On this day in…
1898
128 years ago
James W Read more…
1904
122 years ago
The first production Buick was sold to Dr Herbert H Hills of Flint, Michigan, US Read more…
1907
119 years ago
The first metered taxicab took to the streets of New York City Read more…
1918
108 years ago
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 Read more…
1920
106 years ago
British manufacturer Sunbeam merged with the French company Automobiles Darracq Read more…
1927
99 years ago
Prices in the Great Britain were slashed to 1 shilling 1 pence a gallon by petrol companies, the cheapest since 1902. Read more…
1928
98 years ago
Fernand Charron (62), winner of the first Gordon Bennett Trophy, died Read more…
1930
96 years ago
Václav Laurin (64), the Czech engineer, entrepreneur and industrialist who co-founded automobile manufacturer Laurin & Klement that later became today’s Škoda Auto, died Read more…
1930
96 years ago
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! Read more…
1934
92 years ago
Sir Herbert Austin invited the press to see the new vehicles in the Austin Seven range – the Opal, Ruby and Pearl Read more…
1935
91 years ago
The Moon Motor Car Company plant in St Louis, Missouri, US was sold to the Cupples Company for use as a wooden match factory Read more…
1936
90 years ago
Frederick Samuel “Fred” Fish (84), American lawyer, politician and automotive manufacturing executive, died Read more…
1936
90 years ago
The Ford Motor Company’s soy bean plastics factory began operations Read more…
1941
85 years ago
The “Soybean Car”, a plastic-bodied car, was unveiled by Henry Ford at Dearborn Days, an annual community festival Read more…
1950
76 years ago
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 Read more…
1953
73 years ago
Pre-World War II racing legend Tazio Nuvolari was buried in Mantua, Italy, in his yellow shirt and leather helmet he wore while racing Read more…
1961
65 years ago
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 Read more…
1971
55 years ago
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 Read more…
1972
54 years ago
Emerson Fittipaldi won the Austrian Grand Prix for Lotus, leading home the McLarens of Denny Hulme and Peter Revson Read more…
1977
49 years ago
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) Read more…
1978
48 years ago
Ronnie Peterson took his 10th and ultimately final Grand Prix victory, winning in Austria for Lotus Read more…
1983
43 years ago
(13th-21st ): To demonstrate the reliability of its car’s, Mercedes-Benz set a number of world records with the Mercedes 190E Read more…
1984
42 years ago
Ford acquired the remaining 49 percent interest in Pilkington Glass Industries Ltd Read more…
1989
37 years ago
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 Read more…
1989
37 years ago
Nigel Mansell stormed through from 12th on the grid to win the Hungarian Grand Prix for Ferrari Read more…
1989
37 years ago
NASCAR Winston Cup driver, Tim Richmmond (34) died of complications from AIDS Read more…
1995
31 years ago
Damon Hill led home David Coulthard in a British and Williams 1-2 at the Hungarian Grand Prix Read more…
1995
31 years ago
Bobby Isaac (46) died of a heart attack, following a race at Hickory Speedway, North Carolina Read more…
2000
26 years ago
Steve Park created an upset at Watkins Glen, New York (US) for his first victory in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series Read more…
2001
25 years ago
The Hungarian Grand Prix saw Michael Schumacher win his fourth World Championship and equal Alain Prost’s record of 51 Grand Prix victories Read more…
2003
23 years ago
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. Read more…
2006
20 years ago
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 Read more…
2013
13 years ago
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 Read more…
