Birthplace of Speed (see UPDATES)

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This week, from January 24th until 28th, Ormond Beach in Florida will host the Centennial of the Stanley Land Speed Record, which still is the longest standing Speed Record set by a steam car. Today around 75-100 steam cars ranging from Stanley and Doble to White will arrive on the beach, but also several vintage gas racers, dating from 1912 and older participate. An exiting date is Thursday, January 26th with the actual re-enactment of the Speed Record including a solo beach run by a replica of the Stanley Rocket, followed by time-trail runs by the historic racers. The picture shows the Ormond Garage (click for more detail) built in 1905 to accommodate participating race cars during the Ormond Beach races. Sadly it burned to the ground in 1976, destroying an important landmark in auto history. (photo courtesy Stanley Museum) (RB)
Update I: Paul Linster found an interesting link on the Stanley Rocket (Click!)
Update II by Kim Koffman: “The beach sand at Ormond is packed hard. The beach has a very gradual slope. Early stock car racing was run on the beach, with NASCAR as a result. When I was a boy, we vacationed several times at Ormond and Daytona. Early all-out speed attempts were popular at Ormond, since Bonneville was so difficult to access. Stock car racing started as a Southern sport. Ford V-8s were usually the vehicle of choice. Many 1934 Ford coupes were destroyed as stock cars. The Southern boys were skilled at souping up cars to haul bootleg whiskey. There is a good movie about Southern bootlegging -Thunder Road-”
Update III: Mark Dawber says that the #2 car behind the Stanley is an interesting Mercedes 60 with an extra engine in it. click for picture (germancarfans.com).

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