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How much did Jimmy Murphy win at the 1921 French Grand Prix?

  • Joel
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14 Mar 2019 16:54 - 14 Mar 2019 17:01 #36848 by Joel
I found some info online: " Started in 1906, The Grand Prix name ("Great Prize") referred to the prize of 45,000 French francs to the race winner.[1] The franc was pegged to the gold at 0.290 grams per franc, which meant that the prize was worth 13 kg of gold, or €191,000 adjusted for inflation." Apparently, in subsequent years, the prize remained at 13kg of gold.
From an online converter, I learned the following "The price of 13 gram gold in year 1921 was 115.32121796871775 French franc"
So in 1921 that prize of 13kg gold would be worth 1,499,175 francs. So that is why the 83,ooo franc entry fee. At the start of WWI, france left the gold standard for their money. It would seem that the franc was severely devalued through the war.

Joel Nystrom
1929 Duesenberg Model J Murphy Convertible Coupe
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Last edit: 14 Mar 2019 17:01 by Joel.

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  • hessacres
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14 Mar 2019 15:29 #36847 by hessacres
OOPs You are correct it was the Indy

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  • mikespeed35
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13 Mar 2019 04:08 #36844 by mikespeed35
The way I read it the 35K was for the Indy 500.
CORDiallyMike

Mike Huffman

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  • hessacres
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12 Mar 2019 21:30 #36843 by hessacres
Joel;

According to a period publication his total winnings for the race was about $35,000 for 1st. The second-place winner got about $10,000 and the Third place winner got $5,000.
Here is the link to the article, (hope it works).
books.google.com/books?id=D_YiAQAAMAAJ&p...rize%20money&f=false

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  • Joel
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09 Jan 2019 04:16 #36388 by Joel
From Jon Bills book "Auburn Cord Duesenberg racers and record setters", I learned that the entry fee for the 1921 French Grand Prix was 83,000 francs. As best I can determine from the internet, that would be at least a few hundred thousand U.S. dollars today. With an entry fee that large, I was wondering how much did Jimmy Murphy win for his outstanding victory? Does anybody know? Thanks, Joel

Joel Nystrom
1929 Duesenberg Model J Murphy Convertible Coupe
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