Mechanical Wonder From an Age Gone By

'BLACK BEAST' Howard Kroplick, in his 1909 Alco-6 Racer, wears racing goggles from the era.

Nicknamed “the Black Beast,” this was one of the most famous race cars of its era. A two-time winner of the Vanderbilt Cup, a major event in the early years of American motorsport, the car was the favorite to win the first Indianapolis 500-mile race in 1911. (It blew a rod, however, and finished 33rd in a field of 40.)