On this day in…
1895
128 years ago
The Paris–Bordeaux–Paris Trial of June 1895, sometimes called the “first motor race” although it did not conform to modern convention whereby the fastest finisher is the winner, ended Read more…
1907
116 years ago
A phenomenally large entry list of 93 cars for the inaugural Kaiser Prize Race, which replaced the Gordon Bennett race, necessitated the running of two eliminating races the day before the main event Read more…
1911
112 years ago
The first long-distance race in England (100 laps / 277 miles) was held at Brooklands race circuit in Surrey. Read more…
1917
106 years ago
Alan Bedell left Los Angeles, California on his Henderson motorcycle arriving in New York City (3,296 miles) in seven days, sixteen hours and fifteen minutes later, breaking the record set by “Cannonball” Baker on an Indian Twin Read more…
1920
103 years ago
The first race at the Circuit of Mugello (Italy) was won by Giuseppe Campari in an Alfa Romeo Read more…
1930
93 years ago
Briton Henry Segrave, who broke the world land-speed record three times – 152.33 mph (1926), 203.79 mph (1927) and 231.45 mph (1929) – died at the age of 33 after his speedboat Miss England II capsized on Lake Windermere in Cumbria after hitting a log at 98 mph Read more…
1937
86 years ago
Bernd Rosemeyer driving an Auto Union Typ C won the XI Adac Eifelrennen run over 10 laps (228 Read more…
1946
77 years ago
The first post-World War II Lincoln Continental, a 1946 convertible, was produced and presented to Ford Motor Company President Henry Ford II for use as his personal car Read more…
1953
70 years ago
(13-14th): The highlight of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the 21st Grand Prix of Endurance was the introduction, by Jaguar Cars, of disc brakes on all four wheels of each C-type car, which gave Jaguar 1st, 2nd, and 4th place finishes Read more…
1954
69 years ago
Al Keller made history in the first road-course event in NASCAR’s top series, notching the only win for Jaguar at the Linden, New Jersey (US) airport Read more…
1965
58 years ago
The Belgian Grand Prix held at Spa-Francorchamps was won by British driver Jim Clark who led every lap of the race driving a Lotus 33 Read more…
1971
52 years ago
Dr Helmut Marko and Gijs van Lennep, driving a Porsche 917K, set a new record for the 24-hour Grand Prix d’Endurance at Le Mans, France, covering 3,315,203 miles Read more…
1976
47 years ago
The 1976 Swedish Grand Prix held at the Scandinavian Raceway in Anderstorp, Sweden, is the only ever Formula One race to be won by a car other than four-wheeled – indeed, the best four-wheeler could do no better than third, and it was the second race in succession that it took no less than 16 wheels to bring home the podium-finishers: South African Jody Scheckter and Frenchman Patrick Depailler in six-wheeled Tyrrell/Ford P34s and Austrian Niki Lauda in a four-wheeled Ferrari 312T2 Read more…
1978
45 years ago
Lee Iacocca was fired as President of the Ford Motor Company by Chairman Henry Ford II Read more…
1981
42 years ago
Racer Jean-Louis Lafosse was killed when his Rondeau crashed during the 24 Hours of Le Mans – also killed in the incident was race marshall Jean Pierre Mobila Read more…
1982
41 years ago
Riccardo Paletti (23) died when his car ran into the back of the stationary Ferrari of Didier Pironi who had stalled on the start grid of the Canadian Grand Prix Read more…
1993
30 years ago
Not a day to look back on fondly for the Williams pit crew as they ruined Damon Hill’s hopes of a 1-2 with Alain Prost when they botched a pit stop at the Canadian Grand Prix Read more…
1996
27 years ago
German designer of the pre-war Mercedes-Benz 540K and post-war Mercedes-Benz 300SL, Friedrich Geiger (88) died Read more…
1999
24 years ago
Heinz-Harald Frentzen suffered a brake failure and had a massive crash with four laps to go at the Canadian Grand Prix Read more…
2003
20 years ago
The first Goodwood Festival of Speed was held, in the grounds of Goodwood House, West Sussex, UK Read more…
2003
20 years ago
The Ford GT was officially ‘reborn Read more…
2003
20 years ago
To celebrate joining the Nectar reward programme and Ford Motor Company’s centenary, Ford offered 15,000 Nectar points to any retail customer buying and registering a new Ford car from participating Ford dealers between 13 June and 31 July 2003 Read more…
2004
19 years ago
The Loton Park Hill Climb (nr Shrewsbury, England: 1349 yards) record was set by Adam Fleetwood, with a time of 44 Read more…
2004
19 years ago
Williams and Toyota were both disqualified from the Canadian Grand Prix an hour after the finish after air ducts which were used to cool the brakes were found to be in contravention of the FIA’s rules Read more…
2006
17 years ago
Chinese civil servants were ordered not to drive cars, use elevators or switch on air conditioning for a day, as part of an energy-saving awareness campaign Read more…
2007
16 years ago
Dale Earnhardt, Jr Read more…
2008
15 years ago
Petty Enterprises sold majority interest in the family-owned race team to Boston Ventures, a private equity firm Read more…
