Discover the most momentous motoring events that took place this week in history ……..

110 years ago this week, the first Pierce-Arrow truck was sold to the International Brewing Corporation [2 June 1911]…….100 years ago this week, Mack adopted the Bulldog as the symbol for Mack trucks [3 June 1921]……on the same day [3 June 1921], Australian Harry Hawker, driving an AC at the Brooklands race circuit in Surrey, became the first to officially exceed 100 mph in Britain driving a 1.5-litre car…….

King George V opened the Southwark Bridge in London [6 June 1921]…….80 years ago this week, Swiss-born American Louis Chevrolet, founder of the Chevrolet Motor Car Company in 1911 and later the Frontenac Motor Corporation which made racing parts for Ford’s Model T, died at the age of 62 [6 June 1941]…….70 years ago this week, Gordon M. Buehrig was issued a US patent for his “vehicle top with removable panels” [5 June 1951]. The T-top (UK: T-bar) automobile roof has a removable panel on each side of a rigid bar running from the center of one structural bar between pillars to the center of the next structural bar. The panels of a traditional T-top are usually made of auto grade safety glass. It was first used in a 1948 prototype by The American Sportscar Company or “Tasco.” The 1968 Chevrolet Corvette coupe was the first U.S.-built production automobile to feature a T-top roof. This increased the popularity of the coupe, such that it outsold the convertible and later led to the discontinuation of the Corvette convertible after 1975 until it was revived in 1986…….60 years ago this week, the Mosport International raceway, Ontario, the second purpose-built circuit in Canada, opened with club races [3 June 1961]. The facility presently features a 2.459-mile (3.957 km), (length reduced through wider track re-surfacing done in 2003) 10-turn road course; a 2.9 km advance driver and race driver training facility with a quarter-mile skid pad (Driver Development Centre) and a 1.4 km kart track (Mosport International Karting)…….the following day [4 June 1961], Hall of Famer Ned Jarrett rolled to victory at Fairgrounds Raceway in Birmingham, Alabama, US outrunning Jim Paschal to score his eighth victory in NASCAR’s top series. Paschal wound up second with Jack Smith third, both two laps down at the finish on the half-mile dirt track. Only eight of the 13 starters were running at the end of the 200-lap race. The win was Jarrett’s only triumph on the way to his first championship at NASCAR’s top level; he also won the 1965 title……. Ray Barfield drove his Aston Martin DB3S to win in the 6-hour ‘Le Mans’ race, winning from Bob MacDowall in a TR3A and Vic Johnson in an Austin Healey. Barfield set a race record distance of 187 laps, about 385 miles [6 June 1961]……..40 years ago this week, Nelson Piquet led for much of the Monaco Grand Prix but crashed out late on [31

May 1981]. New race leader Alan Jones then suffered a fuel feed problem in the latter stages of the race, allowing Gilles Villeneuve in his Ferrari 126CK, to take his first victory since 1979…… Production of Corvettes began at a new plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky, US and the facility has remained the exclusive home of the Corvette ever since [1 June 1981]. Known around the world as America’s sports car, the Corvette exemplifies the definition of innovation. The Corvette is the world’s longest-running, continuously produced passenger car. When the first Corvette rolled off the line over 60 years ago, it was born an icon. GM has continued this reputation for the car with six decades of refinement and innovation, raising the bar for performance cars with each generation. The Corvette Stingray is no exception; man and machine work in harmony to bring to life the perfect balance of technology, design and performance. Corvette didn’t always call Kentucky home, however. In 1953, the first 300 were built by hand in Flint, Michigan, just after General Motors unveiled the Corvette as a “dream car” in the Motorama show in New York’s Waldorf Astoria hotel. The following year, production moved to St. Louis. In June of 1981, Corvette production transferred from St. Louis to Bowling Green, Kentucky. Previously a Chrysler air-conditioning unit factory, the building was completely renovated within 14 months into a modern automotive facility twice the size of the previous structure. At the conclusion of the 1996 production year, the entire plant was gutted to make way for a totally redesigned manufacturing facility for the fifth generation Corvette. Production of the XLR began in June 2003 and ceased on April 30, 2009. The plant built the 1 millionth Corvette on July 2, 1992 and the 1.5 millionth on May 28, 2009. The 50th anniversary of the Corvette was celebrated in June 2003, marked with a special 50th anniversary Corvette package, and the 30th anniversary of Bowling Green Assembly was celebrated in June 2011……30 years ago this week, the Lexus SC400 was given its public launch at the Fairmont Hotel, San Francisco [1 June 1991]. And just 5 years after the brand launch, Lexus became the best selling imported luxury car in the US, beating all its European competitors……. Nigel Mansell decided to wave to his fans during the last lap of the 1991 Canadian Grand Prix as he cruised to what seemed to become yet another dominant win [2 June 1991]. But as the electronic brain of his Williams-Renault got confused as to why the driver would want to drop the revs below the recommended level and disengaged the clutch. Nelson Piquet sped past the frustrated Englishman to score what would turn out to be Piquet’s last ever victory in Formula 1……20 years ago this week, for the first time, the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) awarded a car three out of four stars for pedestrian safety [6 June 1961]. The Honda Civic was praised because its bumper and bonnet crumpled on impact. Before the Civic’s score, no car has achieved more than a two-star rating……..10 years ago this week, the most people crammed on an unmodified bus (229) was achieved by the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the Krakow University of Technology in Krakow, Poland [1 June 2011]. The bus took a 75-metre journey lasting 57 seconds with all 229 passengers inside.