On this day in…
1904
122 years ago
Louis Rigolly, driving a 15-litre Gobron-Brillie on the Ostend-Newport road in Belgium, became the first man to break the 100 mph barrier in a car by raising the land-speed record to 103 Read more…
1913
113 years ago
French aviator, Adolphe Pegoud said that parachutes were as safe as motor cars Read more…
1917
109 years ago
Rapp-Motorenwerke was renamed Bayerische Motoren Werke GmbH (BMW) Read more…
1925
101 years ago
Sir Malcolm Campbell became the first man to break the 150 mph land barrier at Pendine Sands in Wales Read more…
1930
96 years ago
The MG Car Company was reorganised as the MG Car Company Ltd Read more…
1930
96 years ago
The Lincoln and Continental Divisions of the Ford Motor Company were consolidated Read more…
1932
94 years ago
Terraplane, a car brand and model built by the Hudson Motor Car Company was launched, “with [such] sensational vigor” that “accounts of the affair appeared in newspapers throughout the United States Read more…
1936
90 years ago
The 1934 DeSoto ‘Winged Goddess’ mascot was patented by designer Herbert V Read more…
1946
80 years ago
The first post-war speed event in Germany took place at Ruhestein Read more…
1949
77 years ago
The first Jaguar XK120 released for public sale (serial #660002) was shipped to Sydney, Australia Read more…
1960
66 years ago
The German government passed the “Law Concerning the Transfer of the Share Rights in Volkswagenwerk Limited Liability Company into Private Hands,” known informally as the “Volkswagen Law Read more…
1962
64 years ago
Jim Clark in a Lotus-Climax 25 won the last British Grand Prix staged at Aintree Read more…
1962
64 years ago
Ned Jarrett posted a dominant win, leading 191 of 200 laps from the pole position to prevail at Rambi Raceway in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, US Read more…
1968
58 years ago
The first ever side by side run by two British built top fuel dragsters, took place at the Santa Pod Raceway, Northamptonshire (England) Read more…
1973
53 years ago
Gerrard Larrouse and Henri Pescarolo drove a Matra MS670 to victory in 6-hour endurance race at Watkins Glen, New York, US Read more…
1974
52 years ago
Bobby Unser drove an Eagle powered by a Drake-Offenhauser engine to victory in the USAC Championship event at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan, US Read more…
1974
52 years ago
The last Volkswagen Karmann-Ghia was produced at the Wilhelm Karmann GmbH plant in Osnabruck, West Germany Read more…
1982
44 years ago
At Summit Point Raceway in West Virginia, USA, Jaguar executives viewed the Group 44 XJR-5 GTP racer for the first time Read more…
1985
41 years ago
In accordance with the Volkswagen-act, that was issued on 21 July 1960, 60 % of the capital was sold to the public, while 40 % remained in the hands of the Federal and Land governments Read more…
1987
39 years ago
The Ferrari F40 was unveiled at the factory in Maranello, Italy by Enzo Ferrari, in a ceremony commemorating his company’s 40th year Read more…
1990
36 years ago
Days before his 40th birthday, Rich Vogler competed in a nationally broadcast ESPN Thunder Joe James / Pat O’Connor Memorial sprint car event at Salem Speedway Read more…
1991
35 years ago
Racer Paul Warwick is killed at age 22 when he crashed during the Gold Cup race at the Oulton Park circuit in England Read more…
1993
33 years ago
The new Saab 900 was launched in Trollhättan, Sweden Read more…
1996
30 years ago
The tour bus carrying members of Terrorvision inadvertently ran over sleeping festival fan Daniel Duffy as he lay in his tent breaking his hip Read more…
2000
26 years ago
Chairman of Ford Europe Nick Scheele drove the last Ford Escort produced at Ford Halewood, Liverpool (UK) off the production line Read more…
2002
24 years ago
Producer Gus Dudgeon, who worked with artists including Elton John, David Bowie, The Beach Boys, Kiki Dee, The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, The Strawbs, XTC, and Joan Armatrading, was killed aged 59 in a car accident near Reading, together with his wife Sheila Read more…
2002
24 years ago
Michael Schumacher secured his 5th World Drivers’ Championship title at the French Grand Prix, equalling Juan Manuel Fangio’s record set over 40 years before Read more…
2003
23 years ago
The first 2004 Ford F-150 rolled off Kansas City Assembly line, assembled using a new flexible manufacturing system Read more…
2004
22 years ago
The last Dacia models of the 1300 series rolled out the gates of the Mioveni production facility, just one month before their 35th anniversary Read more…
2005
21 years ago
Research by a car insurance company showed that listening to the wrong sort of music when driving could lead to aggression and distraction Read more…
2007
19 years ago
The overall Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (PPIHC) record, also known as ‘The Race to the Clouds’, an annual automobile and motorcycle hill climb to the summit of Pikes Peak in Colorado, a distance of 19 Read more…
2007
19 years ago
Lewis Hamilton was involved in a spectacular 170mph smash in qualifying for the European Grand Prix Read more…
2015
11 years ago
Japan-based Toshiba Corporation acknowledged a systematic cover-up, which began in 2008 Read more…
