On this day in…
1885
138 years ago
Benjamin B Read more…
1896
127 years ago
Edward Prince of Wales, who would later become King Edward VII, became the first member of the British Royal Family to ride in a motor vehicle, a Daimler-engined Panhard & Levassor. Read more…
1903
120 years ago
The Third Annual automobile show held under the joint auspices of the Chicago Automobile Club and the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers at the Coliseum building opened at 2 pm Read more…
1912
111 years ago
H M Bentley joined his younger brother W O as a partner in the London automobile dealership of Lecoq and Fernie Read more…
1913
110 years ago
The last Thomas automobile was produced Read more…
1927
96 years ago
Ford standardised 21-inch wheels on all Model T cars Read more…
1929
94 years ago
The St Read more…
1937
86 years ago
The Flatenloppet ice race run on a small lake (Flaten) 7 km south of downtown Stockholm, Sweden was won by Eugen Björnstad, Alfa Romeo 8C-2300 Monza Read more…
1948
75 years ago
The Eva Duarte Perón Grand Prix held over 50 laps of the 3 Read more…
1953
70 years ago
The General Motors Motorama show went on display in Miami, Florida, for nine days Read more…
1957
66 years ago
American Motors registered a stylised ‘Metropolitan’ as a trademark for its British-built subcompact car Read more…
1960
63 years ago
Junior Johnson won the second Daytona 500 by being the first stockcar driver to exploit “drafting” Read more…
1962
61 years ago
The Jaguar Mark X was introduced to the US market Read more…
1962
61 years ago
Racer Lex Davidson (42) was killed in Sandown Park, Vitoria, Australia when he crashed while practicing for the Australian Grand Prix Read more…
1965
58 years ago
The first rain-shortened Daytona 500 Read more…
1966
57 years ago
Leicester Forest East services, with a commercial drivers’ café either side of the M1, a cafeteria area for general use and a bridge top restaurant – “The Captain’s Table” opened for business at midnight on St Valentines Day Read more…
1971
52 years ago
Richard Petty led teammate Buddy Baker across the line in the Daytona 500 Read more…
1973
50 years ago
Kenny Weld won the 30-lap Super Sprint car Winternational Sprint Series race at the Florida State Fair, Tampa, Florida, US Read more…
1974
49 years ago
Driving a Porsche 911 Carrera, Mark Donohue won the final race of the inaugural International Race of Champions, commonly called the IROC, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida Read more…
1974
49 years ago
Bobby Isaac and Cale Yarborough won the twin 125 mile NASCAR GN qualifying races at Daytona International Speedway Read more…
1976
47 years ago
Piero Scotti (66), successful early 1950s privateer Italian sports cars racer, who financed his racing from a successful import-export business and a mineral water bottling, died Read more…
1980
43 years ago
During the first of the Twin 125 qualifying race in sight of the Daytona 500, driver Ricky Knotts from Michigan lost control of his Oldsmobile #31, after the car’s hood suddenly blew off Read more…
1982
41 years ago
On lap 3 of the Daytona 500, Bobby Allison was tapped slightly by Cale Yarborough, and his rear bumper fell off Read more…
1988
35 years ago
The 1988 Daytona 500 was the first race requiring the use of new restrictor plates, mandated because it was felt the speeds were getting too high at the super-speedways, as demonstrated at Bobby Allison’s crash at Talladega in 1987 Read more…
1993
30 years ago
Jeff Gordon made his first Daytona 500 start Read more…
1997
26 years ago
Jacques Calvet and Alain Prost, owner of the Prost Grand Prix stable, signed a partnership deal for the Formula 1 World Championships from 1998 onwards Read more…
1997
26 years ago
The Spice Girls and Jamiroquai attended one of the most extravagant F1 launches of all time, as McLaren unveiled its 1997 challenger at Alexandra Palace in London Read more…
1998
25 years ago
One person was killed and three others were seriously injured when the Subaru driven by Belgian Bernard Munster, veered off course and crashed into a wall on which a group of spectators, journalists and photographers were standing during the sixth of the day’s seven specials at Moulin du Ruy in Belgium Read more…
2000
23 years ago
Manufacture of the Chrysler PT Cruiser began at the Toluca Car Assembly in Toluca, Mexico Read more…
2001
22 years ago
The Sun newspaper presented the final Reliant Robin 65 to its owner after being won in a prize Read more…
2001
22 years ago
Nigel Mansell announced his plans to make yet another return as an F1 driver, albeit in a two-seater Minardi Read more…
2002
21 years ago
Environmentalist and heritage groups lodged a complaint against Michael Schumacher’s plans to build a costly new house with heliports and garages in a small Swiss village near Altenrhein Read more…
2003
20 years ago
Gracing the cover of the Chicago Auto Show 2003 show program was the new 2004 Pontiac Grand Prix that made its debut in Chicago Read more…
2003
20 years ago
In a bid to spice up racing, Max Mosley announced a ban on refuelling between the end of qualifying and the start of the race, meaning drivers had to qualify with race fuel Read more…
2005
18 years ago
RAC Foundation research showed that 45% of UK motorists admitted to naming their car, 80% of drivers admitted to talking to their car and a staggering 78% said they loved their vehicle. Read more…
2006
17 years ago
Takemune Kimura (75) former president of Mitsubishi Motors died Read more…
2007
16 years ago
Roush Racing announced that 50 percent of the team had been sold to Fenway Sports Group to create Roush Fenway Racing Read more…
2007
16 years ago
German-US auto giant DaimlerChrysler said it planned to axe 13,000 jobs at its loss-making Chrysler subsidiary as part of a broad restructuring plan aimed at returning the US unit to profitability by 2009 Read more…
2008
15 years ago
The production version of the Ford Fiesta MkVII was revealed Read more…
2014
9 years ago
The Hennessey Venom GT on the Kennedy Space Center’s 3 Read more…
2017
6 years ago
PSA announced that it was in talks to acquire Opel and Vauxhall Motors from General Motors Read more…
2020
3 years ago
Fiat Chrysler said it had temporarily halted production at its Serbian plant Read more…
