George Robertson

Who was George Robertson?

George H. Robertson was an American race car driver. His father ran one of New York's first big garages and George grew up surrounded by Mors, Panhards and other cars. He raced a Christie, a Hotchkiss, and a Simplex, as well as a Locomobile with which he won the 1908 Vanderbilt Cup. This victory was the first in the Cup by an American driver in an American car. This car was the legendary "Old No. 16".

In 1910, he was the captain of the Benz team but was injured while showing a newspaper reporter the course and was forced to retire from driving. In 1921, he served as Duesenberg's team manager in their victory in the French Grand Prix. The team featured Americans Jimmy Murphy and Joe Boyer with Frenchman Albert Guyot. He later was the vice president and general manager of Roosevelt Raceway, host to the George Vanderbilt Cup in 1936 and 1937.

In 1951, racing historian Russ Catlin officially revised AAA records with championship results based on all AAA races from 1902–1915 and 1917–1919. This had the effect of changing the 1909 champion from Bert Dingley to George Robertson.