On this day in…

1801

222 years ago

British inventor Richard Trevithick took seven of his friends for a test ride on his “Puffing Devil,” or “Puffer,” the first steam-powered passenger vehicle, on this day in 1801 Read more…

1893

130 years ago

Henry Ford completed his first successful working gasoline engine Read more…

1898

125 years ago

Louis Renault at the age of 20, made a brilliant entrance into the emerging world of the motor car Read more…

1903

120 years ago

England issued its first car license plate, number A1 Read more…

1904

119 years ago

Henry Leland agreed to take a management role within the Cadillac Motor Car Company Read more…

1910

113 years ago

The Pierce-Arrow 5-ton truck was introduced, the world’s first motor truck with worm-gear drive Read more…

1924

99 years ago

The Ford Model T 8-foot platform-stake truck was introduced Read more…

1925

98 years ago

The citizens of Springwells, Michigan, US voted to change the city’s name to Fordson Read more…

1926

97 years ago

The first overland automobile journey across Africa from south to north was completed when the expedition of Major C Read more…

1953

70 years ago

The first prototype Lincoln Continental Mark II was completed Read more…

1961

62 years ago

General Motors styling chief William L Mitchell has his self-proclaimed “greatest moment” as Buick accepts his design for the 1963 Riviera and Chevrolet accepts his design for the 1963 split-window Corvette Read more…

1965

58 years ago

Sir John Paul Black (70) who held several senior positions in the British Motor Industry including chairman of Standard-Triumph died Read more…

2000

23 years ago

A bus traveling from Cape Town to Butterworth plunged off a mountain road in South Africa, leaving 20 passengers dead and 55 injured Read more…

2000

23 years ago

John Cooper, the driving force behind the Cooper Car Company died aged 77 Read more…

2006

17 years ago

A bus went out of control, overturns and smashes into bridge supports near Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, killing 12 and injuring 40 Read more…

2010

13 years ago

In China a new lottery system was introduced with the aim to restrict the number of new cars in its notoriously gridlocked capital Read more…

2012

11 years ago

The M4 bus lane – popularly known as “Prescott’s folly” – was scrapped, allowing ordinary motorists to use the road for the first time in more than a decade Read more…