April 18th


On this day in…

1882

142 years ago

Gottlieb Daimler and his protégé Wilhelm Maybach reached an agreement to work towards the creation of a high-speed internal combustion engine for the purpose of propelling vehicles Read more…

1900

124 years ago

The Long Island Road Race was won by Anthony L Riker driving his special low-sprung Riker Torpedo electric vehicle Read more…

1906

118 years ago

A fire caused by the San Francisco earthquake destroyed the production facilities of the fledgling Sunset Automobile Company in San Francisco, California Read more…

1925

99 years ago

Renato Balestrero driving an OM 665 won the first Tripoli Grand Prix, held on a racing circuit outside Tripoli, the capital of what was then Italian Tripolitania Read more…

1928

96 years ago

The Hispano-Suiza driven by Charles Weymann and Robert Bloch defeated the Stutz Black Hawk driven by Tom Rooney and Gil Anderson in a match race staged at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Read more…

1929

95 years ago

The 500,000th Pontiac was produced Read more…

1934

90 years ago

The Citroen Traction Avant (French for ‘front-wheel drive’) was shown to an astonished public in Paris Read more…

1938

86 years ago

Prince Birabongse Bhanudej Bhanubandh, better known as Prince Bira of Siam (now Thailand) or by his nom de course B Read more…

1940

84 years ago

The Alfa Romeo Type 162 prototype race car was completed Read more…

1949

75 years ago

The Hudson Motor Car Company launched its 40th anniversary celebration with a nationwide radio broadcast opened by Michigan (US) Governor G Mennen Williams Read more…

1949

75 years ago

Juan Manuel Fangio driving a Maserati 4CLT/48 won the Paul Grand Prix Read more…

1950

74 years ago

The 2,000,000th Nash automobile was produced Read more…

1954

70 years ago

Herb Thomas dived underneath his brother Donald with 34 laps to go and held on to win the 100 mile NASCAR Grand National race on the 1 mile dirt Orange Speedway, North Carolina Read more…

1955

69 years ago

The Ford Motor Company split the Lincoln-Mercury Division into two separate divisions and established the Special Products Division Read more…

1956

68 years ago

The non-Championship Aintree “200” Formula One race at Aintree (England) was won by Jean Behra in a Ferrari 246 Read more…

1958

66 years ago

The Corvette Stingray made its debut at the President’s Cup Race at Maryland’s Marlboro Raceway Read more…

1960

64 years ago

Glen Wood scored his first career NASCAR GN win, leading all 200 laps on the 1/4 mile paved Bowman-Gray Stadium oval, North Carolina in his Ford Read more…

1960

64 years ago

The 8th Glover Trophy, run to Formula One rules held at Goodwood Circuit, England Read more…

1963

61 years ago

The Worboys Committee Report review of signage on all British roads was published Read more…

1964

60 years ago

(18th-19th): The Ford GT40 Mk1’s (chassis 101 and 102) first made their appearance at the Le Mans test weekend Read more…

1965

59 years ago

Taking the lead when a blown tire sent Marvin Panch into the wall with 11 laps to go, Junior Johnson won the NASCAR GN ‘Gwyn Staley Memorial’ on the Read more…

1965

59 years ago

Jud Larson drove the Watson car to victory in the USAC Sprint Car feature on the high banked 1/2 mile dirt Eldora Speedway, Ohio, US Read more…

1968

56 years ago

Bobby Isaac won the 100 mile NASCAR GN race on the 1/2 mile dirt Columbia Speedway, South Carolina, US Read more…

1968

56 years ago

Joe Edwards resigned as Managing Director of British Motor Corporation Read more…

1969

55 years ago

The BMC Moke (YDO8) was launched in Australia Read more…

1970

54 years ago

British Leyland announced that production of the Morris Minor, Britain’s longest-running car would cease by 1971 Read more…

1971

53 years ago

The Danville 300 at VIR saw future legendary teammates Peter Gregg and Hurley Haywood win the overall event in their GTU-1 class, Porsche 914/6 GT Read more…

1971

53 years ago

In the Spanish Grand Prix held at Montjuich Park, Jackie Stewart took his Tyrrell from 4th on the grid to win in a time of 1:49:03 Read more…

1971

53 years ago

Not only was it the first IMSA race held at Virginia International Raceway, it was the first race for IMSA’s Grand Touring class Read more…

1982

42 years ago

Darrell Waltrip dominated the Northwestern Bank 400, leading 345 laps from the pole for his second consecutive win at North Wilkesboro Speedway Read more…

1992

32 years ago

Tommy Houston started last in the 30-car field and overcame a record 26 cautions to win the Mountain Dew 300 at Hickory (North Carolina, US) Motor Speedway, marking his last victory in what is now the NASCAR Nationwide Series Read more…

1993

31 years ago

Ford started building the Flexible-Fuel Vehicle (FFV) Taurus at the Chicago Assembly Plant Read more…

1993

31 years ago

Rusty Wallace won the First Union 400 to setup for a season sweep of North Wilkesboro Speedway Read more…

1994

30 years ago

The 250,000th Citroen Xantia left the Rennes-la Janais production unit Read more…

1999

25 years ago

Robert Drake (70), a Los Angeles based automobile restorer who then went on to build a reputation as a stunt driver and performing car preparation work for the movie industry, died Read more…

1999

25 years ago

In a field of Panoz GT’s, Audrey Zavodski won the inaugural Women’s Global GT Series race, run at Road Atlanta in Georgia Read more…

1999

25 years ago

John Andretti captured his second NASCAR Cup Series win in the Goody’s Body Pain 500 at Martinsville Speedway driving the No Read more…

2004

20 years ago

Rusty Wallace ended a 105-race winless streak when he drove his Miller Lite Dodge to victory in the Advance Auto Parts 500 at Martinsville Speedway Read more…

2005

19 years ago

Danilo Elia and Fabrizio Bonserio began a great adventure from Fiat’s Lingotto headquarters in Turin, with a 1973 Fiat 500 Read more…

2006

18 years ago

PSA Peugeot Citroën announced the closure of the Ryton manufacturing facility in Coventry, England Read more…

2007

17 years ago

US research found that ethanol-fuelled vehicles could contribute to more illnesses and deaths from respiratory disease than petrol-powered cars and trucks. Read more…

2008

16 years ago

Hollywood actress Sandra Bullock and her husband were involved in a head-on crash with a drunken driver in Massachusetts, US Read more…

2009

15 years ago

Mark Martin won the Subway Fresh Fit 500 at the Phoenix International Speedway in Avondale, Arizona, and became the first 50-year-old to claim victory at a National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing Sprint Cup race since Morgan Shepherd did so at a race in Atlanta in 1993, renewing hope for senior citizens everywhere Read more…

2011

13 years ago

Following the Citroën DS3 and DS4, the brand unveiled the DS5 in Shanghai Read more…

2015

9 years ago

Joey Logano rolled to a dominating victory in the Drive to Stop Diabetes 300 Xfinity Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway Read more…

365 Days Of Motoring

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