On This Day

James W. Packard purchased a Winton automobile #12 after visiting the Winton plant in Cleveland, Ohio with his brother. Dissatisfied with the purchase, Packard was prompted to build his own car and establish the Packard Motor Car Company, which would later be acquired by Studebaker. Continue Reading →

James W. Packard

The first production Buick was sold to Dr Herbert H Hills of Flint, Michigan, US.

1904 - first production Buick

The first metered taxicab took to the streets of New York City. Harry N. Allen incensed after being charged five dollars ($126. Continue Reading →

Woman passenger in a 1910 taxi cab, New York, USA

BMW AG was entered as a new company in the Commercial Register and took over from BMW GmbH all its manufacturing assets, order book and workforce.

British manufacturer Sunbeam merged with the French company Automobiles Darracq. Alfa Romeo and Opel both started out in the car industry by building Darracqs under licence, and in 1919 Darracq had bought the London-based firm of Clement-Talbot, becoming Talbot-Darracq in the process, in order to import Talbots into England. Adding Sunbeam created Sunbeam-Talbot-Darracq, known as STD Motors.

Prices in the Great Britain were slashed to 1 shilling 1 pence a gallon by petrol companies, the cheapest since 1902.

Petrol station - England, 1927

Fernand Charron (62), winner of the first Gordon Bennett Trophy, died. The French pioneer of motor racing and automobile manufacturing started his sporting career as a successful cyclist. In 1891 he won the French National Stayers Championships riding a bicycle around a track following a tandem. Continue Reading →

Fernand Charron

Charles Creighton and James Hargis completed an epic journey of 3340 miles from New York to Los Angeles by driving their 1929 Ford Model A roadster without once stopping its engine, in reverse!

Charles Creighton and James Hargis

Václav Laurin (64), the Czech engineer, entrepreneur and industrialist who co-founded automobile manufacturer Laurin & Klement that later became today's Škoda Auto, died.

Václav Laurin

Sir Herbert Austin invited the press to see the new vehicles in the Austin Seven range – the Opal, Ruby and Pearl. The Opal was the basic two seater version, and early cars carried over the flat fronted radiator. These sold for £100. Continue Reading →

Austin Seven Opal blueprints

The Moon Motor Car Company plant in St Louis, Missouri, US was sold to the Cupples Company for use as a wooden match factory.

The Ford Motor Company's soy bean plastics factory began operations. In 1932-33, the Ford Motor Company spent approximately $1,250,000 on soybean research. By 1935, every Ford car had soy involved in its manufacture. Continue Reading →

Frederick Samuel "Fred" Fish (84), American lawyer, politician and automotive manufacturing executive, died. Originally a successful corporation lawyer, he entered the Studebaker corporation through marriage and became the corporation's president in 1909 and chairman of the board from 1915 to 1935. He is credited with introducing the manufacture of Studebaker cars, first electric, then gasoline-powered.

The "Soybean Car", a plastic-bodied car, was unveiled by Henry Ford at Dearborn Days, an annual community festival. The frame, made of tubular steel, had 14 plastic panels attached to it. The car weighed 2000 lbs, 1000 lbs. Continue Reading →

Soybean Car - 1941

Twenty-one-year-old Fireball Roberts drove his Oldsmobile to victory in the 100-mile NASCAR Grand National event at Occoneechee Speedway in Hillsboro, North Carolina, US, making him NASCAR's youngest winner. Darlington Raceway officials announced that the inaugural Southern Five-Hundred field would be expanded from 45 to 75 cars.

Pre-World War II racing legend Tazio Nuvolari was buried in Mantua, Italy, in his yellow shirt and leather helmet he wore while racing. His pall bearers were Alberto Ascari, Pietro Ghersi, Gigi Velloresi, Juan Fangio, Giovanni Bracco, Gino Valenzano, Renzo Castagneto, Umberto Maglioli, and Learco Guerra .

Tazio Nuvolari

Junior Johnson posted a wire-to-wire victory at Asheville-Weaverville Speedway in the Western North Carolina 500 (US), an event stopped after 258 of a scheduled 500 laps and punctuated by a post-race riot by angry fans. Johnson started second and jumped to a lead he would never relinquish, which left him to survive a track surface that crumbled under the weight of 38 cars in searing summer heat. Despite having his windshield blasted by a piece of loose asphalt, Johnson still finished three laps ahead of runner-up Joe Weatherly. Continue Reading →

Walter Owen Bentley (82), MBE, English engineer who designed engines for cars and aircraft, raced cars and motorcycles, and founded Bentley Motors Limited in Cricklewood near London, died. He was known as "W.O. Continue Reading →

W O Bentley

Emerson Fittipaldi won the Austrian Grand Prix for Lotus, leading home the McLarens of Denny Hulme and Peter Revson.

Racer Bobby Isaac (45) died of a heart attack caused by heat exhaustion suffered while driving in a NASCAR Late Model Sportsman event at Hickory, North Carolina (US). He began racing full-time in 1956, but it took him seven years to break into the Grand National division. Isaac won the championship in 1970 driving the No. Continue Reading →

Bobby Isaac

Ronnie Peterson took his 10th and ultimately final Grand Prix victory, winning in Austria for Lotus.

(13th-21st ): To demonstrate the reliability of its car’s, Mercedes-Benz set a number of world records with the Mercedes 190E. From this day to August 21st at the circular high-speed track in Nardò, Italy, three sports vehicles covered a distance of 50,000 kilometers (31,068 miles) over the course of just 201 hours, 39 minutes and 43 seconds. The cars also set two world records over a distance of 25,000 km (15,534 mi), one world record for 25,000 miles (40,233 km) and nine other records in their class. Continue Reading →

Ford acquired the remaining 49 percent interest in Pilkington Glass Industries Ltd. of Canada, to make it a wholly owned subsidiary.

NASCAR Winston Cup driver, Tim Richmmond (34) died of complications from AIDS. Although his NASCAR career lasted just seven years, Richmond's on-track performances made an impression on the competition. In 1986, the flamboyant driver won seven races, more than any other driver, and finished a career-high third in the NASCAR Winston Cup points race. Continue Reading →

Famed French Grand Prix driver and restaurateur, Rene Dreyfus (87), who raced automobiles for 14 years in the 1920s and 1930s, the Golden Era of Grand Prix motor racing, died from a heart attack.

Nigel Mansell stormed through from 12th on the grid to win the Hungarian Grand Prix for Ferrari. The race is best remembered for Mansell’s marvellous overtaking manoeuvre on Ayrton Senna as the two came upon a back-marker at the same time.

1989 Hungarian Grand Prix

Bobby Isaac (46) died of a heart attack, following a race at Hickory Speedway, North Carolina. In a 15-year career, Isaac won 37 NASCAR Winston Cup Series races. In 1970, Isaac topped the field to win the NASCAR Winston Cup Series championship. Continue Reading →

Damon Hill led home David Coulthard in a British and Williams 1-2 at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Steve Park created an upset at Watkins Glen, New York (US) for his first victory in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. Top road racers Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon tangled on the first lap, effectively removing both from contention.

The Hungarian Grand Prix saw Michael Schumacher win his fourth World Championship and equal Alain Prost's record of 51 Grand Prix victories. Rubens Barrichello in the other Ferrari finished second and McLaren driver David Coulthard finished third.

The Ford SVT F-150 Lightning earned the title ‘World’s Fastest Production Pickup’, according to Guinness World Records, after reaching 147 mph at the Michigan Proving Grounds of the Ford Motor Company.

Ford-F150-SVT-Lightning

Around 25,000 people lined the streets of Manchester in the UK as six A1GP race cars roared around the city centre, reaching speeds of up to 170mph. A1 Teams Australia, China, Great Britain, Ireland, Lebanon and Malaysia thrilled the crowds along a purpose built 1.5km course as part of it’s broadcast partner’s Sky Festival.

Polaris announced three all-new Indian-branded motorcycles based on the traditional styling of the Indian marque, along with the Thunder Stroke 111 V-twin engine. The motor has a triple-cam design with a chain-driven center cam turning front and rear cams via gears, permitting parallel placement of the pushrods to give a similar appearance to older Indian designs. It is air cooled, with large traditional fins and an airbox in the cast aluminum frame. Continue Reading →