On this day in…
1889
135 years ago
The first sprint meeting in England was held on a public road just outside Colchester, Essex Read more…
1900
124 years ago
The first of the famous Gordon Bennett Cup races, instigated by the eponymous proprietor of the New York Herald after he moved to Paris to set up a French edition of the paper, was run over a 340-mile course (Paris-Chartres-Orléans-Nevers-Moulins-Roanne-Lyon) Read more…
1904
120 years ago
The Sociedad Hispano-Suiza Fabrica de Automoviles SA was organised in Spain with a capitalisation of 250,000 Pesetas Read more…
1907
117 years ago
The inaugural Kaiser Prize Race, the ‘Kaiserpreisa’, a replacement for the Gordon Bennett Cup, was held Read more…
1916
108 years ago
An International Model F truck became the first commercial vehicle to reach the summit of Pikes Peak, Colorado, US Read more…
1917
107 years ago
The 2,000,000th Ford Model T was produced Read more…
1923
101 years ago
Evasio Lampiano (36) died when he crashed his 1 Read more…
1924
100 years ago
In celebration of having attained a 10,000,000 production record, the Ford Motor Company announced that Ford Model T No Read more…
1928
96 years ago
Leon Duray drove his Miller 91 Packard Cable Special to a world close-coursed speed record, recording an astonishing top speed of 148 Read more…
1931
93 years ago
Enzo Ferrari won the Italian Bobbio Penice Hillclimb with a 2 Read more…
1936
88 years ago
300,000 people gathered on a rainy and fog swept Nürburgring to see the Adac Eifelrennen, the first major race of the year on German soil, the AVUS race being cancelled as the track was under re-construction Read more…
1953
71 years ago
Jaguar cars finished 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th in Le Mans 24-hour Grand Prix d’Edurance Read more…
1956
68 years ago
The Zavod Imeni Molotova (Molotov Automobile Plant) in Gorky, USSR, manufacturers of the luxury ZIM, changes its name to the Gorky Automobile Plant, with its product now called the Volga Read more…
1959
65 years ago
Richard Petty took the checkered flag at Lakewood Speedway in Atlanta for his apparent first victory in NASCAR’s premier series, but his win was overturned on a protest of the scoring — by his father, Lee Read more…
1959
65 years ago
A jughandle is a type of ramp or slip road that changes the way traffic turns left (when driving on the right) Read more…
1961
63 years ago
Country singer Patsy Cline was involved in a near fatal car crash in Nashville; she sustained head injuries after being thrown through the windscreen Read more…
1961
63 years ago
The UK government announced the introduction of push-button controlled pedestrian crossings Read more…
1964
60 years ago
Jim Clark won the Belgian Grand Prix in a Lotus-Climax 25, due to Dan Gurney running out of fuel while leading most of the race Read more…
1967
57 years ago
Ford of Europe was established to coordinate development manufacture and sale of cars and trucks in Europe and Africa Read more…
1969
55 years ago
John Woolfe (37) was killed when he crashed his Porsche 917 on the first lap of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, an event which caused the traditional “Le Mans start” to be abolished the following year Read more…
1970
54 years ago
Dickie Attwood and Hans Herrmann won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in a Porsche 917K Read more…
1984
40 years ago
British Leyland (BL) announced the privatisation of Jaguar. Read more…
1985
39 years ago
Hans-Joachim Stuck recorded the fastest practice lap speed in the Le Mans 24-hour race, 251 Read more…
1989
35 years ago
Pete De Freitas (27), drummer with Echo And The Bunnymen died on his way to Liverpool from London Read more…
1992
32 years ago
Gerhard Berger driving a McLaren-Honda MP4/7A won the Canadian Grand Prix held in Montreal Read more…
2000
24 years ago
The one millionth European Ford Focus rolled off the Saarlouis production line in Germany, the first Ford in Europe to have reached this milestone in under two years Read more…
2002
22 years ago
The movie “The Bourne Identity” was released, featuring the amnesiac assassin Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) who drives a vintage Austin Mini Cooper through the traffic-heavy streets of Paris to evade his police and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) pursuers Read more…
2004
20 years ago
Sir Richard Branson set a new world record for the fastest crossing of the English Channel by an amphibious motor car Read more…
2006
18 years ago
A1 Grand Prix announced plans to change the sporting and technical regulations for the second season, increasing the length of the Feature race, reducing the Sprint race and changing the overall points system Read more…
2010
14 years ago
The UK’s Health Protection Agency announced the results of a preliminary study of 75 patients, which found an association between the use of plain water as wiper fluid and Legionnaires’ disease, which is spread by breathing in aerosolised bacteria from infected water Read more…
2012
12 years ago
MINI officially debuted the “new look” MINI Rocketman for the London 2012 Olympic Games Read more…
