Robertson, Christie at Ormond Beach

This photo is of George Robertson hitching a ride on the back of this four cylinder Christie racer at Daytona-Ormond Beach during the March 22-24, 1910 speed tournament. This was the last race car produced by the unconventional John Walter Christie, who is pictured here driving. The story goes that the car had severe overheating problems and Christie packed 100 pounds of ice around the engine. Robertson mustered a respectable 30.39 second mile, but this was overshadowed by Barney Oldfield in the Blitzen Benz, who ran a 27-second mile to set the world's unofficial land speed record of 131.720 the previous week.