Savannah's Grand Prize & Vanderbilt Cup Races
Savannah, Chatham County, Georgia
Marker Inscription
American Grand Prize Races, 1910 AND 1911 VANDERBILT CUP RACE, 1911. On each side of Waters Avenue at this site stood the grandstands built for the famous Savannah automobile races in 1910 and 1911. The starting and finishing line was located in front of the stands. On November 12, 1910, David Bruce-Brown won the American Grand Prize Race of 415 miles by only one and a half seconds, averaging 70.55 miles per hour in a Benz car. The Grand Prize Race held on November 30, 1911, was also won by Bruce-Brown, driving a Fiat, with an average speed of 74.45 miles per hour. On November 27, 1911, Ralph Mulford, at the wheel of an American-made Lozier, was victor in the Vanderbilt Cup Race, averaging 74.07 miles per hour. These races which were run over a course of 17 miles of fine roads in Chatham County are considered by authorities as the greatest automobile road races held in this country. Of international interest and importance, the events contributed their share in the development of the early automobile industry in America. 025-33 GEORGIA HISTORICAL COMMISSION 1955
Erected by Georgia Historical Commission
The Story
For two seasons Savannah hosted some of the greatest automobile road races in America. On November 12, 1910, David Bruce-Brown won the 415-mile American Grand Prize in a Benz by a mere second and a half; he won again in 1911 driving a Fiat, and days earlier Ralph Mulford took the Vanderbilt Cup in an American-made Lozier. Grandstands lined Waters Avenue at this spot, overlooking a 17-mile course of Chatham County's fine roads.
Why it matters
These internationally famous races helped drive the technical development of the early American automobile industry in its formative years.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
In the opening years of the twentieth century, the automobile was transforming from a rich man's curiosity into a world-changing machine, and nothing captured the public imagination like racing. This was the Progressive era, a time of dizzying faith in speed, invention, and progress, and the roar of an engine on an open course felt like the future arriving all at once. Savannah, an old and gracious port city, made an unlikely but perfect stage.
What set Savannah apart was its roads. Long before interstates, most American highways were rutted and unpaved, but Chatham County had invested in miles of smooth surfaces well suited to high-speed motoring. That local advantage drew international attention: for two seasons the city hosted road races that authorities of the day ranked among the greatest ever run in this country.
Picture the scene along Waters Avenue. Grandstands rose on either side of the road, the starting and finishing line stretched in front of them, and crowds gathered to watch machines hurl themselves around a seventeen-mile circuit at speeds that must have seemed almost unimaginable.
People & events
The marker anchors its story to specific races and the drivers who won them. On November 12, 1910, David Bruce-Brown captured the American Grand Prize over a grueling 415 miles, driving a Benz to victory by the astonishing margin of just one and a half seconds and averaging 70.55 miles per hour. In an era of frequent mechanical failure and real danger, a race that long decided by so little was the stuff of legend.
Bruce-Brown returned to win again. On November 30, 1911, he took the Grand Prize a second time, now behind the wheel of a Fiat, pushing his average speed to 74.45 miles per hour. To win such a punishing event twice, in cars of different makes, marked him as one of the finest drivers of his short and brilliant career.
The 1911 season carried a second headline event. Days before Bruce-Brown's repeat, on November 27, Ralph Mulford won the Vanderbilt Cup at an average of 74.07 miles per hour — and he did it in an American-made Lozier, a point of national pride at a time when European machines dominated the sport. Together the two names on this marker represent both the international glamour of the races and the emerging ambition of American manufacturing.
Its place in the American story
These races mattered far beyond Savannah because racing, in this period, was where the automobile was tested, proven, and improved. Every lap on the Chatham County course was a trial of engines, tires, brakes, and endurance, and the lessons learned on the track fed directly into the cars ordinary Americans would soon drive. The marker puts it plainly: these events "contributed their share in the development of the early automobile industry in America."
The presence of both European and American cars is central to the story. When a Lozier built in the United States could win a major cup at over seventy-four miles per hour, it signaled that American manufacturers were closing the gap with the established European makers. National reputation, not just a trophy, was on the line.
Savannah's races belong to the founding chapter of American motorsport and, more broadly, to the arrival of the automobile age itself — a transformation that would reshape the country's landscape, economy, and daily life within a single generation.
If you visit
Stand near this spot on Waters Avenue and try to strip away the modern street in your mind. The grandstands are long gone, but the marker tells you exactly where they stood, flanking the road, with the start-finish line laid out before them. Imagine the noise, the dust, and the crowds leaning in as the cars flashed past.
The real experience here is the seventeen-mile course itself, threaded through Chatham County's roads. If you have time on a Savannah trip, you can trace the racing country by car and appreciate what "fine roads" meant to drivers pushing the limits of 1910s machinery. Reading the marker first gives that drive a story to carry with you.
Savannah rewards the traveler who mixes its famous squares and antebellum architecture with these lesser-known chapters. This one is a favorite for anyone who loves cars, engineering, or the sheer daring of early racing — a reminder that this genteel old city once thundered with the sound of the future.
Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.
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Related people
- · David Bruce-Brown
- · Ralph Mulford
Related events
- · American Grand Prize Race, 1910 & 1911
- · Vanderbilt Cup Race, 1911
Themes & tags
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