baptism
The fellow in the passenger seat is Jeff Mahl, great grandson of George Schuster who won the New York to Paris auto race in 1908. A few hundred feet from where we made this picture, his great gramps got the 1907 Thomas Flyer automobile so mired in quicksand and muck that they stripped the teeth off the pinion gear. This is in the Nevada desert at the bottom of railroad valley at a place called Twin Springs Ranch. It is 300 miles from Reno, 250 from Las Vegas, 250 from Salt Lake City, and 70 east of Tonopah. So in 1908 terms, the nearest rail connection to get parts is 70 miles. Schuster bought a horse from the local rancher and started for Tonopah. The French, Italian and German teams were in hot persuit so there was no time to lose. Schuster recalled that a Doctor in Tonopah had purchased a 1907 Model 35 Thomas from the factory and his plan was to convince the good Dr. of the dire need. He did and the car entered Tonopah the following evening, March 21st, 1908.
Yesterday, Monday, Nov. 03, 2008 a little group of antique cars and drivers made the trip across the same route in Nevada that had been traveled 100 years ago. We stopped at Twin Springs Ranch to try to locate the exact spot where the car had become mired. In the article I linked to, the first picture is of the car broken down in the quick sand at Twin Springs. I used this photo and Google earth to line up the picture elements and locate the lost placement. Jeff Mahl was thrilled to be standing in the exact location his great gramps had so much muddy trouble in Nevada.
The car in my photograph is Ray Fowler's 1930 Chevrolet speedster. It has made the entire route from Times Square and will get to San Francisco on the 8th Nov.
