On this day in…
1878
145 years ago
The Green Bay – Madison race in Wisconsin, US began with two competitors, the Oshkosh steamer built by Frank A Shomer, A M Farrand, A Gallinger and O F Morse in that city and the Green Bay steamer built by Edward P Cowls of Wequiock, Wisconsin Read more…
1899
124 years ago
The first Tour de France Automobile, a sports car race held on roads around France regularly – mostly annually – between 1899 and 1986, began Read more…
1900
123 years ago
F P Nehrbas, a Buffalo, New York (US) bicycle mechanic, joined the E R Thomas Motor Company to build the prototype automobile designed by Erwin Ross Thomas Read more…
1902
121 years ago
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders founded by Frederick Simms was registered as a British company Read more…
1905
118 years ago
Societa Petrolifera Italiana Spa was incorporated in Piancenza, Italy Read more…
1908
115 years ago
Rene Panhard (67) died and was succeeded as Managing Director of the Societe des Anciens Etablissements Panhard et Levassor by Hippolyte Panhard, his 37 year old son Read more…
1922
101 years ago
Felice Nazzaro came out of retirement as a driver and took his Fiat 804 to victory in the 8th A Read more…
1924
99 years ago
Chrysler made its racing debut with Ralph DePalma winning the Mount Wilson Hillclimb near Los Angeles, US – his 22 Read more…
1935
88 years ago
The world’s first parking meter, known as Park-O-Meter No Read more…
1955
68 years ago
The British Grand Prix might have been staged in the shadow of the previous month’s Le Mans tragedy, which had led to the cancellation of the French Grand Prix scheduled for July 3, but it was nonetheless a classic race dominated by Mercedes Read more…
1958
65 years ago
Robert Breeze, designer of the Breeze-Paris race car while on military duty in France and of the 1919 Breeze Midget upon his return to the United States, a developer of power braking systems, and an official of the Sebring (FL) International Raceway, died aged 72, while swimming off the coast of Lio Beach, New York Read more…
1960
63 years ago
Reigning World Champion Jack Brabham won the British Grand Prix and Innes Ireland finished in third place Read more…
1965
58 years ago
The seven-mile Mont Blanc road tunnel linking Courmayeur and the Italian Val d’Aoste with the French valley of Chamonix was inaugurated by the French president, Charles de Gaulle, and the Italian President, Giuseppe Saragat Read more…
1966
57 years ago
The first RAC British Grand Prix held at Brands Hatch was won by Jack Brabham driving a Brabham-Repco BT19 Read more…
1967
56 years ago
Scotty Cain won a dust shortened NASCAR PCLM race on a rough 1/2 mile dirt oval at the Alameda County Fairgrounds, California Read more…
1971
52 years ago
The 15,000,000th Pontiac was produced Read more…
1972
51 years ago
Merle Bettenhausen crashed into the outside wall on the backstretch during the USAC Champ Car Michigan 200 staged at the Michigan International Speedway, Michigan (US) Read more…
1977
46 years ago
NASCAR Hall of Famer Darrell Waltrip dominated the Nashville 420 (Tennessee, US) to score the sixth of his 84 wins in NASCAR’s top series Read more…
1977
46 years ago
The British Grand Prix held at Silverstone was won by James Hunt driving a McLaren M26, and marked the debut of Canadian driver Gilles Villeneuve Read more…
1978
45 years ago
Carlos Reutemann in a Ferrari 312T3 won the British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch Read more…
1981
42 years ago
Harry Chapin (38), US singer, songwriter, (1974 UK No Read more…
1981
42 years ago
After 23 years of familiarity with the name, Datsun, executives of Nissan, the Japanese car manufacturer, changed the name of their cars to Nissan Read more…
1983
40 years ago
The Spirit made its Formula 1 debut at the British Grand Prix, but the Type 201 driven by Stefan Johansson retired due to fuel pump belt failure Read more…
1995
28 years ago
Johnny Herbert driving a Benetton-Renault B195 won the British Grand Prix at Silverstone Read more…
1995
28 years ago
Dale Jarrett scored his first win with the Robert Yates Ford team, beating Jeff Gordon in a classic duel at Pocono, Pennsylvania (US) Read more…
2000
23 years ago
Finnish driver, Mika Häkkinen driving a McLaren MP4/15 took the checkered flag at the Austrian Grand Prix staged at the A1-Ring circuit Read more…
2003
20 years ago
Andrew Osborne was sentenced to 28 days in prison at Aylesbury Magistrates Court after being clocked at 158 mph (252 km/h) on his 1200-cc Kawasaki motorcycle at Tingewick bypass in Buckinghamshire Read more…
2003
20 years ago
Vauxhall released the first details of its fifth generation Astra range Read more…
2004
19 years ago
Citroen revealed first official pictures of the stunning new C4, ahead of its world debut at that year’s Paris Motor Show Read more…
2006
17 years ago
At the French Grand Prix Michael Schumacher became the first driver in Formula One history to win the same Grand Prix on eight different occasions (having previously won the Grand Prix in 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002 and 2004) Read more…
2007
16 years ago
New York State legislature shelved proposals to bring road-congestion pricing to Manhattan. Read more…
2015
8 years ago
A sports car belonging to US hip-hop pioneer Grandmaster Flash which contained valuable vintage records was mistakenly given away by a parking attendant Read more…
