The Santa Monica road race course was an American race track consisting of public roads. Established by a consortium of Southern California auto dealers who sought to promote cars, buying them as well as racing them, at a time when they were rather rare in Los Angeles , the Santa Monica road races lasted for ten years.
7-470: An estimated 50,000 people attended the 1909 Santa Monica road races. Harris Hanshue was the winner of the heavy-car division in an Apperson Jackrabbit and Bert Dingley won the lightweight division in a Chalmers-Detroit Forty. The free-for-all race of the 1912 event was won by Teddy Tetzlaff in a Fiat . He was awarded a medal for the win. Santa Monica hosted both the Vanderbilt Cup and
14-436: A horizontal four . In 1904, Apperson offered vertical fours in two models. The 1904 Apperson Touring Car was a touring car model. Equipped with a tonneau , it could seat 6 passengers and sold for US$ 6000. The vertical-mounted straight-4 , situated at the front of the car, produced 40 hp (29.8 kW). A 4-speed transmission was fitted. The steel-framed car weighed 2800 lb (1270 kg). The wheel base
21-484: A shortened course in 1919. Walter Melcher sustained fatal injuries when his car overturned. Apperson The Apperson was a brand of American automobile manufactured from 1901 to 1926 in Kokomo , Indiana . The company was founded by the brothers Edgar and Elmer Apperson shortly after they left Haynes-Apperson ; for a time they continued to use a FR layout -mounted flat-twin engine, following it with
28-448: A time, the entire range was known as the "Jack Rabbit" - in 1913 a 32.4 hp (24 kW) four and a 33.7 hp (25 kW) six were listed, and a 33.8 hp (25 kW) 90-degree V-8 of 5.5 L (5502 cc/335 in ) followed in 1914. In 1916 the company announced production of the "Roadplane" six and eights. The term "Roadplane" did not refer to a specific model but was a marketing concept devised by Elmer Apperson that
35-637: The American Grand Prize in 1914 and in 1916. A fatality occurred in practice for the 1914 event when a car crashed into the crowd and killed a spectator. The 1916 event was marred by a total of five deaths: After a mechanician had been fatally injured in practice, driver Lewis Jackson and three people lining the road died as a result of a crash during the Grand Prix race. A record crowd of 150,000 people saw millionaire sportsman Cliff Durant drive his Chevrolet Special to victory on
42-431: Was 96 inches. The Apperson offered electric lights, a novelty for the time, and used a modern cellular radiator. The 25 hp (18.6 kW) version weighed 1800 lb (816 kg) and sold for US$ 3500. In 1906 the company cataloged a 95 hp (71 kW) four at $ 10,500. The next year the first of the famed Jackrabbit speedsters rolled off the line; this was a 60 hp (45 kW) that sold for $ 5000. For
49-424: Was applied to the "Chummy Roadster" and the "Touring" car. Elmer took the unusual step of patenting the "Chummy Roadster" design (see: "U.S. Patent 48359" ). The "Silver-Apperson", designed by Conover T. Silver, was launched in 1917; the model was known as the "Anniversary" after 1919. A sedan proprietary with six cylinders of 3.2 L (3243 cc/197 in ) appeared in 1923, and a Lycoming eight-cylinder
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