On this day in…
1829
194 years ago
The first London “Omnibus” commenced on the route between Paddington (The Yorkshire Stingo) and “Bank” (Bank of England) via the “New Road” (now Marylebone Rd), Somers Town and City Road Read more…
1894
129 years ago
Elwood Haynes successfully tested his one-horsepower, one-cylinder vehicle, the ‘Pioneer’, at 6 or 7 mph at Kokomo, Indiana Read more…
1902
121 years ago
The first motorcycle race in America was held from Boston to New York Read more…
1903
120 years ago
The first Irish speed trials were held two days after the Gordon Bennett Cup race, in Phoenix Park, Dublin Read more…
1905
118 years ago
The special racing version of the White steam car, driven by Webb Jay, defeated a Fiat and a Thomas in a match race at the Morris Park Dirt Track in the Bronx, New York, lowering the world’s mile record to 48 Read more…
1908
115 years ago
The first woman’s motor car race held at Brooklands Read more…
1909
114 years ago
The first rural section of concrete pavement in the United States, a one-mile stretch, opens on Woodward Ave near Detroit at a cost of $13,534 Read more…
1912
111 years ago
The 8,000-seat Newark Motordrome, New Jersey (US) opened and regularly ran motorcycle races on Sunday afternoons until it closed in 1917 after a fire Read more…
1913
110 years ago
Frank Verbeck won $50,000 when he drove a Fiat to victory in the 444 mile Pan-Pacific Road Race from Los Angeles to Sacramento Read more…
1914
109 years ago
Mercedes finished 1-2-3 at the French Grand Prix at Lyon, the last Grand Prix before World War One Read more…
1914
109 years ago
The Sioux City Speedway, Iowa staged its inaugural race, the 300-mile ‘Fourth of July Classic’ Read more…
1914
109 years ago
A Saxon roadster arrived in San Francisco, 30 days after leaving New York City, to complete the first transcontinental automobile trip using the newly completed Lincoln Highway Read more…
1915
108 years ago
Bob Burman won the main event at Ascot Park in Los Angeles, California, US, driving a Peugeot Read more…
1920
103 years ago
Du Pont’s Duco Satin Finish proxylin enamel paint was announced Read more…
1935
88 years ago
The British Ministry of Transport announced that dipped car headlights would become compulsory Read more…
1936
87 years ago
Charles Martin (ERA) won the Nuffield Trophy handicap race at Donington Park, England Read more…
1936
87 years ago
The Reich Government decided to build a separate plant for the new Volkswagen, the Volkswagenwerk Read more…
1939
84 years ago
Noel Pope riding a Brough Superior recorded the fastest ever lap by a motorcycle at Brooklands (124 Read more…
1939
84 years ago
Creston, Wyoming, dedicated a monument to honour Henry B Read more…
1948
75 years ago
Despite racing for nearly two hours, at the finishing line of the Swiss Grand Prix, Frenchman Jean-Pierre Wimille was only 0 Read more…
1952
71 years ago
Curtis Turner tamed a 56-car field to win the 200-mile NASCAR Modified-Sportsman race at Darlington Raceway, South Carolina Read more…
1952
71 years ago
Troy Ruttmann driving the Offenhauser-powered Agajanian Special, won the inaugural 200-mile race at the Southland Speedway, later known as the Raleigh Speedway in North Carolina, US Read more…
1953
70 years ago
Junior Johnson won the 200-mile NASCAR Modified-Sportsman race at Darlington Raceway Read more…
1953
70 years ago
The first Volvo Duett 445 DH was built for delivery to the first customer for this estate model, none other than one of Volvo’s founders, Assar Gabrielsson Read more…
1954
69 years ago
The long-awaited Mercedes-Benz team arrived at the French Grand Prix with the new W196 cars for Juan-Manuel Fangio, Karl Kling and Hans Herrmann Read more…
1956
67 years ago
Fireball Roberts recorded his first superspeedway triumph in the 250-miler at Raleigh Speedway Read more…
1957
66 years ago
Paul Goldsmith wheeled Smokey Yunick’s Chevrolet to victory in the 250-mile NASCAR Grand National race at Raleigh Speedway Read more…
1957
66 years ago
The Fiat 500 was unveiled at the Turin Motor Show Read more…
1958
65 years ago
Fireball Roberts continued his winning spree by taking first place in the 250-mile race at Raleigh Speedway, North Carolina, US Read more…
1959
64 years ago
Fireball Roberts scored his first win in his hometown by driving a Pontiac to victory in the inaugural Firecracker 250 at Daytona International Speedway Read more…
1961
62 years ago
The Japanese government ratified a contract between the Toyo Kogyo Company Ltd, and the Wankel GmbH of Germany, giving the manufacturer of the Mazda the rights to the Wankel rotary engine Read more…
1965
58 years ago
Jean-Pierre Beltoise won the Reims Grand Prix in a Matra, the first major Grand Prix victory by a French car since 1952 Read more…
1969
54 years ago
The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) was founded by John Bishop Read more…
1972
51 years ago
George Schuster, the final driver of the winning Thomas Flyer in the New York to Paris race in 1908, died aged 99 in Springville, New York, US Read more…
1972
51 years ago
The National Motor Museum in Beaulieu, Hampshire, England opened Read more…
1974
49 years ago
Coming to take the white flag at the Firecracker 400, leader David Pearson realised he is a sitting duck with Richard Petty riding second and ready to slingshot into the lead Read more…
1976
47 years ago
The 54th French Grand Prix and the fourth to be held at the Paul Ricard circuit was won by the eventual 1976 world champion James Hunt driving a McLaren M23 Read more…
1984
39 years ago
Autoworld entertainment park opened in Flint, Michigan, US with great fanfare, including a parade Read more…
1984
39 years ago
Richard Petty, the king of stock car racing, won his 200th career victory at the Firecracker 400 race in Daytona, Florida, in front of a record crowd that included NASCAR’s first presidential patron, Ronald Reagan Read more…
1985
38 years ago
Volkswagen was founded in 1937 as a public concern by the then Nazi government to sell the Volkswagen Beetle Read more…
1985
38 years ago
Unheralded Greg Sacks stunned the favorites by winning the Pepsi Firecracker 400 at Daytona, driving an unsponsored car to a 23 Read more…
1987
36 years ago
Bobby Allison blasted out of the middle of the pack and roared past Ken Schrader with two laps to go, to win the Pepsi Firecracker 400 at Daytona Read more…
1992
31 years ago
Ernie Irvan squeezed past Sterling Marlin to register a two car-length victory in the Pepsi 400 at Daytona Read more…
1993
30 years ago
Contested over 72 laps of the 2 Read more…
1997
26 years ago
Russian carmaker Lada announced the end of imports to the United Kingdom after 23 years and some 350,000 sales of its low-priced, low-specification cars, which at their peak sold in excess of 30,000 cars a year, but managed just over 6,000 sales in 1996 Read more…
1998
25 years ago
Raging forest fires in the state of Florida forced Daytona International Speedway officials to postpone the Pepsi 400 until October Read more…
1998
25 years ago
Production began of the Victory V92C motorcycle Read more…
1998
25 years ago
Peter Monteverdi (64), the Swiss automaker and creator of the automobile brand Monteverdi, died Read more…
2004
19 years ago
Michael Schumacher used a unique four-stop strategy to beat Fernando Alonso’s Renault to claim the French Grand Prix for Ferrari Read more…
2005
18 years ago
Russian minister of industry and energy Viktor Khristenko announced that right hand drive vehicles would be allowed on roads but would have to conform to all Russian traffic safety requirements Read more…
2007
16 years ago
50 years to the day after Giacosa’s famous car debuted, the redesigned Fiat 500 was introduced in Turin, with 250,000 people in attendance Read more…
2007
16 years ago
Television celebrity Jade Goody (26) was banned from driving for six months after admitting driving her car on the M1 motorway in Buckinghamshire, with no insurance and under a provisional licence Read more…
2007
16 years ago
The Chrysler Group signed a deal with Cherry, China’s biggest automaker, to create a low cost production venture that could import the first Chinese-made cars to the US Read more…
2010
13 years ago
The Bugatti Veyron Super Sport reached 431 Read more…
2010
13 years ago
James May, a television presenter on BBC Two’s television show Top Gear, drove the Veyron Super Sport at 417 Read more…
2010
13 years ago
Toyota started recalling more than 90,000 luxury Lexus and Crown vehicles over defective engines Read more…
