On this day in…
1800
223 years ago
English inventor George Medhurst was issued with a British patent for his ‘Aeolian’ engine which used compressed air to power vehicles Read more…
1898
125 years ago
The Llandudno Motor Touring Company began bus excursions between Llandudno, Penmaenmawr, Bethesda, Penrhyn and Llanrwst in Wales Read more…
1909
114 years ago
A 1909 one-ton Rapid truck, driven by James B Read more…
1911
112 years ago
A Saurer 4 Read more…
1917
106 years ago
A special Chalmers Speedster driven by Joe Dawson and Joe Gardham at the Sheepshead Bay Speedway in New York City completed a 24-hour run that set 15 speed and endurance records for stock cars Read more…
1937
86 years ago
Raymond Mays driving an ERA won the JCC International Trophy at Brooklands Read more…
1943
80 years ago
The Gestapo arrested two-time winner of the French Grand Prix, William Grover-Williams, a British secret agent who raced as ‘W Williams’, in France Read more…
1950
73 years ago
The Ford Motor Company created its Defence Products Division in order to handle the large number of government contracts related to the Korean War Read more…
1953
70 years ago
Herb Thomas prevailed in a 200-lap main event in the only race for NASCAR’s top series at Davenport Speedway, Iowa, US Read more…
1953
70 years ago
Ernst Loof, the pre-World War II German motorcycle racing champion, best remembered as a designer for BMW and Veritas, made his only Formula 1 appearance as a driver in the German Grand Prix at Nurburgring, but his Veritas Meteor retired with a faulty fuel pump Read more…
1953
70 years ago
The German Grand Prix at Nürburgring was won by Nino Farina in a Ferrari, just over 1 minute ahead of Juan Manuel Fangio Read more…
1959
64 years ago
The AVUS circuit in Berlin staged a Formula One race, the German Grand Prix, for the first and only time (although it had hosted the German Grand Prix once before in the pre-Formula One era) Read more…
1964
59 years ago
The first grand prix car with a transversely mounted twelve-cylinder engine, the 1 Read more…
1964
59 years ago
Carel Godin de Beaufort (30) died after an accident at the Nürburgring, during practice for the 1964 German Grand Prix Read more…
1965
58 years ago
The first 1966 Ford Thunderbird was produced Read more…
1967
56 years ago
The second Blackwall Tunnel opened to traffic by Desmond Plummer, Leader of the Greater London Council (GLC) Read more…
1967
56 years ago
The Saab 96 V4, with a four-cylinder four-stroke engine, was introduced Read more…
1970
53 years ago
The Hockenheim Circuit hosted the German Grand Prix for the first time when the Formula 1 drivers decided at the French Grand Prix to boycott the Nürburgring unless major changes were made Read more…
1981
42 years ago
On the final lap of the Talladega 500, held at the Talladega Speedway, Alabama, US, Waltrip led Terry Labonte coming out of turn 4 Read more…
1985
38 years ago
The 100,000th Rolls Royce was produced, a royal blue Silver Spur saloon Read more…
1987
36 years ago
Michael Andretti won the Marlboro 500 at the Michigan International Speedway with an average speed of 171 Read more…
1990
33 years ago
Sven-Erik Soderman, driving an Opel Kadett at Mora, Sweden, set a world’s record in stunt driving Read more…
2002
21 years ago
Ford’s Sharonville Transmission Plant began production of a new 5-speed automatic truck transmission called TorqShift® Read more…
2003
20 years ago
Britain’s Billy Baxter set the blind solo world land speed record on a motorbike with a speed of 164 Read more…
2003
20 years ago
With 16 laps to go, Kevin Harvick used lap traffic to get by Matt Kenseth on a restart of the 10th Allstate 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Read more…
2005
18 years ago
The first new Daimler model for 7 years was announced, following customer demand for the return of the Daimler marque Read more…
2007
16 years ago
Traffic queues of up to 10 miles developed on the M4 eastbound after a fatal accident near Newport in Wales Read more…
2007
16 years ago
Bentley presented the all new 600bhp Continental GT Speed inspired by the legendary ‘Speed’ models of the 1920s Read more…
2007
16 years ago
The two millionth vehicle in the Ford Fiesta/Fusion series rolled off the line at the Ford plant in Cologne, a Colorado Red Ford Fiesta ST, intended for a customer in Great Britain Read more…
2007
16 years ago
The Transsyberia Rallye, a gruelling driving challenge that took contestants from Moscow through Siberia to Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia began Read more…
2008
15 years ago
Geoff Ballard (b Read more…
2016
7 years ago
South Korea fined Volkswagen 17 Read more…
2019
4 years ago
Bugatti test driver Andy Wallace reached 490 Read more…
