On this day in…
1901
123 years ago
The Irish Automobile Club (later the Royal Irish Automobile Club) was founded in Dublin Read more…
1904
120 years ago
The Buick Motor Company, Detroit, was dissolved in preparation for new incorporation in Flint, Michigan, USA Read more…
1912
112 years ago
The Florida East Coast Railroad opened, between Key West and the US mainland Read more…
1912
112 years ago
The second Monte Carlo Rally began Read more…
1931
93 years ago
Montague Stanley Napier, English automobile and aircraft engine manufacturer, died aged 60 Read more…
1936
88 years ago
Triumph cars and motorcycles became separate entities as the motorcycle company was sold to J Read more…
1940
84 years ago
Car headlamps that had reduced intensity and directed the light towards the ground were introduced along with a 20-mph speed limit in built-up areas in Britain Read more…
1944
80 years ago
Henry Ford II was elected vice president of Ford Read more…
1949
75 years ago
The United Racing Club (URC), held its first awards dinner at the Hotel Stacy-Trent in Trenton, New Jersey Read more…
1950
74 years ago
Throughout the twentieth century, independent automobile manufacturers have fallen again and again before the industrial power of the “Big Three”–Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler Read more…
1951
73 years ago
Bill Holland, winner of the 1949 Indianapolis 500, was suspended from AAA Indy Car racing Read more…
1954
70 years ago
General Montors demonstrated the XP21 Firebird – the first gas turbine car unveiled in the United States (Chrysler’s first turbine-powered car debuted to the public a couple months later, in March 1954) – in New York City Read more…
1956
68 years ago
The story of Luigi Musso’s first Grand Prix victory is a curious one Read more…
1956
68 years ago
Buck Baker made his first start for the powerhouse Kiekhaefer Chrysler team a winning one by taking the 150 mile NASCAR Grand National race on the one mile dirt oval at the Arizona State Fairgrounds Read more…
1957
67 years ago
The 1957 Packard Clippers were introduced – the 57th Series were basically badge-engineered Studebakers available only as a 4-door sedan or station wagon Read more…
1959
65 years ago
Mike Hawthorn, only months into his retirement after becoming Britain’s first World Drivers Champion, was tragically killed at the age of 29 in a car crash on the A3 Guildford bypass in Surrey, England Read more…
1960
64 years ago
Chuck Booth won the 30 lap Midget race at the Oakland Exposition Building, Oakland, California, US Read more…
1965
59 years ago
Snow ploughs cleared an 18.5-mile stretch of the M1 through Leicestershire from the Lutterworth junction with the A4114 to the A50 at Markfield in readiness for Ministry of Transport representative Tom Fraser to open it at 2.30 pm Read more…
1972
52 years ago
Bob Hare won the 50-lap USAC Midget race at the Cincinnati Gardens, Cincinnati, Ohio, US Read more…
1976
48 years ago
The first SEAT 124D rolled off the assembly line at the Landaben (Portugal) plant Read more…
1978
46 years ago
At 8 Read more…
1978
46 years ago
Taking the lead with 25 laps to go, Cale Yarborough drove the new Junior Johnson Oldsmobile to victory in the NASCAR Grand National Western 500 at Riverside International Raceway Read more…
1986
38 years ago
Porsche 959s finished first (Metge/Lemoyne), second (Ickx/Brasseur), and sixth (Kussmaul/Unger) in the Paris-Dakar Rally Read more…
1986
38 years ago
General Motors acquired a 59 Read more…
1988
36 years ago
A wooden platform built at Dakar for the podium ceremony at the end of the final stage of the 1988 Rallye Paris-Alger-Dakar, in Senegal, collapsed Read more…
1990
34 years ago
Gordon Miller Buehrig (85) a noted US automobile designer died Read more…
2000
24 years ago
Open-wheel racer Larry Deaton (41) was killed in a three-car accident during the opening day of the Laughlin Desert Challenge in Laughlin, Nevada Read more…
2001
23 years ago
The Baldock services on the A1(M) motorway near Baldock in Hertfordshire, England opened Read more…
2005
19 years ago
A young man died at the Monte Carlo Rally Read more…
2006
18 years ago
A 1938 French Talbot-Lago T150C SS ‘teardrop’ was sold at auction for $3.9 million by Gooding & Company at Palm Beach, Florida Read more…
2007
17 years ago
The last surviving starter from the inaugural Formula One World Championship race, the 1950 British Grand Prix, Toulo de Graffenried (92), died in Lausanne, Switzerland Read more…
2009
15 years ago
“Gran Torino,” a movie named after the 1972 Ford muscle car, opened in Australia and New Zealand Read more…
2012
12 years ago
Dani Sordo driving his MINI John Cooper Works WRC Countryman finished 2nd at the Rallye Monte-Carlo Read more…
