On this day in…
1837
189 years ago
Thomas Davenport, of Brandon, Vermont, US, received a patent for an “Electric Motor” (“Improvement in Propelling Machinery by Magnetism and Electro-Magnetism”) – the first commercially successful direct current electric motor Read more…
1899
127 years ago
The world’s first petrol-fuelled car crash in which the driver died occurred at Grove Hill Harrow, England Read more…
1906
120 years ago
The first automobile show in Canada opened in Toronto Read more…
1907
119 years ago
Ettore Bugatti married Barbara Mascherpa in Milan, Italy Read more…
1913
113 years ago
Plans for a road and tramway under St Paul’s Cathedral in London were abandoned for fear of undermining the cathedral. Read more…
1919
107 years ago
Oregon became the first US state to impose a tax on gasoline Read more…
1923
103 years ago
Jimmy Murphy drove his Miller to victory in the 250 mile season opener for the AAA Championship trail Read more…
1934
92 years ago
The Norwegian Grand Pix at Mjosa was won by Per-Viktor Widengren driving a Alfa Romeo 8C-2300 Monza Read more…
1938
88 years ago
Miami’s first drive-in movie theatre opened Read more…
1945
81 years ago
The Scarab ‘Project Y’ prototype was completed by designer William B Stout and Owens-Corning Fibreglass officials R Games Slayter and Walter F Krause – the car is often cited as the world’s first fibre-glass bodied automobile Read more…
1948
78 years ago
Fabbrica Automobili Isotta-Fraschini was placed into receivership Read more…
1957
69 years ago
Sir William M Read more…
1959
67 years ago
Lee Petty was officially declared the winner of the inaugural Daytona 500-mile race 61 hours after the checkered flag fell on the historic event Read more…
1962
64 years ago
Joe Weatherly won a rain shortened NASCAR Grand National race on the 1/2 mile dirt Concord (North Carolina) Speedway (US) Read more…
1966
60 years ago
Paul Goldsmith and Earl Balmer won the twin 100 mile NASCAR Grand National qualifying races at Daytona International Speedway Read more…
1967
59 years ago
“The show must go on,” was the theme of the 1967 Chicago Auto Show, when four weeks prior to its opening, a catastrophic fire destroyed McCormick Place Read more…
1968
58 years ago
The 1968 Daytona 500 race saw a duel involving Cale Yarborough and Lee Roy Yarbrough Read more…
1968
58 years ago
Racer Jim Clark won his final motor race, the seventh leg of the Tasman Series at Melbourne Australia’s Sandown Park Read more…
1970
56 years ago
The 70,000,000th Chevrolet was produced Read more…
1973
53 years ago
Richard Petty , coming back from a lap 66 tangle that dropped him 2 laps back, won the NASCAR GN ‘Richmond 500’ Read more…
1974
52 years ago
The first single point urban interchange (SPUI) opened along US 19 (SR 55), which goes over SR 60 east of Clearwater, Florida Read more…
1978
48 years ago
Visitors to the Chicago Auto Show flocked to see the Mercedes-Benz C-111 sport coupe equipped with a turbocharged 5 cylinder diesel engine, that set three world records, averaging 156.5 mph for 10,000 miles Read more…
1979
47 years ago
Barry Sheene won the first ITV World of Sport Superbike Challenge Series “made for TV” motorcycle race, held at Donnington Park in Leicestershire, England Read more…
1979
47 years ago
Christie’s Ltd Read more…
1987
39 years ago
Bobby Davis Jr won the World of Outlaws Sprint Car race before a standing room only crowd at the Kings Speedway, Hanford, California, US Read more…
1990
36 years ago
Mark Martin won the Pontiac Excitement 400, but the car was found to have an illegal carburetor spacer Read more…
1996
30 years ago
Dale Earnhardt swatted erstwhile leader Bobby Hamilton out of the way with 50 miles to go and sprinted to a controversial win in the Goodwrench 400 at Rockingham, North Carolina, US Read more…
2000
26 years ago
Volvo Car Corporation formally announced the creation of Volvo CarSouth Africa (Pty) Ltd Read more…
2000
26 years ago
Ford, GM, and DaimlerChrysler jointly announced that they were planning to combine their efforts to form a business-to-business integrated supplier exchange through a single global portal Read more…
2002
24 years ago
A potentially volatile row between tyre manufacturers Bridgestone and Michelin was avoided, after Michelin scrapped plans to run a tyre with asymmetrical grooves Read more…
2004
22 years ago
Cosworth resumed production of its legendary DFV engine, which powered drivers to 12 F1 world championships between 1968 and 1982 Read more…
2006
20 years ago
The all-new Alfa Romeo 159, a true sporting saloon in the classic Alfa Romeo tradition, went on sale in the UK Read more…
2006
20 years ago
George Michael was found slumped over in a car in Hyde Park, London Read more…
2007
19 years ago
In an action-packed Durban street race, A1 Team Pakistan managed to stay on course, scoring their first point of the series despite being the last team to cross the finish line Read more…
2008
18 years ago
Ferrari offered its support to the Italian Olympic team in its push for medals Read more…
2008
18 years ago
Ashley Alan Cooper (27), an Australian race car driver died from severe head and internal injuries after a high speed racing accident Read more…
2015
11 years ago
It was announced that the famous Jensen marque would be relaunched in 2016 with the arrival of the Interceptor 2, the first officially sanctioned model since the company’s collapse in 2002 Read more…
2019
7 years ago
In Germany prosecutors fined automaker BMW 8 Read more…
