December 16th


On this day in…

1914

109 years ago

The Chevrolet 490, designed by Alfred Sturt, was announced, as William C Durant’s first serious competitor of the Ford Model T- its model number noted the current price of the Ford car, Chevrolet 490 was an immediate success and established the brand as a big player Read more…

1925

98 years ago

Construction commenced on the 2 Read more…

1929

94 years ago

The K-D Motor Company, manufacturers of the with the little known K-D engine, founded in 1912 by Miss Margaret E Knight and Mrs Beatrice Davidson, was legally “dissolved by Proclamation” Read more…

1931

92 years ago

The Buick 1931-1932 ‘Winged 8’ mascot was patented by designer K Read more…

1934

89 years ago

Scuderia Ferrari conceived plans for the 16-cylinder Alfa Romeo Bimotore race car Read more…

1937

86 years ago

Doug van Riet driving an Austin Van Riet won the “II Rand Grand Prix” handicap race at the Lord Howe track, South Africa from Roy Hesketh (MG) and Don Giovanni “Johnny” Lurani (Maserati) Read more…

1949

74 years ago

The first Saab automobile, the ’92’ was produced Read more…

1960

63 years ago

J W Tiscornia (75), an automobile parts manufacturer who is credited with the development of disc brakes, died in Michigan, US Read more…

1968

55 years ago

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the British musical film loosely based on Ian Fleming’s novel The Magical Car was released Read more…

1972

51 years ago

The minimum age for riders of motorbikes over 50cc was raised from 16 to 17 Read more…

1977

46 years ago

Peugeot executive Andre Gasparoux was murdered by left wing terrorists in Buenos Aires, Argentina Read more…

1979

44 years ago

Libya joined four other OPEC nations in raising the price of crude oil Read more…

1982

41 years ago

Colin Chapman (54), founder of Lotus Cars, suffered a fatal heart attack Read more…

1982

41 years ago

Active suspension was tested for the first time on an F1 car when Dave Scott drove the Lotus 92 at Snetterton, England Read more…

1985

38 years ago

Ford acquired First Nationwide Financial Corporation, operator of the ninth-largest U Read more…

1992

31 years ago

Toyota’s European manufacturing operations began when the first Carina E drove off the production line in Burnaston, Derbyshire Read more…

1992

31 years ago

At a special press conference in Paris for 350 journalists from France and other countries, Jacques Calvet, Chairman of Automobiles Citroën gave a special preview of the Xantia Read more…

1997

26 years ago

An Italian judge, Antonio Costanza acquitted three track officials and three members of the Williams Grand Prix team of manslaughter (omicido colpose) in the death of Ayrton Senna involving his accident during the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix at Imola, Italy Read more…

1997

26 years ago

George W Read more…

2000

23 years ago

In China, Brilliance China Automotive Holding introduced its new Zhonghua car Read more…

2002

21 years ago

On Toyota Motor Manufacturing (UK) Ltd Read more…

2002

21 years ago

Jaguar XJ made its North American debut Read more…

2002

21 years ago

Karsten Engel, Head of the BMW Group’s Munich branch, handed over the millionth car sold in 2002, a BMW 730d Individual in carbon black-metallic Read more…

2004

19 years ago

Lola Cars International began manufacturing 50 identical race cars for the inaugural Al GP series of 2005–2006, the largest single order in motor-racing history Read more…

2004

19 years ago

Ford Motor Company announced a £169 million investment in its diesel engine manufacturing unit at Dagenham in Essex Read more…

2004

19 years ago

The Ford Thunderbird FAB1 car arrived at the Heritage Motor Centre in Warwickshire Read more…

2006

17 years ago

Scion unveiled the next-generation xB, based on the t2B concept, and the new xD, successor of the xA, at an invitation-only, no-camera event in Miami Read more…

2007

16 years ago

British Formula One star Lewis Hamilton had his driving licence suspended for a month after being caught speeding on a French motorway Read more…

2008

15 years ago

In Italy Fiat Group SpA for the first time shut down most of its Italian plants for a month, laying off nearly 50,000 workers for an extended holiday in reaction to the precipitous drop in demand for new cars Read more…

2015

8 years ago

India’s top court ordered a temporary ban on the sale of large diesel cars in New Delhi to combat toxic smog in the city, prompting concern in the auto sector as some carmakers state they might reconsider investment plans in the country Read more…

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