Vintage Cars Paraded Across the Peninsula in Commemoration of Famous 1915 Point Loma Road Race

On Sunday, January 12th, Point Loma was home to a parade of dozens of vintage cars that drove across the Peninsula to commemorate the 110th anniversary of the legendary 1915 Point Loma Road Race. And Rag staff were on hand near Catalina and Hill to observe the event and these are their photos.

The vintage cars drove from the San Diego Automotive Museum in Balboa Park to Point Loma, where they drove two laps of the original race route — which took them on Rosecrans, Lytton, Chatsworth, Catalina, Talbot, and Canon Streets.

Sponsored by the San Diego regions of the Horseless Carriage Club of America, they simply wanted to share their vintage autos with the public.

After driving through the neighborhoods of Bankers Hill and Mission Hills, the parade took Laurel Street, First Avenue, Lewis Street, and Fort Stockton Drive, then regrouped on Shelter Island. Then beginning at Canon and Rosecrans the cars traveled down Rosecrans, turned left on Lytton St. then Chatsworth, left on Catalina, Talbot, Canon and then returned to the starting corner.

According to the sponsors of Sunday’s parade, the 1915 race, took place on January 9th and “marked a pivotal moment in racing history.”

The fastest drivers in the world converged on San Diego to compete in a thrilling event designed to promote the Panama-California Exposition. Legendary drivers such as Barney Oldfield, Eddie Rickenbacker, Earl Cooper, and San Diego’s own “Bad Bill” Carlson battled on a six-mile course laid on Point Loma’s dirt roads. On race day, the events at Balboa Park drew little attention.

Approximately 50,000 spectators lined the course, while paid attendance at the exposition totaled 6,112. After 51 grueling laps for 305 miles and 4 hours and 41 minutes, Earl Cooper claimed victory in a Stutz with an average speed of 65.333 mph. San Diegan William Carlson, driving a Maxwell, finished close behind with an average speed of 64.961 mph.

The original racecourse, which had first seen action two years earlier in a 200-mile race won by Carlson, would now host a 305-mile contest with a grand prize of $5,000. Grandstands were erected on Rosecrans Boulevard, where drivers raced north before making a sharp left onto Lytton Street. The most challenging turn on the course was the “Roseville Turn” where drivers navigated a sharp corner coming down Canon before speeding back onto Rosecrans Boulevard. The final stretch featured a two-mile straightaway, where speeds reportedly approached 100 mph.

In their press release on the parade, the sponsors mentioned “San Diego’s own ‘Bad Bill’ Carlson” who “battled on a six-mile course laid on Point Loma’s dirt roads,” and that “William Carlson, driving a Maxwell, finished close behind with an average speed of 64.961 mph” to the winner Earl Cooper.

Just a note here about William or Billy Carlson. This is the same Carlson that some OBceans tout as “the father” of Ocean Beach. (The Rag sides with OB historian Ruth Varney Held who named David C Collier as the true Father of OB. For more, see this.)

Actually, Carlson and his partner, Albert Higgins, were con-men developers who swindled would-be investors in Ocean Beach out of their money and really didn’t do anything for the community except change the name from “Mussel Beach” to “Ocean Beach”, hold big parties at the beach, and build the first hotel – which burnt down under suspicious origins. In 1893, Carlson was elected mayor of San Diego, but ended up being convicted of mail fraud and sentenced to prison for four years.