Thrills of the Racetrack, 1915 (HD)

In this collection of thrills from the early days of the automobile, vintage cars trailing plumes of white smoke and piloted by helmeted daredevils in open drivers’ seats barrel their way around curves and down straightaways, through city streets, on a banked wooden track, and across the sand of an unnamed beach. Included are scenes from the 1915 Pan American Exposition car race in San Francisco and early images from the Indianapolis Speedway. This was scanned from a very brittle and shrunken silent 16mm B&W print. The original is 1 minute and 23 seconds long and was shot at 18 fps.