Now for something a little different. Today marked the 115th anniversary of the arrival in Paris of the 1907 Thomas-Flyer from the USA, which crossed the finish line first to win the incredible New York to Paris race in 1908. As such, it was appropriate that this occasion was honored at the Buffalo Transportation Pierce Arrow museum, since the Thomas Flyer was built by the E. R. Thomas Company of Buffalo.
On hand was the actual car that competed and won the race, along with Jeff Mahl, great-grandson of the Thomas Flyer driver, George Schuster. I was able to chat with him briefly - very nice, down to earth, and willing to give freely of his time to anyone who came up and wanted to talk. On top of all of that, there were about 15 other Thomas Flyers at the museum today - cars from Quebec, Missouri, Ontario, and - of course - New York State. It was said this was a "once in a lifetime" opportunity, to see 15 Thomas Flyers all on display in one spot. They were beautiful.
Knowing the 1908 race winner would be there, I had to bring along my old Rio 1/43 model so it could "meet" it's 1:1 counterpart, and so I could take some pictures. Below are pictures of that car, me, and several of the other Thomas Flyers in attendance. Also, they were showing a video about the vehicle on the screen above the car, which I found on YouTube here: This Car Matters: Thomas Flyer, winner of the New York to Paris Race - YouTube
Some of our sharp-eyed Forum members may note that part of this video was shot at a private auto-course in Pennsylvania that many of us visited not too long ago.
Wonderful Skip, what a great opportunity to see the 1908 winner as well as all those other Thomas Flyers. Nice to get the Rio into the same picture as the real thing. It's time for me to check out my Rio Thomas Flyer in the model room once again. Thanks for this great post. Love those early cars.
A marvellous post - thank-you very much. My first ever retrospective model car was Yesteryears' Thomas Flyer and this car and its story has always seemed very special. I think it's a great shame that 1:43 model makers ignore the veteran era of U.S. auto manufacture: so many different auto producers and stunning cars to model!
This is a really cool post. Thanks Skip! I'm 95% certain I saw this 1907 Thomas-Flyer many years ago (New York? Michigan? Vegas? ) and was captivated by the story.
Thanks Skip for a great post. I must admit that I do not have the Rio model but I will be working to change that. I do have the 1/24 scale model and it is a much talked about model when various car clubs tour my collection.
Now for something a little different. Today marked the 115th anniversary of the arrival in Paris of the 1907 Thomas-Flyer from the USA, which crossed the finish line first to win the incredible New York to Paris race in 1908. As such, it was appropriate that this occasion was honored at the Buffalo Transportation Pierce Arrow museum, since the Thomas Flyer was built by the E. R. Thomas Company of Buffalo.
On hand was the actual car that competed and won the race, along with Jeff Mahl, great-grandson of the Thomas Flyer driver, George Schuster. I was able to chat with him briefly - very nice, down to earth, and willing to give freely of his time to anyone who came up and wanted to talk. On top of all of that, there were about 15 other Thomas Flyers at the museum today - cars from Quebec, Missouri, Ontario, and - of course - New York State. It was said this was a "once in a lifetime" opportunity, to see 15 Thomas Flyers all on display in one spot. They were beautiful.
Knowing the 1908 race winner would be there, I had to bring along my old Rio 1/43 model so it could "meet" it's 1:1 counterpart, and so I could take some pictures. Below are pictures of that car, me, and several of the other Thomas Flyers in attendance. Also, they were showing a video about the vehicle on the screen above the car, which I found on YouTube here: This Car Matters: Thomas Flyer, winner of the New York to Paris Race - YouTube
Some of our sharp-eyed Forum members may note that part of this video was shot at a private auto-course in Pennsylvania that many of us visited not too long ago.
Enjoy!
ENVY in cap letters !!!
I've been there with both my younger brothers and have had the BEST times !!
Steve
PS...we were all born in Buffalo. Our Paternal Grandmother worked during WWII at Bell AeroCobra across the street from Buffalo Airport on Genesee St
Great post Skip! I have that Rio too, of course. I wish someone would do a more accurate 1:43 someday (assuming Joop's pic is of a larger scale model). At the Chattanooga Motorcar Festival in 2021 there were two Thomas Flyers, a 1909 Model K-670 (1st two pics) and another I didn't get the data on. I think the latter is owned by the Coker family (Coker Tire Co.)
