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The Vanderbilt Centennial Celebration: Long Island's 100 Years of Racing Heritage begins with more than 50 cars on display, focusing on a century of racing evolution in honor of the 100th anniversary of the Vanderbilt Cup Race, which was first held on Long Island in 1904. The display opens at 8 a.m. today and tomorrow at Mitchel Athletic Complex in Uniondale.
A racing display from the Vanderbilt Museum will feature privately owned historic films of the race, memorabilia, artwork and more beginning at noon today and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. tomorrow and Sunday at the Centerport museum.
A musical performance of "The Great Vanderbilt Cup Race" will be at 4 p.m. tomorrow, and a parade of antique cars appropriate to the Vanderbilt Cup era will drive the same 1904 race circuit (28 miles) beginning 9 a.m. Sunday at Mitchel Field. The drivers will stop around 10 a.m. at the original starting line of the race on Jericho Turnpike in Westbury for a dedication. Fees apply for some events.
Volvo 850 Accessories AccessoryVolvo S40 Accessories AccessoryVolvo S70 Accessories AccessoryVolvo V40 Accessories AccessoryVolvo V70 Accessories AccessoryVolvo Cross Country Accessories AccessoryVolvo S60 Accessories AccessoryVolvo S80 Accessories AccessoryVolvo XC90 Accessories AccessoryAssar Gabrielsson and Gustaf Larson were the two men behind Volvo. Gabrielsson was a Bachelor of Science in Economics and a businessman and began his career at SKF in Gothenburg. In time, he became the head of SKF's subsidiary in France and discovered that it was possible to sell Swedish ball-bearings at a lower price than the US suppliers could. One of the reasons for this was the low workshop wages in Sweden compared with those paid internationally. It seems likely that it was here in France that Gabrielsson began to wonder whether Sweden might not be a suitable place to produce cars. In 1923 he returned to Sweden to become sales manager for SKF. Gustaf Larson was an engineer and designer. He had worked as a trainee at White & Poppe in Coventry in England, where he was involved in the design of Morris engines, among other things. In 1917 Larson returned to Sweden and took a degree at the University of Technology in Stockholm. He then worked as an engineer at SKF in Gothenburg for three years before returning to Stockholm. So, Assar Gabrielsson and Gustaf Larson had several opportunities to meet through their mutual employer. Perhaps it was at this time that the two of them started to develop the idea of Swedish car manufacture.
A Vintage Sports Car Rally sponsored by the Bridge Hampton Historical Society is open to all sports cars built before Dec. 31, 1959.There will also be a Classic Car Tour, open to all cars dated 1969 and older; this is a noncompetitive meet. First rally car is off at 10 a.m. tomorrow, and at 11 a.m. tomorrow, the tour steps off. For information call 631-537-1088 or go to www.bridgehamptonrally.org.
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