On This Day

The Green Bay - Madison race in Wisconsin, US began with two competitors, the Oshkosh steamer built by Frank A Shomer, A M Farrand, A Gallinger and O F Morse in that city and the Green Bay steamer built by Edward P Cowls of Wequiock, Wisconsin.

The first Tour de France Automobile, a sports car race held on roads around France regularly - mostly annually - between 1899 and 1986, began. Organized by Le Matin, under the control of the Automobile Club de France, it was held in seven stages: Paris-Nancy; Nancy-Aix-les-Bains; Aix-les-Bains-Vichy; Vichy-Périgueux; Périgueux-Nantes; Nantes-Cabourg; Cabourg-Paris. Out of 49 starters, 21 vehicles finished the 1350 mile race, with René de Knyff driving a Panhard et Levassor winning the race 8 days later in Paris, at an average speed of 30.18 mph.

René de Knyff - Tour de France Automobile - 1899

F P Nehrbas, a Buffalo, New York (US) bicycle mechanic, joined the E R Thomas Motor Company to build the prototype automobile designed by Erwin Ross Thomas. The company is best known for producing the Thomas Flyer. The most famous model was a 1908 72 horsepower six cylinder Thomas Flyer that won the New York to Paris automobile race in 1908. Continue Reading →

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders founded by Frederick Simms was registered as a British company. One of its early functions was to organise motor shows, the first of which took place at Crystal Palace, London in January 1903.

Societa Petrolifera Italiana Spa was incorporated in Piancenza, Italy.

Rene Panhard (67) died and was succeeded as Managing Director of the Societe des Anciens Etablissements Panhard et Levassor by Hippolyte Panhard, his 37 year old son.

Felice Nazzaro came out of retirement as a driver and took his Fiat 804 to victory in the 8th A.C.F. Continue Reading →

Felice Nazzaro at the 1922 French Grand Prix

Chrysler made its racing debut with Ralph DePalma winning the Mount Wilson Hillclimb near Los Angeles, US - his 22.1 mph speed for the 9.5 mile course established a n vent record for stock cars, but was the slowest speed for all of DePalma's many victories.

The world’s first parking meter, known as Park-O-Meter No. 1, was installed on the southeast corner of what was then First Street and Robinson Avenue in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, US. The parking meter was the brainchild of a man named Carl C. Continue Reading →

Park-O-Meter No. 1

The British Grand Prix might have been staged in the shadow of the previous month's Le Mans tragedy, which had led to the cancellation of the French Grand Prix scheduled for July 3, but it was nonetheless a classic race dominated by Mercedes. The venue was moved from Silverstone to Aintree and a 150,000 crowd saw an epic battle between Stirling Moss and Juan Manuel Fangio, the pair swapping the lead and racing nose-to-tail lap after lap. At the finish Moss was ahead by 0. Continue Reading →

1955 British Grand Prix

Robert Breeze, designer of the Breeze-Paris race car while on military duty in France and of the 1919 Breeze Midget upon his return to the United States, a developer of power braking systems, and an official of the Sebring (FL) International Raceway, died aged 72, while swimming off the coast of Lio Beach, New York.

Reigning World Champion Jack Brabham won the British Grand Prix and Innes Ireland finished in third place. Between the two, multiple motorcycle Grand Prix World Champion John Surtees (in only his second ever Formula One Grand Prix) took second place.

1960 British Grand Prix - #1 Jack Brabham

The seven-mile Mont Blanc road tunnel linking Courmayeur and the Italian Val d’Aoste with the French valley of Chamonix was inaugurated by the French president, Charles de Gaulle, and the Italian President, Giuseppe Saragat. It opened to traffic three days later. A fire in the tunnel in Match 1991 claimed the lives of 39 people.

Entrance of the Mont-Blanc Tunnel, on the French side (city of Chamonix)

The first RAC British Grand Prix held at Brands Hatch was won by Jack Brabham driving a Brabham-Repco BT19.The race, the first of the new three-litre engine regulation era where starters reached 20 cars. It was Brabham's his second win in succession after winning the French Grand Prix two weeks earlier. Continue Reading →

Jack Brabham leading the 1966 British Grand Prix

Scotty Cain won a dust shortened NASCAR PCLM race on a rough 1/2 mile dirt oval at the Alameda County Fairgrounds, California. The race was marred by a 10 car pile-up on the backstretch that saw 4 cars destroyed by fire, among them the Mercury driven by road racing standout Ed Leslie. Fortunately, no one was seriously injured. Continue Reading →

Scotty Cain

The 15,000,000th Pontiac was produced.

Merle Bettenhausen crashed into the outside wall on the backstretch during the USAC Champ Car Michigan 200 staged at the Michigan International Speedway, Michigan (US). He tried to climb out of the car while it was still going but his right arm was caught inbetween the moving car and the backstretch wall and was severed, ending his racing career.

The British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Silverstone was won by James Hunt driving a McLaren M26, and marked the debut of Canadian driver Gilles Villeneuve. The race was the first outing for the first turbocharged Formula One car, the Renault RS01, driven by Jean-Pierre Jabouille.

1977 British Grand Prix

NASCAR Hall of Famer Darrell Waltrip dominated the Nashville 420 (Tennessee, US) to score the sixth of his 84 wins in NASCAR’s top series. Waltrip, who led 300 of the 420 laps on the .596-mile oval at the Nashville Fairgrounds, was more than a lap ahead of runner-up Bobby Allison at the finish. Richard Petty took third, two laps down at the end.

Carlos Reutemann in a Ferrari 312T3 won the British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch. At the start of the race, Mario Andretti (Lotus) took the lead from Ronnie Peterson (Lotus), with Jody Scheckter (Wolf) holding third and Alan Jones (Williams)moving up to fourth. The Lotuses quickly pulled out a large gap, and looked set to dominate, until Peterson retired on lap 7 with a fuel leak. Continue Reading →

Start of the 1978 British Grand Prix

After 23 years of familiarity with the name, Datsun, executives of Nissan, the Japanese car manufacturer, changed the name of their cars to Nissan.

Harry Chapin (38), US singer, songwriter, (1974 UK No.34 single 'W.O. Continue Reading →

Harry Chapin

The Spirit made its Formula 1 debut at the British Grand Prix, but the Type 201 driven by Stefan Johansson retired due to fuel pump belt failure. The 67-lap race was won by Renault driver Alain Prost after he started from third position. Nelson Piquet finished second for the Brabham team and Ferrari driver Patrick Tambay came in third.

Johnny Herbert driving a Benetton-Renault B195 won the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. The race is best remembered for the rather clumsy attempt by Damon Hill on lap 46 to pass Schumacher, that resulted in a collision that forced them both to retire.

Dale Jarrett scored his first win with the Robert Yates Ford team, beating Jeff Gordon in a classic duel at Pocono, Pennsylvania (US). The lead changed hands 37 times among 13 drivers in the highly competitive event.

Finnish driver, Mika Häkkinen driving a McLaren MP4/15 took the checkered flag at the Austrian Grand Prix staged at the A1-Ring circuit. The win was Hakkinen's second of the season and McLaren's fifth. Hakkinen won by twelve seconds over his British team-mate David Coulthard. Continue Reading →

Andrew Osborne was sentenced to 28 days in prison at Aylesbury Magistrates Court after being clocked at 158 mph (252 km/h) on his 1200-cc Kawasaki motorcycle at Tingewick bypass in Buckinghamshire.

Vauxhall released the first details of its fifth generation Astra range. Technological highlights included the adaptive suspension system IDSPlus (Interactive Driving System) with Continuous Damping Control (CDC).

Vauxhall Astra MkV (2004 - 2010)

Citroen revealed first official pictures of the stunning new C4, ahead of its world debut at that year’s Paris Motor Show.

At the French Grand Prix Michael Schumacher became the first driver in Formula One history to win the same Grand Prix on eight different occasions (having previously won the Grand Prix in 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002 and 2004). Schumacher also achieved his 22nd career hat trick (pole position, win & fastest lap at the same race), also a record. Fernando Alonso, driving a Renault at the team's home race, finished second, whilst Schumacher's Ferrari team-mate, Felipe Massa, completed the podium by finishing in third position.

Michael Schumacher driving for Ferrari at the 2006 French Grand Prix.

New York State legislature shelved proposals to bring road-congestion pricing to Manhattan.

A sports car belonging to US hip-hop pioneer Grandmaster Flash which contained valuable vintage records was mistakenly given away by a parking attendant. The incident happened in a Manhattan garage where the musician returned to pick up the vehicle after nearly two hours, the attendant said he had given it to someone else thinking he was the owner.