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| CRG |
William K. Vanderbilt Jr. (1878-1944) was the great-grandson of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, who built a
transportation empire in shipping and railroads. Known to his friends as Willie K, he was the second child and first
son of William K. Vanderbilt (1849-1920) and Alva Erskine Smith (1849-1933). He was a railroad executive, an
accomplished yachtsman, and a pioneer auto racing driver. At the age of only 26, William K. Vanderbilt Jr. proposed
the first international road race to be held in the United States by donating the Vanderbilt Cup.
After his marriage, Willie K was an independent adult and ready to embrace another passion, automobiles. In 1900,
he purchased, at the cost of $10,000, one of the first racing cars imported in the United States, a 28-hp Daimler
nicknamed the White Ghost. On September 6, 1900, Vanderbilt and his society sporting friends gathered at a half-
mile Aquidneck Park horse track near Newport, Rhode Island, for a series of automobile races. Vanderbilt won three
of the featured five mile races with an average speed of 33.7 mph. The following year, he returned to compete in the
Aquidneck Park winning both the five-mile and ten-mile races in his 35-hp Mercedes Red Devil.
Vanderbilt and the “Race to Death”
Vanderbilt returned to Europe in May 1903 to compete among 216 cars in the infamous Paris-to-Madrid Race
driving his 80-hp Mors. While it must have been disappointing at the time, a cracked cylinder on the first day of
competition spared him exposure to the numerous accidents that earned the event the name “Race to Death.” At
least eight people were killed during the race, including car maker Marcel Renault, ending the first great era of motor
racing, the European city-to-city races on open roads.
Vanderbilt Wins Hill Climb Contest
On Thanksgiving Day 1903, Vanderbilt took his 60-hp Mors to Orange, New Jersey, and won the Eagle Rock Hill
Climbing Contest. He broke the record time for the steep, curvy, one-mile hill. After his victory, crowds surrounded
Vanderbilt, who wore a fur coat to protect against the wind while driving.
transportation empire in shipping and railroads. Known to his friends as Willie K, he was the second child and first
son of William K. Vanderbilt (1849-1920) and Alva Erskine Smith (1849-1933). He was a railroad executive, an
accomplished yachtsman, and a pioneer auto racing driver. At the age of only 26, William K. Vanderbilt Jr. proposed
the first international road race to be held in the United States by donating the Vanderbilt Cup.
After his marriage, Willie K was an independent adult and ready to embrace another passion, automobiles. In 1900,
he purchased, at the cost of $10,000, one of the first racing cars imported in the United States, a 28-hp Daimler
nicknamed the White Ghost. On September 6, 1900, Vanderbilt and his society sporting friends gathered at a half-
mile Aquidneck Park horse track near Newport, Rhode Island, for a series of automobile races. Vanderbilt won three
of the featured five mile races with an average speed of 33.7 mph. The following year, he returned to compete in the
Aquidneck Park winning both the five-mile and ten-mile races in his 35-hp Mercedes Red Devil.
Vanderbilt and the “Race to Death”
Vanderbilt returned to Europe in May 1903 to compete among 216 cars in the infamous Paris-to-Madrid Race
driving his 80-hp Mors. While it must have been disappointing at the time, a cracked cylinder on the first day of
competition spared him exposure to the numerous accidents that earned the event the name “Race to Death.” At
least eight people were killed during the race, including car maker Marcel Renault, ending the first great era of motor
racing, the European city-to-city races on open roads.
Vanderbilt Wins Hill Climb Contest
On Thanksgiving Day 1903, Vanderbilt took his 60-hp Mors to Orange, New Jersey, and won the Eagle Rock Hill
Climbing Contest. He broke the record time for the steep, curvy, one-mile hill. After his victory, crowds surrounded
Vanderbilt, who wore a fur coat to protect against the wind while driving.