Bruce-Brown, David

[TimD]

I've heard the name, and I've heard tell of his great exploits on the Fiat in the Savannah Grand Prize, but there really is very little information available on this enigmatic driver.

Can anyone offer me a potted biography or some stories about a driver who I am told could have achieved so much if his career had not been cut so short?

Bruce-Brown, born 1890, was a wealthy New Yorker who had attended Yale. While still attending schooling he set a speed record of 109 mph in Daytona Beach in 1908. The following year he acquired a 120 hp Benz to participate at races. Besides minor events during the year he won the 1910 American Grand Prize in Savannah. He was a born race driver if ever there was one. In May of 1911, he finished 3rd in the first Indy 500. At the end of the year he again won the American Grand Prize in a FIAT S74. He returned to Indy in 1912 but retired early. Then followed the French GP at Dieppe, where he led for the first 13 of 20 laps, then ran out of fuel and still came third, losing out on a technicality.

The same year at the end of practice for the American Grand Prize at Milwaukee, he requested extra practice laps from famous starter Fred Wagner. Wagner, who saw that the FIAT's tires were worn down to the fabric, ordered Bruce-Brown to return to the garage. Wagner: "It is my honest belief that David Bruce-Brown would be alive today, to cite a case in point, had he heeded the warning I gave him on that fateful afternoon when he rolled to his death." A rear tire blew, causing his FIAT to flip, burying Bruce-Brown. They finally got the car off him but he passed away on the awful ride to hospital. Tony Scudelari, his mechanic, died one week later.

[Ray Bell]

Would his 1910 Savannah win make him the youngest every winner of an event of Grand Epreuve stature?

Very good question, Ray.

You could start a new thread on this, actually an interesting topic.

[Ray Bell]

I remember reading about him years ago... was it in the Charles Faroux book?

Might start that thread, Hans...

I looked further into the Bruce-Brown story and discovered unresolved controversy regarding his age, which could have been either 19, 20 or 22.

• Peter Helck (1961 and again 1983) wrote that Bruce-Brown was 24, when he died on 1 October 1912. This means he was born before October 1888 and at the time of his first American Grand Prize win on 12 November 1910, he was actually 22.
  
• G N Georgano & Cyril Posthumus (1971) show him to be born in 1890, which makes him either 19 or 20 at the time of his first American Grand Prize win.
  
• Robert Cutter and Bob Fendell (1973) wrote that he was born 1890 and refer to him as 18-year-old on March 23 1908, when he set a record speed of 109 mph at Daytona. Conclusion, he must have been born before March 23 1890. That makes him 20 at the time of his first American Grand Prize win.
  
• Tim Considine (1997) states that he was born 1890, which would make him either 19 or 20 at the time of his first American Grand Prize win.
  
  I believe that David Bruce-Brown was the youngest ever to win a major event.

[Vitesse]

This is only a possiblity, and just a theory, but perhaps someone in the USA could check it out ...

If anyone can provide info as to where Bruce-Brown was living in either 1900 or 1910, United States Census information for those years is already in the public domain. I've checked the appropriate web site, but personal information is only available on microfiche in major libraries, not on the web. Plus, of course, I don't know whether or not birth dates were recorded on US censuses - I have established that they do include place of birth . However, this might be worth exploring - anyone?

[Liz]

Tim, my cousin found some info for you on the 1911 Indy race. Here it is........ David Bruce-Brown drove #28 Fiat/EE Hewlett sponsor, Engine type Fiat 1-4/589cu in started 25 and finished 3rd, he lead for much of the half of the 200 laps.

Thank you, Liz.
Any reference to his age?

[Ray Bell]

Sorry folks, said Charles Faroux book, meant Charles Fox book, and he isn't in there. Just found my copy.

What book was it that had a nice feature on him? It was a book that gave bios of about a dozen drivers through the years...

[Corktree]

Originally Posted by Hans Etzrodt

Thank you, Liz.
Any reference to his age?

Very old news, but just in case....

The 2 October 1912 issue of The New York Times has the year of David Bruce Brown's birth as 1887.