Glidden Tour

The Glidden Tours, also known as the National Reliability Runs, were promotional events held during the automotive Brass Era by the American Automobile Association (AAA) and organized by the group's chairman, Augustus Post. The AAA, a proponent for safer roads, acceptance of the automobile and automotive-friendly legislation, started the tour to promote public acceptance and bring awareness of their goals.[1]

Postcard of a Flanders 20 serving as the pathfinder car to lay out the 1911 route from New York to Jacksonville, Florida.

The original Glidden Tours were held from 1904[2] until 1913. They were named after Charles J. Glidden, a financier and automobile enthusiast, who presented the AAA with a trophy first awarded to the winner of the 1905 tour.

In 1906, the Glidden Tours were the first motor race to use a chequered flag to indicate the end of the race: Sidney Walden divided the courses into sections; the time check at the end of each section was performed by race officials called "checkers." These checkers used chequered flags to identify themselves.[3]

At the turn of the century automobile travel was difficult as the road systems around the world were generally not well suited for the horseless carriage.

To bring more awareness and sponsorship to the event, the AAA announced that the tour would be a "reliability and endurance" tour, a type of road rally. This attracted automobile manufacturers who competed to test their vehicles and use the events for advertising.

The tours were gruelling events: cars broke down, were damaged by accidents, and encountered nearly impassable roads. Drivers and teams did repairs on the run and helped out other drivers having difficulties.

The tours went several hundred miles in the US and occasionally into Canada with time limits between check points and a point scoring system to determine a winner of each event. The time limits caused some problems with the inhabitants of where the tour traveled through as autos scared horses, caused personal and property damage and sometimes appeared to not care.

1909 Glidden Tour Parade at Belle Isle Park, Detroit

Revival
Glidden Trophy

The Glidden Tours were revived in 1946 by the Veteran Motor Car Club of America (VMCCA) and have continued since with antique cars traveling premarked routes and stopping in local towns to show off their vehicles, many people dressed in period costume. Original founder Augustus Post participated in every Glidden Tour until his death in 1952. In 1954, Dr. Jay Rice Moody was given the Col. Augustus Post Memorial Award by the AAA in recognition for his role in reestablishing the Glidden Auto Tours, and maintaining the spirit of the original tours as founded by Post.[4]

The silver Glidden trophy is still presented to the winner of the event.

References
  1. "Auto Cup Race for America". The Inter Ocean. February 10, 1904. p. 5. Retrieved June 14, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. http://www.gliddentour.org/?page_id=26
  3. Marshall, Tim (2017). A flag worth dying for : the power and politics of national symbols (First Scribner hardcover ed.). New York: Scribner. p. 262. ISBN 9781501168338. OCLC 962006347.
  4. "Dr. Moody gets Special Award for Glidden Tours". The Newport Daily News=October 1, 1954. p. 19. Retrieved June 17, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
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