On this day in…
1896
127 years ago
Henry Ford drove his first vehicle, the Quadricycle, from the workshop behind his home at 58 Bagley Avenue in Detroit, Michigan Read more…
1900
123 years ago
The Bordeaux – Périgueux – Bordeaux Race (318 km) was won by Alfred Velghe (“Levegh”) on a 4-cylinder, 7 Read more…
1906
117 years ago
The Kissel Motor Car Company was organised in Hartford, Wisconsin, US with H K Butterfield as President, Otto P Kissel as Vice President, and George A Kissel as Secretary-Treasurer Read more…
1919
104 years ago
The first Citroën, the Model A, was delivered to a Monsieur Testemolle for the sum of 7,950 francs Read more…
1924
99 years ago
The 10,000,000th Ford Model T rolled off the assembly line Read more…
1932
91 years ago
The 1,000-mile race at Brooklands (England) was won by Briton Elsie Wisdom and Australian Joan Richmond in a Riley, at an average speed of 84.41 mph, the first time women had won a serious motor race. Read more…
1932
91 years ago
French racing pioneer, André Boillot (41) in a 301 sports Peugeot crashed into a tree during hillclimb Ars-La Châtre (France) practice and died five days later Read more…
1933
90 years ago
Only eight competitors took part in the Nîmes Grand Prix held on an avenue in the city center of Nîmes Read more…
1933
90 years ago
The first recorded organised midget car race was held at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento, California Read more…
1940
83 years ago
The 7,000,000th Ford V-8 was produced Read more…
1940
83 years ago
The B Read more…
1946
77 years ago
Michelin & Cie filed a French patent for its new radial tires Read more…
1947
76 years ago
Oldsmobile unveiled its high compression, overhead V-8 engine at the summer meeting of the Society of Automotive Engineers Read more…
1950
73 years ago
The first World Championship pit stop fire occurred in the 1950 Swiss Grand Prix Read more…
1957
66 years ago
United States automakers agreed to delete speed and performance references from its advertising and stress safety features Read more…
1957
66 years ago
The Automobile Manufacturer’s Association passed a resolution recommending member companies (including General Motors) not to participate in motor racing Read more…
1959
64 years ago
The American Honda Motor Company was established in Los Angeles, California, initially to develop a market for Honda motorcycles Read more…
1961
62 years ago
Hall of Famer Ned Jarrett rolled to victory at Fairgrounds Raceway in Birmingham, Alabama, US outrunning Jim Paschal to score his eighth victory in NASCAR’s top series Read more…
1967
56 years ago
The ground-breaking Lotus 49 won on its debut at the Dutch Grand Prix with Jim Clark at the wheel Read more…
1972
51 years ago
The Belgian Grand Prix at Nivelles was won by Emerson Fittipaldi driving a Lotus-Cosworth 72D Read more…
1978
45 years ago
Mario Andretti won the Spanish Grand Prix at Jarama in a Lotus-Cosworth 79 from pole position Read more…
1989
34 years ago
The two-hour time limit of the United States Grand Prix held at Phoenix was reached after 75 of the scheduled 81 laps, as Alain Prost in a McLaren-Honda MP4/5 coasted to his only United States win and increased his then all-time record victory total to 36 and his first win in a naturally aspirated car Read more…
1990
33 years ago
Petrofina (UK) changed its name to Fina PLC Read more…
1995
28 years ago
Kyle Petty came from his 37th starting position to win the Miller Genuine Draft 500 at Dover Downs, Delaware (US) for his first NASCAR Winston Cup win in 60 races Read more…
1996
27 years ago
Colin McCrae and Derek Ringer won the Acropolis Rally in a Subaru Impreza Read more…
2000
23 years ago
Contested over 78 laps, the Monaco Grand Prix was won by McLaren driver David Coulthard after starting from third position Read more…
2003
20 years ago
30 people died in the Kasganj bus disaster, when a bus attempted to cross a closed level crossing in India and was sliced in half by a train Read more…
2005
18 years ago
The death rate on China’s roads was reported by the World Health Organisation to be 680 per day (plus 45,000 injuries) Read more…
2006
17 years ago
Despite retiring after the 2005 season, Ricky Rudd filled in for the injured Tony Stewart in the Neighborhood Excellence 400 at Dover International Raceway, Delaware, US Read more…
2008
15 years ago
Angry autoworkers blockaded the entrance to General Motors of Canada headquarters in Oshawa, Ontario, one day after GM said it would shut its Oshawa truck plant as well as 2 plants in the US and one in Mexico Read more…
2009
14 years ago
The first electric Time Trial Xtreme Grand Prix (TTXGP) all electric street motorcycle race took place on the Isle of Man in which 13 machines took part Read more…
2011
12 years ago
Italy-based Fiat offered $125 million to buy the Canadian government’s stake in Chrysler Group LLC as it moved swiftly to strengthen its control of the US automaker Read more…
