December 17th


On this day in…

1791

232 years ago

A traffic regulation in New York City established the first street to go in one direction only, or “One Way,” as the signs said Read more…

1892

131 years ago

George B Read more…

1910

113 years ago

Charles Kettering, William A Chryst and William P Anderson successfully tested the first automobile self starter Read more…

1922

101 years ago

A Citroën expedition set off in an attempt to become the first to cross the Sahara Desert by motor car, travelling from Algiers to Timbuktu, a distance of approximately 2,000 miles Read more…

1925

98 years ago

The new Stutz Vertical Eight, with ‘Safety Body’, the first Stutz designed during the Frederic E Read more…

1931

92 years ago

Bentley Motors (1931) Ltd was in corporated as a subsidiary of Rolls Royce Ltd Read more…

1931

92 years ago

The 1932 Cadillacs and LaSalles were introduced at the Cadillac National Convention for dealers and sales personnel in Detroit, Michigan Read more…

1933

90 years ago

For this day only, the general public were allowed to walk through the new Mersey Road Tunnel Read more…

1940

83 years ago

The American Bantam Car Company completed its initial contract to supply 70 prototype Jeeps to the federal government Read more…

1952

71 years ago

Lord Nuffield at the age of 73 resigned his Directorships of the British Motor Company and Morris Motors Read more…

1952

71 years ago

The Austin Motor Company Ltd and Morris Motors Ltd merged to form the British Motor Corporation with Leonard Lord as Chairman Read more…

1953

70 years ago

Production commenced of the Ford 100E Prefect, with a new 4 cylinder, 1172 cc sidevalve engine, capable of 70mph Read more…

1954

69 years ago

British Petroleum Co Read more…

1955

68 years ago

Dodge introduced the Coronet station wagon and the Royal Lancer 2-door hardtop coupe as a mid-year models Read more…

1963

60 years ago

The U Read more…

1963

60 years ago

Inventor of the headlight dimmer switch, Henry B Kenyon, died in Miami Read more…

1968

55 years ago

The London-Sydney Rally which had started from the Crystal Palace racing circuit in London at 2pm on Sunday, November 24th 1968, finished at Warwick Farm (an outer Sydney suburb), in Australia Read more…

1970

53 years ago

One of the most complex interchanges in Great Britain, the Worsley Interchange, opened, connecting the then M62 (now M60) and M61 with the A580 and A666 Read more…

1973

50 years ago

One of the more successful developments caused by reactions to the OPEC crisis was unveiled when a Buick Apollo with a reworked 1960’s Fireball V-6 engine was driven by Chief Engineer Phillip C Read more…

1979

44 years ago

Hollywood stuntman Stan Barrett became the first person in the world to travel faster than sound on land, after driving the three-wheeled Budweiser Rocket at a top speed of 739 Read more…

1981

42 years ago

Ford announced plans to begin production of the first propane-fuelled passenger cars in the US Read more…

1983

40 years ago

An IRA car bomb killed six, three police and three members of the public, and injured 90 outside Harrods in London Read more…

1983

40 years ago

The Ford Continental Mark VII introduced Read more…

1986

37 years ago

Giulio Ramponi (84), winner of the Mille Miglia in 1928 and 1929, died in South Africa Read more…

1986

37 years ago

A federal jury in Detroit cleared automaker John DeLorean of all 15 charges in his fraud and racketeering trial Read more…

1990

33 years ago

Ontario Motor Speedway (US), the first and only automobile racing facility built to accommodate major races sanctioned by all of the four dominant racing sanctioning bodies: USAC (and now IndyCar Series) for open-wheel oval car races; NASCAR for a 500-mile (800 km) oval stock car races; NHRA for drag races; and FIA for Formula One road course races, closed, Constructed in less than two years, the track opened in August 1970 and was considered state of the art at the time Read more…

1991

32 years ago

The last Rolls Royce Phantom VI was completed, a Mulliner Park Ward laudaulette that was later sold to His Majesty Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah, the Sultan of Brunei Read more…

1996

27 years ago

The 15 millionth Mercedes-Benz car produced since the war rolled off the Sindelfingen line in Germany Read more…

1997

26 years ago

The first stage of the 21 km Southern Expressway in Australia, the world’s longest reversible one-way freeway, opened to traffic Read more…

1998

25 years ago

After 18 months the all new General Motors plant in Shanghai, China was finished Read more…

1999

24 years ago

NASCAR great Dale Earnhardt underwent back surgery to remove a ruptured disk at University Medical Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA Read more…

2000

23 years ago

Rapper Eminem was the subject of a sick Internet hoax after MTV reported that the rapper had been killed in a car crash en route to a party Read more…

2001

22 years ago

Toyota finally launched their racing car, after one of the longest development processes in Formula One history Read more…

2003

20 years ago

A bus transporting miners from Simferopol to Alushta plunged into a ditch on a mountain road in Crimea, Ukraine, killing 17 and injuring 19 Read more…

2007

16 years ago

Crain Hyundai of North Little Rock, AR Read more…

2008

15 years ago

Toyota shelved the development of clean diesel engines Read more…

2012

11 years ago

Infiniti announced a new product nomenclature scheme where all sedans and coupes will carry a “Q” prefix while all crossovers and SUVs will carry a “QX” prefix Read more…

365 Days Of Motoring

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