On this day in…
1888
136 years ago
Karl Benz of Germany received a US patent for a gasoline-driven automobile Read more…
1902
122 years ago
(26th- 28th) The 1902 Gordon Bennett Cup was run over a distance of 565 km from Paris to Innsbruck in conjunction with the Paris-Vienna motor car race Read more…
1906
118 years ago
Lord Montague of Beaulieu opened Argylls’ lavish office block beside the manufacturing plant at Alexandria-by-Glasgow, Scotland Read more…
1906
118 years ago
The inaugural French Grand Prix, staged in Le Mans by the Automobile Club of France (ACF), was won by Hungarian driver Ferenc Szisz in a 90hp 13 litre Renault Typ AK at an average speed of 63 mph Read more…
1915
109 years ago
The two mile Chicago board track opened with a 500-mile AAA saunctioned race, won by Dario Resta’s Peugeot at 97 Read more…
1930
94 years ago
Frederick Henry Royce pioneering car manufacturer, who with Charles Stewart Rolls founded the Rolls-Royce company, was knighted by King George V Read more…
1953
71 years ago
The last Henry J was produced Read more…
1956
68 years ago
The US Congress approved the Federal Highway Act, which allocated more than $30 billion for the construction of some 41,000 miles (66,000 km) of interstate highways; the largest public construction project in US history to that date Read more…
1960
64 years ago
NASCAR Hall of Famer Glen Wood scored a wire-to-wire victory at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, US, starting third and leading all 200 laps of the International 200 Read more…
1967
57 years ago
The United States Auto Club reduced the size of the engine annulus opening on turbine powered Indy cars from 23 Read more…
1975
49 years ago
Austin 18-22, Morris 18-22 and Wolseley Saloon were launched Read more…
1977
47 years ago
The Grand Prix de Rouen-les-Essarts was won by Eddie Cheever in a BMW – aged 19 years, 168 days – to become the youngest winner of a Formula 2 race Read more…
1983
41 years ago
The Horseless Carriage Club of America dedicated a monument in Des Moines, Iowa, US to mark the 1906 assembly site of the first Mason car by Frederick S Duesenberg Read more…
1986
38 years ago
Bobby Rahal won the Labatt’s Manitoba Challenge Formula Atlantic race Read more…
2002
22 years ago
The first £320,000 6.2-metre-long Maybach 62 ever produced was enclosed in a glass case on the Queen Elizabeth II as the liner departed from Southampton, England en route to New York Read more…
2004
20 years ago
The MINI Convertible (Cabrio) went on sale in the United Kingdom Read more…
2004
20 years ago
The largest parade of Fiat cars, 220 Fiat 126s arranged by the 126 Fan Slovakia club, took place in Zvolen, Slovakia Read more…
2007
17 years ago
Paris Hilton was released from a California jail after serving around half of a 45-day sentence for violating probation on a driving ban Read more…
