July 5th


On this day in…

1865

158 years ago

Speed limits of just 2 mph in towns and 4 mph in the country were imposed in Britain under the Locomotives on Highways Act to improve the safety of horse-drawn vehicles against the steam-engined vehicles that were becoming increasingly popular on the roads Read more…

1866

157 years ago

Father George A Read more…

1905

118 years ago

The last of the six Gordon-Bennett Cup Races, took place in France over a 85 mile (137 km) mountainous circuit in the Auvergne near to Clermont-Ferrand Read more…

1912

111 years ago

The main event of the first Montamara Fiesta Road Races in Tacoma, Washington, US, a 250 mile ‘Free-for-all-Race Read more…

1915

108 years ago

The Omaha 1-mile board track in Nebraska, US, opened with a 302-mile race won by Eddie Rickenbacker in a Maxwell Read more…

1916

107 years ago

Adelina and August Van Buren began the first successful transcontinental motorcycle tour by two women Read more…

1927

96 years ago

Construction began on the new GMC truck factory and headquarters building in Pontiac, Michigan, US Read more…

1933

90 years ago

Fritz Todt was appointed general inspector for German highways Read more…

1936

87 years ago

Jean-Pierre Wimille (Bugatti T57G) won the Grand Prix de la Marne sports car race at the Reims-Gueux track in France Read more…

1937

86 years ago

The second and last Vanderbilt Trophy race was staged at the Roosevelt Raceway in Westbury, Long Island, New York and was won by Bernd Rosemeyer in a Typ C Auto Union Read more…

1937

86 years ago

Commander Walter George Windham (73), credited with many firsts in British automobile and aviation history, died in Builth Wells, Radnorshire, Wales Read more…

1942

81 years ago

Edsel Ford of Detroit was disappointed to discover that because of strict wartime auto rationing, he was unable to get a car until his application had been approved by the government Read more…

1953

70 years ago

Mike Hawthorn’s Ferrari beat Fangio’s Maserati by just 1 second after two and three quarter hours of racing at the 1953 French Grand Prix at Reims Read more…

1954

69 years ago

American racecar driver Bob Scott (25) died in a crash during a Champ Car race at Darlington Raceway Read more…

1954

69 years ago

Held on the same day as the 1954 World Cup Final, Manuel Fangio driving a Mercedes W196 powered by a straight-8 fuel-injection engine, won the Reims Grand Prix Read more…

1956

67 years ago

Oscar C Read more…

1959

64 years ago

The sun was so hot at the French Grand Prix, that the track surface began to melt Read more…

1970

53 years ago

Clermont-Ferrand staged the French Grand Prix, which was won by Jochen Rindt in a Lotus-Cosworth 72C Read more…

1974

49 years ago

Ralph Hamlin (93), driver of the first car to reach the summit of Mount Wahington, New Hampshire, died Read more…

1981

42 years ago

Alain Prost driving a Renault RE30 claimed the first of an eventful 51 wins for Renault, at the French Grand Prix Read more…

1987

36 years ago

British driver Nigel Mansell in a Williams FW11B won the French Grand Prix Read more…

1987

36 years ago

Larry Pearson bypassed Joe Thurman with 10 laps left and led the rest of the NASCAR Nationwide Series’ Budweiser 200 at Gresham Motorsports Park in Jefferson, Georgia, US Read more…

1988

35 years ago

Joe Schwarzkopf-Bowers drove a complete circuit of London’s (UK) orbital motorway, M25 (117 miles) nonstop in a modified battery-powered Bond Equipe on a single charge, at an average speed of 40 mph. Read more…

1990

33 years ago

The Lexus LS400 was launched in the UK Read more…

1990

33 years ago

Amos Neyhart, an engineering professor who established the first driver education courses in the US in the early 1930’s, died in a Pennsylvania nursing home at the age of 91 Read more…

1992

31 years ago

Nigel Mansell won the French Grand Prix in a Williams-Renault FW14B Read more…

1996

27 years ago

Joe Amato set an NHRA Top Fuel 1/4-mile elapse time record with a run of 4 Read more…

1997

26 years ago

John Andretti held off Terry Labonte on the final lap to score his first career NASCAR Winston Cup ­victory in the Pepsi 400 at Daytona, Florida (US) Read more…

2000

23 years ago

The British land speed record was set at Elvington by the jet-propelled Vampire car,driven by Collin Fallows, who hit a speed of 300 Read more…

2003

20 years ago

Rookie Greg Biffle pulled off an upset win in the Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speed­way Read more…

2005

18 years ago

38 people died in a Badarmude, Nepal from a terrorist attack on a civilian commuter bus Read more…

2006

17 years ago

A1GP revealed its provisional calendar for season two adding new races to the line-up which included the Beijing street race and an event at the newly upgraded Taupo Park in New Zealand Read more…

2012

11 years ago

Senior vice president of Mini brand management, Dr Read more…

2013

10 years ago

The last BMW M3 coupe rolled off the assembly line in Germany Read more…

2015

8 years ago

Lewis Hamilton won the 70th British Grand Prix in front of 140,000 spectators at Silverstone, for the second consecutive year with Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg finishing 11 seconds behind him in second place Read more…

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