On this day in…
1892
131 years ago
Designer George T Read more…
1901
122 years ago
The first Peerless automobile was introduced Read more…
1903
120 years ago
Racer Claude Loraine-Barrow died in Libourne, France from injured suffered when his De Dietrich crashed during the recent Paris-Madrid race – his riding mechanic, Pierre Todez, was killed instantly Read more…
1908
115 years ago
The single bore Rotherhithe Tunnel (1,481 m) under the River Thames in East London (UK), connecting Limehouse in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets north of the river to Rotherhithe in the London Borough of Southwark south of the river, designated the A101, was formally opened by George Prince of Wales (later King George V), and Richard Robinson, Chairman of the London County Council Read more…
1909
114 years ago
The first races sanctioned by the American Automobile Association (AAA), which were also the first races staged at the Portland Road Course (OR), were run Read more…
1914
109 years ago
The Kentucky General Assembly required automobile license plates to be issued annually Read more…
1920
103 years ago
The General Motors Research Corporation was created with Charles F Kettering as its first General Manager Read more…
1926
97 years ago
Langhorne Speedway (Pennsylvania, US) built by a group of Philadelphia racing enthusiasts, known as the National Motor Racing Association (NMRA), staged its first race Read more…
1927
96 years ago
The great Tazio Nuvolari (Bugatti 35) scored his first major win in an automobile race, the Royal Prize of Rome Read more…
1933
90 years ago
Edison Institute (now called Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village) opened to the public in Dearborn, Michigan, US Read more…
1934
89 years ago
Sixty pedestrians crossings were introduced in London in a bid to cut road deaths Read more…
1940
83 years ago
Edsel Ford telephoned William Knudsen of the US Office of Production Management (OPM) to confirm Ford Motor Company’s acceptance of Knudsen’s proposal to manufacture 9,000 Rolls-Royce-designed engines to be used in British and US airplanes Read more…
1952
71 years ago
Maurice Olley, Chevrolet’s chief engineer, completed his chassis, code-named ‘Opel’, which would eventually become the chassis for the 1953 Corvette Read more…
1954
69 years ago
Packard offered cars for sale with tubeless tyres Read more…
1956
67 years ago
Bulldozer driver Fred Hackett cut the first sod on Britain’s first motorway, the Preston bypass Read more…
1966
57 years ago
The Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps was won by British driver John Surtees driving a Ferrari 312 in a race that saw the field decimated in heavy rain Read more…
1966
57 years ago
Gerhard Mitter, driving with a broken leg, won the Rossfeld Alpen-Bergpreis at the wheel of a Porsche Read more…
1969
54 years ago
AMC SC/Ramblers finish 1-3-5 in the 2-wheel drive passenger car class of the Baja 1000 (an off-road race that takes place in Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula),with Bob Bondurant driving the winning car Read more…
1971
52 years ago
The last Lincoln Continental Mark III was produced Read more…
1975
48 years ago
Production of the Chrysler Imperial came to an end Read more…
1976
47 years ago
Four drivers, who took turns at two-and-a-half hour intervals, drove Mercedes C 111-IID from one diesel record to the next over a time-span of 60 hours at the brand-new test track in Nardo Read more…
1983
40 years ago
René Arnoux won the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal from pole position in dominant style, by a margin of nearly 45 seconds, in a Ferrari 126C2B Read more…
1986
37 years ago
Austin-Rover was renamed the Rover Group Read more…
1988
35 years ago
Rusty Wallace started second and held off Terry Labonte to score the last victory in NASCAR’s top series at Riverside (California) International Raceway’s 2 Read more…
1988
35 years ago
Ayrton Senna driving a McLaren-Honda MP4/4 won the Canadian Grand Prix Read more…
1994
29 years ago
Rusty Wallace charged past Dale Earnhardt on the final lap and holds on to win at Pocono, Pennsylvania (US) Read more…
1994
29 years ago
The Canadian Grand Prix at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, contested over 69 laps, was won by Benetton driver Michael Schumacher, who took his fifth victory of the season and extended his lead in the drivers’ standings to 33 points Read more…
1998
25 years ago
Jan Lammers (Holland), Johnny Dumfries, and Andy Wallace (both UK) in a Jaguar XJR-9LM covered a record breaking 5331 Read more…
1999
24 years ago
Westfalia International Camping-Car Club, based in Quebec, Canada, arranged the largest ever gathering of Volkswagen Westfalia camper vans when 489 were arranged at the Camping des Voltigeurs in St Read more…
2003
20 years ago
Acknowledged as the first car to bring premium brand qualities to the compact hatchback sector, the Audi A3 went on sale in the UK Read more…
2005
18 years ago
Carl Edwards drove to victory in the Pocono 500 at Pocono Raceway, Pennsylvania, US Read more…
2005
18 years ago
Kimi Räikkönen driving a McLaren-Mercedes MP4-20 won the Canadian Grand Prix at Montreal Read more…
2007
16 years ago
The ground-breaking BMW Hydrogen 7 car, the ‘world’s first production-ready hydrogen vehicle’, was presented to the deputy mayor of London (Nicky Gavron) at City Hall to raise awareness of hydrogen as an alternative energy source for tomorrow’s consumers. Read more…
2010
13 years ago
The fastest lap in the Le Mans 24-hour race of 3 min 19 Read more…
