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

130 years ago this week, William Steinway, a member of the piano-making family, acquired the rights to build Daimler #cars in the United States [6 November 1888]…….. 110 years ago today, in his most ambitious political effort Democrat Henry #Ford lost a US Senate race to Republican Truman H Newberry by about 7,500 votes out of the 430,000 votes cast [5 November 1908]………The Hupp Motor Car Corporation was organised in Detroit, Michigan, US with J Walter Drake as President along Robert

C Hupp, Edward Denby, Charles D Hastings, Otto von Bachelle, Joseph R Drake, John E Blake and Emil A Nelson in other executive positions [8 November 1908].They introduced the Hupmobile Model 20, a two-passenger runabout with a four-cylinder engine and a two-speed transmission, at the 1908 Detroit Auto Show. It was very well received and their first-year sales topped 1,600. The Hupmobile did very well into the 1920’s and established a solid reputation which allowed them to attract good engineers. The Hupmobile moved from a four-cylinder to a straight eight and produced a variety of models. By 1926, the Hupmobile Six was added and Hupp’s earnings skyrocketed. It was the success of the stylish 1928 model that helped the Hupp brothers afford to increase plant capacity by buying the Chandler-Cleveland Corp. of Cleveland. 65,862 Hupmobiles had been produced by the end of that year. Encouraged by the previous year’s strong sales, Hupp made the mistake of increasing the Hupmobile power plant to a 70-horsepower Six and a 100-horsepower Eight in the 1930 models after the stock market crash. With sales dipping 23 percent and a depression looming, Hupp forged ahead with a 133-horsepower Eight in an economy that couldn’t afford additional gas consumption. Hupp reduced prices on the 1931 models, but this didn’t stop their sales from plummeting. Hupp decided to collaborate with Raymond Loewy, famous for the creation of Studebaker’s groundbreaking “coming-or-going” design, to introduce a stylish new model for 1932. Because the front fenders of the ’32s followed the contour of the wheels, they were referred to as the “cycle car” Hupmobiles. With only 10,500 of the new model Hupmobiles sold, there was not enough cash to make any significant changes for 1933, but the bold designs for the 1934 Hupmobile received public attention and approval. It had an aerodynamic body, faired-in headlamps and a three-piece “pilot house” windshield with its end sections slightly bent around the corners. The increased sales didn’t ease tension in the Hupp boardroom resulting in Archie Andrew, one of the corporation’s largest shareholders, filing a lawsuit. Opposing shareholders successfully countersued and had Andrews removed from the company; all of which created a lack of public confidence. Hupp’s last attempt for a recovery produced what many consider the best looking Hupmobile of all — the Skylark. It used the body from the front-wheel drive Cord 810-812 model and Hupp’s conventional rear-wheel drive. Unfortunately, the new Skylark was not enough to turn things around and the Hupp Motor Car Corp. wound up its #automobile operations late in 1940…….. The first Cactus Derby, a 511 mile desert road race from Los Angeles, California to Phoenix, Arizona (US) began

and was won by F C Fenner and H D Ryus driving a White steamer [9 November 1908]……….100 years ago today, the McLaughlin Motor Company of Canada was absorbed by General Motors [8 November 1918]……..80 years ago this week, Goldie Gardner driving the MG EX135 on the Dessau (German) Autobahn set a Class G record for the mile (187.62 mph) and the kilometre [9 November 1938]…… 60 years ago today, the first MAZ 525 truck was produced at the Byelorussian Automobile Factory in
Zhodino, USSR (now Belarus) [5 November 1958]. Development started in 1949 at the Yaroslavl Automobile Plant Design Bureau. The project was called YaAZ-225. It was planned to install an offset to the left of the cabin YaAZ-200. However, further technical documentation passed on MAZ truck where the design has been substantially enhanced. In 1959, production was transferred to the Belarusian Automobile Plant, where the truck was produced until 1967 under the name BelAZ-525. At the same time with the side plate disappeared “MAZ” bison,

and an inscription on the hood “BELAZ”. In the same year, on the basis of the truck was developed in Zhodino tractor BelAZ-525A to work in the train with a 45-ton semitrailer BelAZ-5271. However, in a series of truck would not go. Operation of machines continued until the early 1970s. MAZ-525 participated in virtually every major Soviet construction sites 1950-1960-s. As well as in overseas construction projects (e.g. in the construction of the Aswan Dam in Egypt)………Bob Welborn, the king of #NASCAR’s Convertible Division, claimed one of his nine hardtop victories, outrunning Glen Wood at Champion Speedway in Fayetteville, North Carolina (US) [9 November 1958]. Welborn, an occasional competitor over 13 seasons in NASCAR’s premier series, started from the pole and led 117 of 150 laps on the 1/3-mile asphalt track. Wood held on for second with Buck Baker third……..50 years ago this week, Ian Raby (46) died three months after a serious accident at Zandvoort in a Formula Two race [7 November 1968]. He was initially treated in the Netherlands before being flown back to a London hospital by the Grand Prix Medical Service and appeared to be recovering before his condition worsened. A superstitious man, he carried a rabbit’s foot, preferred red cars with white wheels and refused to race under No. 13. He participated in 7 World Championship Formula One

Grands Prix, debuting on 20 July 1963 in the British Grand Prix, where he retired on Lap 60. He scored no championship points. He was a garage-owner in Brighton, Sussex trading as Empire Cars Ltd. As a privateer he came to Formula One late in life. Raby started racing about 1953 and drove an assortment of cars, many with the name “puddle jumper” written on the side. He is remembered for the I.E.R. Midget F3 car of 1954. He won the 500 c.c. racing car class in a Cooper at the Brighton Speed Trials in 1955. Raby finished 15th in the 1957 24 Hours of Le Mans, sharing a Cooper-Climax T39 with Jack Brabham. He won the first Formula Junior race to be held in Britain, at Brands Hatch on 3 August 1959 driving the one-off Moorland car. On 12 June 1960 he won a heat and finished second overall in the Albi Grand Prix, France, for Formula Junior cars. Later that year he won a Formula Libre race at Mallory Park in a Cooper-Climax F2. As Formula One switched to 3-litres for 1966 Ian Raby opted to race in Formula Two. An F2 Brabham-Ford Lotus twin-cam for 1967 produced an eighth place at Snetterton on 24 March. Another eighth place at Hockenheim in June only highlighted the lack of a de rigueur Cosworth FVA engine. Back at Hockenheim on 9 July, Raby managed fifth place against his more powerful rivals…….Jim Hall’s Can-Am driving career was ended by injuries suffered in an accident during the Stardust GP Can-Am race in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. Denny Hulme in a McLaren M8A-Chevrolet won the race and the championship [10 November 1968]……..40 years ago this week, Richard #Petty appeared to win the NASCAR Winston Cup race at Atlanta, Georgia, US, but after the scoring was rechecked, the win was given to Donnie Allison. This was Allison’s last career victory [5 November 1978]………The 1,000,000th Mazda Wankel rotary engine was produced [10 November 1978]…….. The following day [11 November 1978], a stuntman on the Georgia set of “The Dukes of Hazzard” launched the show’s iconic automobile, a 1969 Dodge Charger named the General Lee, off a makeshift dirt ramp and over a police car. That jump, 16 feet high and 82 feet long (its landing totalled the car), made TV history. Although more than 300 different General Lees appeared in the series, which ran on CBS from 1979 until 1985, this first one was the only one to play a part in every episode: That jump over the squad car ran every week at the end of the show’s opening credits. The wrecked jmp car was dug out of storage, restored and 28 years later to the day, and driven to the same spot of the filming!……..30 years ago this week, Alan Kulwicki  (cover image) notched his first victory in NASCAR’s premier series, winning the Checker 500 — the first race for the tour at Phoenix International Raceway (North Carolina, US) [6 November 1988]. Kulwicki, who won the 1992 series title, took command when Ricky Rudd retired with engine failure after leading a race-high 183 laps. The Wisconsin native took the checkered flag 18.5 seconds ahead of runner-up Terry Labonte and celebrated with what would become his trademark — the backward “Polish Victory Lap.” Davey Allison, Bill Elliott and Rusty Wallace completed the top five…….20 years ago this week, President Bill Clinton declared that part of Detroit will become an “Automobile National Heritage Area” [6 November 1998]. The designation restricted land use and drew attention to what Michigan Congressman John Dingell called “the automobile’s contribution to our history and economic strength and the role of organized labour in that history.” The area, the 18th of 40 National Heritage Areas in the U.S., has been renamed the MotorCities National Heritage Area. The Heritage region covers 10,000 square miles and is home to more than 6 million people……10 years ago this week, General Motors Corp. dedicated its first Russian assembly plant, a $300 million, 70,000-car-a-year factory just outside of St. Petersburg [7 November 2008]……. on the same day [7 November 2008], General Motors also warned it could run out of cash in 2009 after reporting a loss of $2.5 billion in the third quarter of 2008. They also announced they had suspended talks to acquire Chrysler, and that its cash spend for the quarter had accelerated to $6.9 billion due to the severe US car sales slump. Meanwhile, the Ford Motor Company said it had lost $129 million in the third quarter and had gone through $7.7 billion in cash, and that it would, therefore, cut about 2,200 more jobs in North America