On this day in…
1888
134 years ago
Scottish born and educated John Boyd Dunlop applied to patent the pneumatic tyre as “an improvement in the tyres or wheels for bicycles, tricycles and other road tyres Read more…
1901
121 years ago
Ransom E Read more…
1903
119 years ago
The first 2-cylinder, 8-bhp Ford Model A, the result of a partnership between Henry Ford and Detroit coal merchant Alexander Malcomson, was delivered to its owner, Dr Ernst Pfennig of Chicago Read more…
1911
111 years ago
The Automobile Club de la Sarthe organized the Grand Prix de France was won by Victor Hemery driving a FIAT S61 Read more…
1919
103 years ago
The Luverne Motor Truck Company was incorporated in Minnesota, US by Al Leicher, his brother Edward and their sons Robert and Larry Leicher Read more…
1919
103 years ago
At the first post-war speed trial in England on the seafront at Westcliff, Essex, competitors included Malcolm Campbell (12 hp Talbot), Woolf Barnato (10 hp Calthorpe) and Yvonne Arnaud (10 hp Eric-Campbell) Read more…
1927
95 years ago
The Studebaker Model ES Big Six Custom Sedan was introduced – the car was marketed as the ‘President’, the marque’s first usage of this name Read more…
1930
92 years ago
Glenn Hammond Curtiss (52), American aviation and motorcycling pioneer, and a founder of the U Read more…
1935
87 years ago
The world’s longest marathon car journey began Read more…
1939
83 years ago
Some 250,000 – 300,000 spectators turned up at the Nurburgring to witness Rudolph Caracciola win his sixth and Mercedes fifth German Grand Prix Read more…
1941
81 years ago
Richie Evans, a nine-time NASCAR Modified champion, was born Read more…
1950
72 years ago
The first races were held at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, US Read more…
1950
72 years ago
The first Dutch Grand Prix set to Formula One rules, staged at the Circuit Park Zandvoort, Netherlands, was won by French driver Louis Rosier in a Talbot-Lago Read more…
1950
72 years ago
Curtis Turner recorded his fourth victory of the year in the 100-mile NASCAR Grand National race at Charlotte Speedway, US Read more…
1957
65 years ago
There were violent scenes around Britain as the strike by busmen in the English regions entered its fourth day Read more…
1973
49 years ago
Don Powell, drummer with Slade, was badly injured in a serious car crash in Wolverhampton, in which his 20-year-old girlfriend/fiancee Angela Morris was killed Read more…
1973
49 years ago
Eddie Rickenbacker, namesake of Rickenbacker Motors, died in Zurich, Switzerland at the age of 82 Read more…
1977
45 years ago
Chrysler Europe launched the Sunbeam, a three-door rear-wheel drive small hatchback similar in concept to the Ford Fiesta and Vauxhall Chevette Read more…
1980
42 years ago
Keyboard player Keith Godchaux died after being involved in a car accident in Marin County, California (US), aged 32 Read more…
1984
38 years ago
Austin Rover announced its second new car launch of the year — the Rover 200, a four-door saloon which replaced the Triumph Acclaim and was the combine’s second product from its venture with Japanese car maker Honda Read more…
1988
34 years ago
The 1,000,000th Vauxhall Cavalier was sold Read more…
1998
24 years ago
Photocard driving licences were introduced in the United Kingdom, replacing the paper ones Read more…
2000
22 years ago
Rusty Wallace took advantage of Jeremy Mayfield’s misfortune to win the Pennsylvania 500 (US), taking the lead on the final lap Read more…
2004
18 years ago
A 1930 Bentley Speed Six, ‘the most original and significant surviving Bentley’, was sold at auction by Christie’s in Le Mans, France for $5.1 million, the highest price ever paid for a British car. Read more…
2006
16 years ago
The 654-foot Singapore-flagged Cougar Ace, a cargo ship carrying 4,813 cars from Japan to Canada, began tilting to its port side late at night hundreds of miles off Alaska’s Aleutian Islands Read more…
2007
15 years ago
According to an article in Automotive News, Honda Motor Company Ltd Read more…
2008
14 years ago
The British International Motor Show opened at the ExCeL Exhibition Centre in London’s Docklands and was the last regular British International Motorshow Read more…
2008
14 years ago
Vauxhall revealed its replacement to the Vectra at the British Motor Show Read more…
