On This Day

The first one-way streets were established in London. An Act of Common Council was passed to regulate the "disorder and rude behaviour of Carmen, Draymen and others using Cartes." Seventeen narrow and congested lanes were specified. Continue Reading →

Seventeenth century London

Harold D. Weed of New York State received U.S. Continue Reading →

For the first time motor vehicles were legally allowed to enter Yosemite National Park, California. Prior to 1913, visitors travelled by train to the park and then took scheduled stagecoach tours. The advent of motor tourism changed the face of Yosemite forever, for it demanded modern, high-quality park roads. Continue Reading →

First car permit in Yosemite in 1913.

The 23-litre Maybach engined ‘Chitty Bang Bang’ car won the first Southsea Speed Carnival in Hampshire, England driven by British racing driver Count Louis Zborowski at 73.1 mph. This chain driven customized Mercedes was the first car known as Chitty Bang Bang, but three more would be built by Zborowski. These cars would inspire a similar name ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ that appeared in Ian Fleming’s 1964 book about a magical car, and again in the 1968 movie of the same name starring Dick Van Dyke.

Count Louis Zborowski with Chitty Bang Bang 1 at Brooklands c1921.

Coachbuilder Vanden Plas (England) 1923 Ltd. was reorganised and took over the former premises of The Kingsbury Aviation Company in northwest London.

John Cobb driving the piston-engined, wheel-driven Railton Special broke the land speed record at Bonneville, achieving a mark of 367.91 mph (592.09 km/h). Without this being beaten he raised the record to 394.19 mph (634.39 km/h) in 1947.

John Cobb

Alberto Ascari won the Swiss Grand Prix at Brengarten driving a Ferrari 500. With his victory at this race, Ferrari driver Ascari won his second World Driver's Championship in a row; as teammates Nino Farina and Mike Hawthorn, and Maserati driver Juan Manuel Fangio (who failed to score) now could not beat Ascari's total points score. The race marked the brief return of Grand Prix-era legend Hermann Lang. Continue Reading →

The Portuguese Grand Prix was won by British driver Stirling Moss, his eleventh Grand Prix victory, driving a Cooper T51 for privateer race team Rob Walker Racing Team. Moss finished a lap ahead of American racer Masten Gregory driving a similar Cooper T51 for the factory Cooper Car Company team. American Scuderia Ferrari driver Dan Gurney finished third in his Ferrari Dino 246.

Eduardo Lualdi drove a Ferrari 250GTO to victory in the Ascoli Hillclimb in Italy.

Lorenzo Bandini won the first Austrian Grand Prix, held over 105 laps of the Zeltweg Airfield circuit, for Ferrari. Richie Ginther finished second for the BRM team and Brabham driver Bob Anderson came in third. This was the debut race of the future world champion Jochen Rindt.

1964 Austrian Grand Prix - Lorenzo Bandini

Jaguar's Browns Lane plant produced the first 420 (pronounced "four-twenty"). It was produced for two years as the ultimate expression of a series of "compact sporting saloons" offered by Jaguar throughout that decade, all of which shared the same wheelbase. Developed from the Jaguar S-Type, the 420 cost around £200 more than that model and effectively ended buyer interest in it, although the S-Type continued to be sold alongside the 420/Sovereign until both were supplanted by the Jaguar XJ6 late in 1968 Autocar magazine was the first to get their hands on a Jaguar 420 in March 1967. Continue Reading →

Jaguar 420

Enjoying a wild birthday party Keith Moon drummer with The Who drove his Lincoln car into a Holiday Inn swimming pool, in Flint, Michigan, US. As the party had become out of control, the police were called to put an end to the festivities. Moon, ever keen to avoid the boys in blue snuck outside and got into a Lincoln Continental Limousine and attempted to make a getaway. Continue Reading →

The first Dacia 1300 left the assembly line and was exhibited at the Paris and Bucharest shows of that year. Romanians were delighted with the modernity and reliability of the car, and waiting lists were always lengthy.

Dacia 1300

The Rt Hon John Peyton MP opened the Gerrards Cross Bypass, the last section of the M40 in Buckinghamshire to be constructed. It brought the length of motorway from Stokenchurch, 17 miles (28 km) east of Oxford, to Denham Roundabout, some 19 miles (30 km) west of central London to 21 miles (34 km).

Roger Hedlund, driving the Battery Box, set a land speed record for electric automobiles of 175 mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, US. The home-built steamlined electric sprint car was designed to use 32 12-volt batteries, hooked up in series, but the record run was made with 28 batteries giving 336 volts to turn the motor. The GE motor was cooled by a fan from a car heater system, which pulled fresh air through the motor housing.

Pole-winner Cale Yarborough warded off Dale Earnhardt’s charge by two car-lengths to win the Volunteer 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway, Tennessee, US. Yarborough led 379 of 500 laps in what would be his last Bristol appearance; the NASCAR Hall of Famer continued on a limited schedule from 1981 on. Darrell Waltrip finished third — come spring, Waltrip would embark on a streak of seven straight Bristol victories. Continue Reading →

1980 - Volunteer 500

Darrell Waltrip became the first racing car driver to earn $7 million, making him the best-paid driver in NASCAR history.

Darrell Waltrip (1979)

Didier Pironi (35) was killed during a powerboat race in the UK. During his career he competed in 72 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, driving for Tyrrell (1978–79), Ligier (1980) and Ferrari (1981–1982). Pironi found himself at the centre of one of the biggest team disputes in Formula One history when he disobeyed team orders to steal a last-gasp victory from Gilles Villeneuve at the 1982 San Marino Grand Prix. Continue Reading →

Didier Pironi

Richard Jock Kinneir (76) graphic designer (transport/traffic font) who with colleague Margaret Calvert, designed many of the road signs used throughout the United Kingdom, died. Their system has become a model for modern road signage.

A road sign written mainly in Transport Heavy; the white on blue text is Transport Medium.

The record for the longest ramp jump by a car, with the car landing on its wheels and driving on afterwards, was set at 72.24 m (237 ft) by Australian stunt man Ray Baumann at Ravenswood International Raceway in Perth, Western Australia.

A bus rolled over after colliding with a car in eastern Turkey, killing 12 and injuring 36.

JCB Dieselmax car broke its own FIA diesel engine land speed record, achieving a speed of 350.092 mph (563.418 km/h) over a distance of 1 mile on the Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah (US). Continue Reading →

JCB Dieselmax

Rubens Barrichello driving a Brawn claimed his first win in 5 years at the European GP staged at the Valencia Street Circuit in Valencia, Spain. after starting from third on the grid. The 2008 world champion Lewis Hamilton finished second for McLaren-Mercedes, while 2007 world champion Kimi Räikkönen finished in third for Ferrari. Continue Reading →

Rubens Barrichello - 2009 European Grand Prix

The fastest caravan tow - 141.998 mph (228.523 km/h) - was achieved by Jason Sands (USA) driving a GMC 2500HD and towing a standard Carson Kalispell at El Mirage Dry Lake, California, USA

French rugby player, racing driver and later a Formula One team owner, Guy Ligier, died at the age of 85. With motorway construction booming in France, Ligier was able to build a large construction empire and during the period made important friends in local politicians François Mitterrand and Pierre Bérégovoy. In the late 1960s Guy started racing Porsche sportscars and even raced in Formula One with privately entered Cooper-Maserati and Brabham-Repco machinery. Continue Reading →

Guy Ligier