Drop Box Used during the 1904 Vanderbilt Cup Race
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Artifact Overview
Every car in the 1904 Vanderbilt Cup race carried one of these boxes. Cars stopped at two control points during each lap. Officials recorded a car's control point entrance and exit times on papers dropped into the box. At the end of the race, "control time" was subtracted from elapsed time to determine a car's actual racing time.
Artifact Details
Artifact
Box (Container)
Date Made
1904
Location
at Henry Ford Museum in Driven to Win: Racing in America
Object ID
36.623.1
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of the Long Island Automobile Club.
Material
Copper (Metal)
Leather
Metal
Dimensions
Height: 7.50 in
Width: 2.25 in
Length: 5.625 in
Inscriptions
Inscribed on plate mounted to lid:
WM. K. VANDERBILT JR. CUP
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Related Content
SetThe Vanderbilt Cup
- 34 Artifacts
America's earliest auto races were small-time contests. Wealthy enthusiast William K. Vanderbilt, Jr., thought the United States needed a big, signature event. Starting in 1904, he organized an annual road race through Long Island, New York, that attracted top American and European drivers and manufacturers. When a Connecticut-built Locomobile won the Vanderbilt Cup in 1908, it helped prove that America's automotive industry had arrived.