On this day in…
1902
122 years ago
The “Mercedes” name was registered as a trademark by the Daimler Motorsen-Gesellschaft Read more…
1909
115 years ago
A Ford Model T crossed the finish line in the New York City to Seattle Endurance Race after 22 days and 55 minutes to claim the Guggenheim Cup and a $2,000 first prize Read more…
1916
108 years ago
Italian-American Ralph DePalma set a flying-mile world record of 35.2 seconds in a Mercedes at Des Moines Speedway in Iowa, US Read more…
1923
101 years ago
Jordan’s “Somewhere West of Laramie” magazine advertisement made its debut Read more…
1928
96 years ago
An Opel rocket-car was mounted on railroad tracks near Celle, Germany Read more…
1935
89 years ago
The French Grand Prix (formally the XXIX Grand Prix de l’Automobile Club de France) held over 500km (12 Read more…
1945
79 years ago
The Ford Motor Company ended operations at its Willow Run factory Read more…
1963
61 years ago
Jim Clark won the 1963 Belgian Grand Prix scoring Team Lotus’ 10th victory in the World Championship Read more…
1963
61 years ago
Worth McMillion made his Grand National racing debut driving a Pontiac at South Boston, Virginia, US Read more…
1968
56 years ago
Jackie Stewart led the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort from flag to flag, scoring the first Grand Prix win for the Matra MS10-Ford Read more…
1971
53 years ago
Bobby Allison routed the field for his fifth consecutive victory, winning the Space City 300, the only event for NASCAR’s premier series at Meyer Speedway in Houston, US Read more…
1985
39 years ago
The Detroit Grand Prix was held over 63 laps of the 7 km street circuit for a total race distance of 260 kilometres Read more…
1986
38 years ago
Thirteen people died in a pile-up on the M4 near Maidenhead, England Read more…
1990
34 years ago
Phil Brachtvogel ran the first 200 mph bike pass in the UK, 201 Read more…
1991
33 years ago
Davey Allison beat Hut Stricklin to win the Miller Genuine Draft 400 at Michigan, US Read more…
1991
33 years ago
Bertrand Gachot, Johnny Herbert, and Volker Wiedler won the 24-Hours of Le Mans driving a Mazda Read more…
1996
28 years ago
Rusty Wallace ran out of gas while racing in the Miller 400 at the Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan, US Read more…
1999
25 years ago
Fears about the future of the Rover Group’s Longbridge plant in Birmingham were calmed by the news that owner BMW would invest £2 Read more…
2002
22 years ago
The European Grand Prix held at Nürburgring was won by Ferrari driver Rubens Barrichello, his first win since his victory at the 2000 German Grand Prix Read more…
2002
22 years ago
Jerry Nadeau’s rear-gearing failure in the final three laps opened the door for Ricky Rudd to win the 224-mile race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California (US) Read more…
2003
21 years ago
The City of Cape Town, South Africa, erected the world’s first ‘Penguin Crossing’ sign on Simon’s Town main road to reduce penguin fatalities Read more…
2007
17 years ago
The Ferrari around the world relay comes to an end at their headquarters in Italy Read more…
2012
12 years ago
The MINI Clubvan was officially introduced Read more…