The Thomas Flyer was built by the E.R. Thomas Motor Company of Buffalo, New York.
Starting in Times Square on February 12, 1908, and guided mostly by the stars and a sextant, the Flyer completed the race in 169 days, reaching the Eiffel Tower at 6 p.m. on July 30. The only American entry—and the only production car in the field of six. Mechanic George Schuster said,"I was glad to see that the car was a 1907 and not one of the new 1908 models," he wrote of his introduction to the now-famous Flyer. "The latter were not so good on hills as cars of the previous year, and the newest models still had bugs in them... The $4,000 Thomas Flyer of 1907 was a proven machine, one of the greatest cars of its day. Each had to climb Buffalo's Brewery Hill in high gear and do 55 to 60 miles an hour in a road test, before being delivered to a customer.”
Entrants in the 1908 race, held long before there were highways or, in many areas, any roads at all, dealt with snow, sleet, mud, mapless navigation, breakdowns, river crossings using fords or rafts instead of bridges, steamship travel, and the threat of wild animals and bandits, which is why George Schuster, the mechanic on the tour, carried a 32-caliber pistol. The driver was Montegue Roberts. Most of all, the cars and their teams battled public perception; most thought such a feat was not only inconceivable but impossible.
The Map.
The original plan was for competitors to cross the Arctic ice from Alaska to Russia, but that was scrapped due to heavy snow. By then, the contestants were down to three. The Flyer was first at the check point in Valdez, Alaska where it was loaded and was able to continue on the original route. The other two still in the race went to Seattle where they were shipped to Japan.
The American car was actually the third to finish after 169 days, but were awarded bonus days because took a longer route approved route.
The prize for winning this astonishing victory earned the team a trophy and $1000 cash fromThe New York TimesandLe Matin newspapers, a sum that didn’t cover expenses.
Importantly, the victory brought fame and put both man and machine in the history books.
Forgive the scale (1/24) but I was dying to make a diorama to tell a bit of the story of this car. I finished this 3 weeks after I got the Flyer in the mail. I made it to fit in a Testors 1/18 display case because it was the only case tall enough for the flag.
Great pictures, Rich. Thanks for the post. Here's my RIO version from years back, including its flag. (But I think it's a later version.)
Wrong flag on mine. It should have the 46 Star Flag: On July 4,1908, the U.S. flag grew to 46 stars with the addition to the Union of Oklahoma (November 16, 1907). Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909) and William H. Taft (1909-1913) served as President under the 46 star flag. This was the official flag for 4 years.
Forgive the scale (1/24) but I was dying to make a diorama to tell a bit of the story of this car. I finished this 3 weeks after I got the Flyer in the mail. I made it to fit in a Testors 1/18 display case because it was the only case tall enough for the flag.
The applied details on this peace,in particular the fingertips and nails,are beyond belief.....
@john-barryThe two seated figures were a Stuka pilot and gunner that I found in an unfinished kit in a dumpster. They were chopped up to be reposed and then redressed. The two standing figures were basically sculpted from A-B epoxy and softened and liquified styrene All the jackets were formed from lead foil and the fleece was micro-bubbles. Looking at the diorama today, I get exhausted just thinking about having to do something like this again. Every half decade back in the day, I'd get inspired to tackle another diorama. The military ones I did took about 3 years to complete but they were vastly more complicated and way larger than this as it's only a single model that needed only some repainting and weathering. The ground work was the most fun.
@rich-sufficool......"softened and liquified styrene" ......"micro-bubbles"....... and various other odd bits that would periodically go bump in the night.......it`s all so inspiring
The Thomas Flyer was built by the E.R. Thomas Motor Company of Buffalo, New York.
Starting in Times Square on February 12, 1908, and guided mostly by the stars and a sextant, the Flyer completed the race in 169 days, reaching the Eiffel Tower at 6 p.m. on July 30. The only American entry—and the only production car in the field of six. Mechanic George Schuster said,"I was glad to see that the car was a 1907 and not one of the new 1908 models," he wrote of his introduction to the now-famous Flyer. "The latter were not so good on hills as cars of the previous year, and the newest models still had bugs in them... The $4,000 Thomas Flyer of 1907 was a proven machine, one of the greatest cars of its day. Each had to climb Buffalo's Brewery Hill in high gear and do 55 to 60 miles an hour in a road test, before being delivered to a customer.”
Entrants in the 1908 race, held long before there were highways or, in many areas, any roads at all, dealt with snow, sleet, mud, mapless navigation, breakdowns, river crossings using fords or rafts instead of bridges, steamship travel, and the threat of wild animals and bandits, which is why George Schuster, the mechanic on the tour, carried a 32-caliber pistol. The driver was Montegue Roberts. Most of all, the cars and their teams battled public perception; most thought such a feat was not only inconceivable but impossible.
The Map.
The original plan was for competitors to cross the Arctic ice from Alaska to Russia, but that was scrapped due to heavy snow. By then, the contestants were down to three. The Flyer was first at the check point in Valdez, Alaska where it was loaded and was able to continue on the original route. The other two still in the race went to Seattle where they were shipped to Japan.
The American car was actually the third to finish after 169 days, but were awarded bonus days because took a longer route approved route.
The prize for winning this astonishing victory earned the team a trophy and $1000 cash fromThe New York TimesandLe Matin newspapers, a sum that didn’t cover expenses.
Importantly, the victory brought fame and put both man and machine in the history books.
The model is by Rio of Italy in 1/43 scale.
You should post your sources for the original pictures. To be correct, they come from George N. Schuster published around 1960. He was the driver and mechanic from Thomas. I have the book in storage and remember very well. Give credit when applicable when you post pictures from sources. Just common sense.
Citing sources is not always possible these days. Many images that show up on forums like this one and in videos are sourced from the internet where original citings can be rare.
@rich-sufficool Rich, I have just spent more time with your original post of this Thomas Flyer. Your work is even more impressive after my third and fourth looks. I also agree with your larger scale, for it makes more possible the detailing. Thank you for sharing this work. I feel any museum of American achievements would be enriched with such a display. Well done!
