Tom Cooper (cyclist)

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Tom Cooper (ca.1899)

Tom Cooper (born December 1, 1874 in New York City , † November 20, 1906 there ) was an American cyclist and car racer .

Cycling

Tom Cooper began his cycling career in Detroit , where he was the star of the Detroit Athletic Club . In 1898 he won the championship of the League of American Wheelmen Association over half a mile on the Newby Velodrome in Indianapolis , in 1899 the US championship. His rivalry with Major Taylor was legendary . In his day, Cooper was considered the world's best-paid racing cyclist.

The Cooper-Ford racing car

Like many racing cyclists at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, Cooper turned to the automobile after his cycling career had ended . In 1902, he partnered with Henry Ford to build two high-speed racing cars, a year before Ford founded his company, the Ford Motor Company . The result of this project were two racing cars with wooden frames, four cylinders and around 17 liters (1080 cubic inch ) displacement. The vehicles were initially vulnerable, and Ford sold its stake in Cooper in October 1902.

A few days later, Cooper started the car at the Manufacturer's Challenge Cup in Grosse Pointe , Michigan . Cooper agreed that racing driver Barney Oldfield should drive the 999 car (named after the fastest steam locomotive at the time ). Oldfield surprisingly beat millionaire and renowned racing driver Alexander Winton , founder of the Winton Motor Carriage Company , in this race . Oldfield continued to successfully race for Cooper for the next ten months, building Ford's reputation as a good automaker. He was the first to complete a 60 mph (60 mph) mile on the Indiana State Fairgrounds circuit in the 999 .

Cooper and Oldfield on tour

Although Barney Oldfield joined Alexander Winton's team in August 1903, he and Tom Cooper remained partners in various ways. The two men drove their racing cars through the Midwest and drove races for $ 1,000. One of the highlights was Cooper's victory over Oldfield and his Winton racing car, again in Grosse Pointe, on September 9, 1903.

Cooper and Oldfield kept coming up with new ideas for making money. So they created a special effects appearance with two racing cars for the play The Vanderbilt Cup starring the popular actress Elsie Janis , who simulated a car race on stage. The two performed with it every night for three months.

Cooper himself had been recognized as a top racing driver since 1903 and from then on only occasionally went on tour with Oldfield. On September 5, 1906, he set a strange mile record: With a Matheson , occupied with seven passengers, he drove this distance on the beach of Atlantic City in 50.2 seconds.

Vanderbilt Cup

Tom Cooper himself never drove in the Vanderbilt Cup , but he worked for the Matheson team that started there in 1905 and 1906. On September 22, 1905, he entered the American Elimination Trials , but his car broke down during practice. In 1906, Cooper became a team manager at Matheson. The driver participating in the Cup, Ralph Mongini , hit a telegraph pole on the first lap.

Deadly accident

Tom Cooper died in a car accident on November 16, 1906 in New York. He and friends had sped through Central Park at top speed in the car at midnight and crashed into another stationary vehicle. His neck was broken.

literature

  • "Cyclists at Indianapolis". The New York Times , August 12, 1998.
  • Barney Oldfield: "Days Are Here". Indianapolis Star . May 30, 1912, p. 11.
  • William F. Nolan: Barney Oldfield, The Life and Times of America's Legendary Speed ​​King . Brown Fox Books, 2002, page 30.
  • "The Detroit Races". Horseless Age. September 16, 1903.
  • "Eliminators Ready for The Trials". Automobile Topics , September 22, 1906, p. 1758.
  • Automobile Topics . September 5 and 8, 1906, p. 1613.
  • "In Readiness to Select the American Cup Team," The Motor World , September 20, 1906, p. 731.
  • "Tracy First in Eliminating Trial". Motor Age. , September 27, 1906, p. 8.
  • "Auto Collision is Fatal". Chicago Tribune , Nov. 24, 1906, p. 3.
  • "The Tale of the First Eliminating Trial". The Motor World , September 28, 1905.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Peter Nye: Hearts of Lions. The History of American Bicycle Racing . Penguin Books 1988, p. 37
  2. ^ New York Times . November 20, 1906

Web links

Commons : Tom Cooper  - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files
personal data
SURNAME Cooper, Tom
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American cyclist and car racer
DATE OF BIRTH December 1, 1874
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City
DATE OF DEATH November 16, 1906
Place of death New York City