6 replies to this topic

[Cheater]

So it isn't car racing, but this rare footage is definitely worth a few minutes of your time. The tracks may have been wooden, but the men were made of iron and steel.

 

[Dave Crevie]

Good video. As mentioned in the film, there was a board track in Chicago. One in Indiana as well. Gutsy guys.

[John Luongo]

Absolutely. Great video. Over 100mph motorcycles with 20 MPH brakes. Amazing.

 

 

[Dave Crevie]

My mother's father was into motorcycles. In the late '20s he had a Pope car, a phaeton. At the same time, he also had a Pope motorcycle. After the run on the banks, he had to sell both. But a few years later, he bought an Indian Chief, which he rode to many of the motorcycle flat track races in the area. My mother used to ride that Indian to work at Allstate insurance every day.

 

[Cheater]

Col. Albert Pope was involved in just about every form of transportation around the turn of the 20th century – including bicycles and gas and electric horseless carriages.. His companies were essentially the first GM type conglomerate well before W.C. Durant got the idea.
 
 Pope Manufacturing Company

[Dave Crevie]

I have a book somewhere on Pope's four wheeled vehicles. One on board tracks as well, come to that. 

 

Gramps swore his Pope bike was a four-banger, but all my research over the years has not turned up anything about a four other than the Colonel had the French company FN design a four. Pope was already on the downslide and I am positive it never came to fruition. Just the same, I have seen an old family picture with the family lined up in front of the phaeton. In the background, slightly out of focus, is the Pope bike and it sure looked like an in-line four laid out like a Henderson or Indian. So he was either wrong that it was the Pope, or that was some very rare bike. 

 

I believe this is the model of car he had. He had it for almost 20 years, until the engine froze one winter and cracked the block. He had no money to fix it.

 

 

After the Pope, he bought a used Pierce-Arrow, that he drove until the start of WWII, when he turned it in because it had a lot of aluminum in it. He was a character. Wish I was around back then. 

[Alchemist]

Exciting to watch and very informative!

 

Thank you, Greg, for coming across the video and sharing it with us!

 

I appreciate it.

 

Ernie