On this day in…
1896
127 years ago
Sylvester Roper (72) a pioneering builder of early automobiles and motorcycles died whilst riding his a twin-cylinder steam velocipede, with a coal-fired boiler between the wheels, at the Charles River bicycle track, near Harvard Bridge, Cambridge, Massachusetts, US Read more…
1900
123 years ago
The Salzburg-Linz-Vienna road race started and was won the following day by Ritter von Stern in a Daimler 24 hp Read more…
1905
118 years ago
Emile Delahaye (62), French automotive pioneer who founded Delahaye Automobiles, died Read more…
1906
117 years ago
Ohio, US required all automobile owners to prepare homemade license plates including the letters “OH” and register their cars with the Secretary of State Read more…
1908
115 years ago
The St Read more…
1909
114 years ago
US president William Howard Taft touched a key in Washington, D.C Read more…
1915
108 years ago
The Packard Twin Six Series 1-25 was introduced Read more…
1916
107 years ago
Ford established Automobiles Ford (France) and announced plans to build an assembly plant in Bordeaux Read more…
1916
107 years ago
William C Durant was elected President of General Motors to succeed Charles W Nash whose resignation became effective two months later Read more…
1917
106 years ago
Henry Leland, the founder of the Cadillac Motor Car Company, resigned as company president Read more…
1919
104 years ago
The Gilly-Burtigny Climb at Geneva, Switzerland was held, the first hill climb event in Europe Read more…
1921
102 years ago
Duesenberg Inc Read more…
1934
89 years ago
The Tokyo-based Jidosha-Seizo Kabushiki-Kaisha (Automobile Manufacturing Co Read more…
1935
88 years ago
Compulsory testing was brought in for all British drivers who started driving on or after 1 April 1934 Read more…
1938
85 years ago
Upper Austria, Styria, and the eastern half of Salzburg switched from driving on the left to driving on the right side of the road Read more…
1944
79 years ago
The first issue of ‘Packard News’ was published Read more…
1950
73 years ago
Within a week of petrol rationing ending in the UK, the price of a gallon had increased to 3 shillings, the highest price since 1920 Read more…
1953
70 years ago
The first East African Coronation Safari Rally finished at the same time the Queen Elizabeth II was being crowned in Westminster Abbey Read more…
1961
62 years ago
The Fiat 600D and 1100 S special were introduced in the United States Read more…
1966
57 years ago
The Automobile Association announced its first subscription increase since it was formed in 1905 from 2 to 3 guineas a year Read more…
1973
50 years ago
Harvey Jr Read more…
1973
50 years ago
The wearing of crash helmets became compulsory in the UK, markinga turning-point in road safety Read more…
1975
48 years ago
Arturo Merzario and Jacques Laffite drove an Alfa Romeo T33/TT/12 to victory in the 1000km sports car race on the Nurburgring in Germany Read more…
1980
43 years ago
Alan Jones driving a Williams-Cosworth FW07B won the Spanish Grand Prix at Jarama Read more…
1981
42 years ago
Production of Corvettes began at a new plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky, US and the facility has remained the exclusive home of the Corvette ever since Read more…
1986
37 years ago
Jo Gartner (32) died whilst contesting the 1986 24 Hours of Le Mans Read more…
1986
37 years ago
Pole-starter Darrell Waltrip took the lead from Tim Richmond with two laps left to prevail at Riverside (California, US) International Raceway’s 2 Read more…
1986
37 years ago
Nevada in the US ignored the national 55 mph speed limit by posting a 70 mph (110 km/h) limit on a 3 mile (5 km) stretch of Interstate 80 Read more…
1991
32 years ago
The Lexus SC400 was given its public launch at the Fairmont Hotel, San Francisco Read more…
1993
30 years ago
Ford became the first automaker to have dual air bags as standard equipment in most cars Read more…
1997
26 years ago
New drivers in the UK from this day who gained six or more penalty points during their first two years of driving, lost their licence and had to retake both the theory and practical driving test before being allowed back on the road Read more…
1999
24 years ago
The Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) in Britain for a car or van with an engine capacity of 1100 cc or less was reduced to £100 per year (from £155). Read more…
2003
20 years ago
Juan Pablo Montoya driving a Williams-BMW FW25 won the Monaco Grand Prix from a third position start Read more…
2009
14 years ago
General Motors filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as part of the Obama administration’s plan to shrink the automaker to a sustainable size and give a majority ownership stake to the federal government Read more…
2011
12 years ago
The most people crammed on an unmodified bus (229) was achieved by the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the Krakow University of Technology in Krakow, Poland Read more…
2012
11 years ago
According to reports from the Companhia de Engenharia de Tráfego, the São Paulo (Brazil) city’s traffic management agency, the historical congestion record was set on this day with 295 kilometres (183 mi) of cumulative queues around the city during the evening rush hour Read more…
2018
5 years ago
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the ride hailing app Uber was “finished” in Turkey, following intense pressure from Istanbul taxi drivers for the service to be banned Read more…
