History of the American Grand Prize & Vanderbilts

Long, long ago, in the years BEFORE INDIANAPOLIS . . . and in the decades BEFORE NASCAR . . . a passion for speed in America was born. The racing dreams of Americans were brought before a powerful dynasty – the Vanderbilts – who saw the passion in the eyes of the people and vowed to make those dreams of speed a reality. That is how the beautiful, but unlikely City of Savannah became the birthplace of Grand Prix racing in America! The people of Savannah awoke to a fine Thanksgiving weekend in 1908, astonished to see their racing dreams come true! Hundreds of thousands of spectators were excitedly gathered along 25 miles of their streets, from present-day Victory Drive to Hunter Army Airfield, from Isle of Hope to Thunderbolt. 1600 soldiers stood guard as human fences, before the advent of concrete barriers. Hundreds of trains from all over America filled every track. Hotel ballrooms overflowed with sleeping bags. The city’s port housed steamships from around the world. Even the City Jail became a hotel room for one dignitary - the President of Firestone Tires! The greatest men and cars of international racing were gathered - Louis Chevrolet, Horace Dodge, Henry Ford, Willie K. Vanderbilt, Cornelius Vanderbilt, DePalma, Wagner, Harroun, and Mulford. The automobile was a new invention - the height of technology - manufactured by companies like Benz, Fiat, Renault, Buick, and Mercer. Savannah was the star of US President Taft’s symposium for the nation’s leaders that utilized Savannah and her Great Races of 1908-1911 to demonstrate how roads ought to be built throughout the country. The American Grand Prize was born in the beautiful city of Savannah, Georgia and the most powerful racing dynasty - the Vanderbilts - personally chose Savannah as the crown jewel of road racing in the South. The American Grand Prize and the Vanderbilt Cup were Grand Prix Cousins.

The Birth of Grand Prix Racing in America: the American Grand Prize and Vanderbilt Cup

Road racing began with a great racing dynasty: the Vanderbilts who founded several automotive organizations from 1900 to 1916. The Automobile Club of America was formed in 1899 at the Waldorf Astoria in New York by auto enthusiasts, including William Kissam Vanderbilt and Cornelius Vanderbilt. The ACA grew and expanded at the turn of the century, as did its sister organization, the AAA (Automobile Association of America). The two organizations were largely supported by Vanderbilts, who worked together with a great synergy that propelled American road racing. In 1903, while attending an ACA dinner, Willie K was approached by a gentleman from the AAA about sponsoring a “great cup race”. Willie K loved the idea and began building the first Vanderbilt Cup. While Willie K was getting his race and Long Island circuit off the ground, his cousins, David Morris and Cornelius Vanderbilt were developing the American Grand Prize race, a Southern cousin to the Vanderbilt Cup. But family and friends aside, the two races did have “technical difficulties” that made each distinct: the Vanderbilt Cup set a heavier weight maximum for their cars than the American Grand Prize, which insisted on meeting lighter European standards.

In 1908, both cups were put in the hands of the Motor Cups Holding Company to promote. Many cities wanted to host the races, including Philadelphia, Atlanta, Los Angeles and Indianapolis. But Willie K. called Mayor Tiedeman of Savannah personally and asked him to send a delegation with a proposal to hold races there, where Vanderbilt had acted as an honorary referee. Savannah was ready and hundreds of thousands came to the American Grand Prize Race each year in 1908, 1910 and 1911. The success was both a blessing and a curse. While the races brought fame and growth to the city, which won international acclaim as a center of American automotive technology – by 1912, Savannah’s famous streets like “Victory Drive” became too congested with automobile traffic to be closed down for the races. The American Grand Prize was moved to Milwaukee and tragically, the races would never be the same. In 1912, champion and racing hero David Bruce-Brown was killed in his Fiat at Milwaukee, casting a pall over both races. The American Grand Prize did not run at all in 1913. It re-started in Santa Monica, California in 1914, but moved again to San Francisco for 1915, where the races were plagued by storms that severely crippled the sport.

It seemed that Grand Prix racing would never recover the glory it knew during its heyday in Savannah. The last American Grand Prize was in Santa Monica, California, on a circular track in 1916. And an even more insurmountable foe faced road racing after that: by 1917, the USA – and Willie K himself – had gone to war. Without its heroes, its famous roads, and its sunny and welcoming Southern roots, the interest in road racing shrank. People became focused on the lives of loved ones in peril overseas. The rivalry and mystique of having European competitors was not possible while Europe itself was in tatters. Road racing was marginalized by tragic circumstance and the sport had to downsize if it was going to succeed – which meant smaller venues that would not interfere with business in large cities. Racing moved to the speedways. It would be a long wait for road racing to return and the American Grand Prize to be reincarnated as the United States Grand Prix. But when grand prix racing finally returned to America, it began anew in the South - at Sebring, Florida in 1956.