ever covered on any race track in 

 this country, and the only reason why it 

 should not be considered as an absolute 

 record is the fact that the Morris race track 

 has only one turn and is i}4 miles in length 

 instead of one mile. 



The performance of Webb Jay on a spe 

 dally constructed White steam car has at- 

 tracted much attention. The compound 

 steam engine used on the White touring car 

 is employed, together with a large generator 

 giving steam enough to propel the car at tre- 

 mendous speed, and it is as fast as Oldfield's 

 "Green Dragon" if not slightly faster. Old- 

 field is having a new car built for him by 

 the Peerless Company, and with it expects to 

 lower his own record established at Los 

 Angeles as well as Chevrolet's record of 

 51 1-5 seconds made at Morris Park. The 

 track races held recently have been better 

 promoted, better managed, better attended, 

 and better in all respects than those occur- 

 ring earlier in the season. 



ROAD RACING. 



Judging from the results of the Eliminat- 

 ing Trials of the Automobile Club of France 

 to select the French teams for the James 

 Gordon-Bennett Cup Race in France and the 

 Vanderbilt Cup Race in this country, the lim- 

 it of power for road-racing monsters has 

 been passed and a racing machine of 80 or 

 90 h.p. has an equal chance in road compe- 

 titions with vehicles having from 120 to 130 

 h.p. The French race was a tremendous 

 struggle over mountainous roads, and the 

 large number of sharp turns threw a tre- 

 mendous strain on the tires so that the race 

 was really rather more a trial of pneumatic 

 tires than of the actual racing power of the 

 machines themselves. The mechanical trou- 

 bles were so few that the trouble with tires 

 was all the more accentuated, and as a sam- 

 ple of the wholesale ruin of tires, it may be 

 stated that the winner put on no less than 

 five new tires during the 340 mile contest. 



The outcome of the French Eliminating 

 Trials seems to indicate that the value of 

 such contests as a means of improving the 

 reliability of cars is practically exhausted. 

 For eight or ten years the big road contests 

 abroad have drawn vast crowds, and they 

 have been titanic struggles of the most ex- 

 citing nature possible. In order to win one 

 of these events, the car had to be almost per- 



fect mechanically, and in addition to this, 

 the driver had to be very lucky as well. So 

 much prestige has passed to firms successful 

 in winning long distance road races that 

 manufacturers have exerted every effort to 

 make their cars as good as possible, and im- 

 provements discovered have invariably been 

 applied to touring cars with the result that 

 the modern automobile has been greatly 

 benefited by these long distance road races. 

 As matters stand now, such races arc of lit- 

 tle value to the manufacturers or to the pub- 

 lic, except as sporting events. There is no 

 need of such races to test the wearing quali- 

 ties of tires, as touring cars are never driven 

 around curves at such frightful speeds as 

 were the competing French cars in the recent 

 big race over the Auvergne Circuit. 



It is to be hoped, however, that the re- 

 cently instituted Vanderbilt Race may prove 

 to be as helpful to American manufacturers 

 as the Gordon-Bennett has been to foreign 

 manufacturers. The Eliminating Trials for 

 the Vanderbilt Race will be held probably 

 some time in August in order to select a team 

 of five American cars. The make-up of the 

 French team was determined by the out- 

 come of the Eliminating Trials for the Gor- 

 don-Bennett Race as follows : Thery 

 (Braisers), Caillois (Braiser), Duray (De 

 Dietrich), Wagner (Darracq), and Sizset 

 (Renault) Heath, the Panhard driver who 

 won the Vanderbilt Race in Long Island last 

 fall, did not get a place on the team al- 

 though he finished sixth. 



Thery, the winner of the French Eliminat- 

 ing Trials, is a hot favorite for the Gordon- 

 Bennett Race at this writing only a few 

 days off, and Recreation predicts his victory, 

 just to see whether we are right or not. 

 Thery's experience, skill, and knowledge of 

 the course gives him a big advantage over any 

 member of the German team. 



The American team faces almost too great 

 odds to win, and it seems almost certain, 

 judging from all standards that a French or 

 a German car will secure the greatly coveted 

 trophy. 



CHEAP CARS TOO CHEAP. 



One of the New York papers has had a 

 great deal to say recently about a $400 auto- 

 mobile which may be put on the market next 

 year by one of the Western manufacturers. 

 It seems safe to say that anyone purchasing 

 such an automobile, if it ever is put on the 

 market, will certainly get $400 worth of auto- 

 mobile, but it is questionable as to whether 

 it is economy to buy a very cheap car. 



AMERICAN CARS DID WELL. 



Our guess as to the outcome of the Gor- 

 don-Bennett race was a correct one, Therv 

 running a magnificent race and winning in 



