Today at the OLD MOTOR web site, David Greenlees has kindly posted a story I submitted about Walter Christie's 1906 Vanderbilt Cup adventures. If you haven't bookmarked that site yet, you should. Click on the link to the right and check it out.
The car shown at the Old Motor site is the 1906 Christie racer.
Walter Christie is setting out for a final test run, probably the week of Sept 10, 1906. The American Elimination Trial is only a week and a half away.
Unfortunately, things soon began to go wrong. On Saturday, September 16, Walter had just replaced a broken front axle and was heading out for an early morning test. He had not noticed that his steering gear had been damaged by the axle failure. As he accelerated down East Williston road, he only went 100yards before the car veered into a gully and collided with a telegraph pole.
The car shown at the Old Motor site is the 1906 Christie racer.
Walter Christie is setting out for a final test run, probably the week of Sept 10, 1906. The American Elimination Trial is only a week and a half away.
Unfortunately, things soon began to go wrong. On Saturday, September 16, Walter had just replaced a broken front axle and was heading out for an early morning test. He had not noticed that his steering gear had been damaged by the axle failure. As he accelerated down East Williston road, he only went 100yards before the car veered into a gully and collided with a telegraph pole.
Walter and his mechanic were unhurt, however his best racer could not be repaired for the following Saturday's Elimination Trial. Like any true racer, Walter immediately began converting one of his production touring cars for the Trial. He would now be facing full factory race teams, in some cases 3 car efforts, with only half the horsepower of his race car. The odds were against him even qualifying for the Vanderbilt Cup.
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