On this day in…
1901
122 years ago
The Paris–Berlin Trial over 687 miles (1105 km) was won by Henri Fournier (France) driving a Mors in a time of 15:33:06 Read more…
1902
121 years ago
Marcel Renault won the four-day Paris-to-Vienna race, driving a car of his own design Read more…
1905
118 years ago
A group of motoring enthusiasts met at the Trocadero restaurant in London’s West End to form the Automobile Association (the AA) – a body initially intended to help motorists avoid police speed traps, in response to the Motor Car Act 1903 which introduced new penalties for breaking the speed limit, for reckless driving with fines, endorsements and the possibility of jail for speeding and other driving offences Read more…
1907
116 years ago
Selwyn Edge completed a single-handed 24 hour drive to celebrate the opening of the Brooklands Track, Surrey, England Read more…
1907
116 years ago
Mongini and Zach covered 1,037 miles driving a Locomobile in winning the 24 hour race at the Hamline Avenue race track in the “Twin Cities” of Minneapolis-St Read more…
1911
112 years ago
Ettore Bugatti was issued a German patent for the ‘pursang’ trademark Read more…
1923
100 years ago
A Fiat 803 won the 340 mile race at Brescia, Italy Read more…
1929
94 years ago
The “Blower” Bentley, a 4 Read more…
1932
91 years ago
The four Saxon motor-vehicle brands Audi, DKW, Horch and Wanderer joined forces to create Auto Union AG, which had its head office in Chemnitz, Germany Read more…
1939
84 years ago
The Ford 9N, the first American-made production-model tractor to incorporate Harry Ferguson’s three-point hitch system, a design still used on most modern tractors today, was first demonstrated in Dearborn, Michigan, US Read more…
1941
82 years ago
Legendary German driver Walter Bäumer died in a freak accident on the road between Herford and his hometown Bünde at an age of 32 Read more…
1947
76 years ago
Jean-Pierre Wimille in an Alfa Romeo 158 won the Belgian Grand Prix contested over 35 laps of the 8 Read more…
1952
71 years ago
Tom Cherry bagged the 100-mile NASCAR Speedway Division race at Langhorne Speedway, the final event staged for the new open-wheel class Read more…
1952
71 years ago
NASCAR traveled to the US auto manufacturing center in Detroit Michigan for a scheduled 250 mile event, dubbed the Motor Sports 250 Read more…
1956
67 years ago
President Dwight Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 Read more…
1957
66 years ago
Giuseppe Bacciagaluppi, managing director of the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, staged the first race at his newly remodeled track, a match race between the top 10 Indy Car drivers and the top 10 Formula One drivers in the world Read more…
1958
65 years ago
Rex White took command when Cotton Owens drops out with wheel bearing failure, notching win No Read more…
1965
58 years ago
Ferdinando Latteri drove a Ferrari 330 GTO to victory in the Coppa Sila Hillclimb in Italy Read more…
1967
56 years ago
Jayne Mansfield, the first major American actress to have a nude starring role in a Hollywood motion picture, died in a car crash at the age of 34 Read more…
1978
45 years ago
Rock star Peter Frampton broke his arm and cracked several ribs when he was involved in a car crash in the Bahamas Read more…
1980
43 years ago
A bus plunged into a canal near Mirpur, Pakistan, and at least 90 people drown as a result Read more…
1980
43 years ago
Alan Jones driving a Williams-Cosworth FW07B won the French Grand Prix held at Paul Ricard Circuit Read more…
1985
38 years ago
Jim Pattison purchased the custom-painted Rolls-Royce Phantom V limousine that had belonged to John Lennon for $2,229,000 Read more…
1997
26 years ago
The French Grand Prix (formally the LXXXIII French Grand Prix) contested over 72 laps of the Circuit de Nevers, Magny-Cours, was won by Michael Schumacher driving a Ferrari car after starting from pole position Read more…
1997
26 years ago
Griffith Borgeson (79), influential American race car historian, described by the Society of Automotive Engineers as one of the world’s preeminent automotive historians, died Read more…
1998
25 years ago
It was reported that Mike Corbin had begun manufacturing the single-seat Sparrow, 3-wheel vehicle in Hollister, California, US Read more…
1999
24 years ago
In China Volkswagen won approval to build its own car in a joint venture with Shanghai Automotive Ind Read more…
1999
24 years ago
The last 1999 model Corvette was built, a silver coupe Read more…
2003
20 years ago
Contested over 60 laps of the Nürburgring, the European Grand Prix was won Ralf Schumacher driving a Williams-BMW FW25 Read more…
2006
17 years ago
Japan’s government required all new cars to be able to run on a blend of 10% ethanol and 90% gasoline by 2010 Read more…
2007
16 years ago
Two unexploded car bombs were discovered in London Read more…
