On this day in…
1911
113 years ago
The North Dakota State Legislature required the Secretary of State to register all vehicles with sytate-issued license plates Read more…
1914
110 years ago
A United States patent was issued for the Boyce MotoMeter Read more…
1914
110 years ago
The Fifth Avenue Coach Company of New York introduced the first bus with cross-wise seats Read more…
1915
109 years ago
Barney Oldfield won the Venice Grand Prix held in Venice, California driving a Maxwell Read more…
1929
95 years ago
General Motors purchased an 80% stake in Opel, the German car manufacturer, for $33 Read more…
1930
94 years ago
John North Willys of the Willys-Overland Corporation became the first U Read more…
1942
82 years ago
Buick broke ground for a new factory in Melrose Park, Illinois, US to build Pratt & Whitney aircraft engines Read more…
1949
75 years ago
The first car to carry the Porsche family name was introduced at the 19th International Automobile Show in Geneva, Switzerland Read more…
1949
75 years ago
Exhibited as a world premiere at the 1949 Geneva Motor Show, the German Borgward Hansa reappeared in 1950 in the form of a 4-door saloon Read more…
1957
67 years ago
The Cadillac Eldorado Brougham, a four-door hardtop sedan designed by Ed Glowacke and based on the Orleans and Park Avenue show cars, was introduced Read more…
1957
67 years ago
The Dutch ban on Sunday driving was lifted. Read more…
1960
64 years ago
The Mercury Comet, the first of the marque to have a 6-cylinder engine, was introduced as a new series Read more…
1962
62 years ago
The Rand Autumn Trophy held in Kyalami was won by John Love in a LDS-Porsche 4 Read more…
1963
61 years ago
Fred Lorenzen drove a Holman-Moody Ford to a 1 lap win in the NASCAR Grand National Atlanta ‘500’ on the 1 Read more…
1967
57 years ago
Star grading of petrol was introduced in the UK based on a British Standard set of octane ratings Read more…
1968
56 years ago
David Pearson finished strong at Bristol (Tennessee, US) International Speedway, leading the final 31 laps of the Southeastern 500 Read more…
1968
56 years ago
Gordon Johncock took advantage of a late mistake by Bobby Unser to win the USAC Championship season opener, the ‘California 200’ at Hanford Motor Speedway Read more…
1968
56 years ago
The McLaren M7A’s raced by Bruce McLaren and Denny Hulme finished 1st and 3rd at the non-championship “Race of Champions” at Brand Hatch, England Read more…
1972
52 years ago
The Ford Courier mini-pickup truck, manufactured in Japan by the Toyo Kogyo Company, Ltd Read more…
1974
50 years ago
Wally Booth drove his AMC Hornet to victory over Jack Roush’s Mustang in the Gatornationals Pro Stock finals Read more…
1974
50 years ago
Jacky Ickx driving a Lotus-Cosworth 72E claimed victory in the Race of Champions at Brands Hatch Read more…
1974
50 years ago
Mike Mosley drove a Drake-Offenhauser powered Eagle to victory in the USAC Championship race at Phoenix, Arizona, USA Read more…
1977
47 years ago
The Lamborghini Cheetah – Lamborghini’s first attempt at an off-road vehicle that wasn’t a tractor was presented at the ’77 Geneva Motor Show Read more…
1978
46 years ago
Theodore P Hall (79), developer of the Hall flying automobile, died in San Diego, California, US Read more…
1985
39 years ago
Ford Microelectronics, Inc Read more…
1985
39 years ago
Bill Elliot won the NASCAR Winston Cup race at Atlanta, Georgia in a Ford Thunderbird Read more…
1991
33 years ago
New Jersey in the US raised turnpike tolls by 70% Read more…
1995
29 years ago
The US Postal Service issued a non-denominated 15-cent coil stamp in New Your City to cover the presorted first class post card rate Read more…
1996
28 years ago
Andre Ribeiro won the Rio 400 in Rio de Janeiro, the first CART race run in Brazil Read more…
1999
25 years ago
DaimlerChrysler unveiled the first driveable zero-emission, fuel cell car in the US, that demonstrated a 40% increase in fuel cell power and up to three times the range of a battery-powered vehicle Read more…
1999
25 years ago
Thirteen Salt Lake City Ford dealers launched the Utah Auto Collection – a new concept in automotive retailing Read more…
2000
24 years ago
Bernie Ecclestone launched a savage attack on Tony Blair after a £1 million donation to the Labour party was returned after it became public knowledge, amid accusations it had been given in a bid to get Formula One an exemption from the ban on tobacco advertising Read more…
2000
24 years ago
Ford Motor Company announced that it has reached a memorandum of understanding to buy Land Rover from the BMW Group Read more…
2002
22 years ago
Sterling Marlin drove his Dodge to victory in the Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 at Darlington Raceway, South Carolina, US Read more…
2002
22 years ago
The Malaysian Grand Prix was held at Sepang Read more…
2005
19 years ago
Around 300 cars crashed on highways leading to Helsinki in Finland, killing 3 and injuring 60 Read more…
2005
19 years ago
The BMW plant in Regensburg celebrated a special milestone: exactly 18 years and four months after it went on stream, the 3 millionth vehicle, a BMW 120i, came off the assembly line Read more…
2006
18 years ago
NASCAR NEXTEL Cup driver Bobby Hamilton announced he had been diagnosed with cancer, causing him to bow out of the 2006 season Read more…
2009
15 years ago
Beaconsfield services on the M40 near Beaconsfield in Buckinghamshire, England, opened Read more…
2014
10 years ago
A partial driving restriction was imposed in Paris (France) and its inner suburbs based on license plate numbers Read more…
2014
10 years ago
Toyota shut down production at its two auto-assembly plants in India, locking out 6,400 workers amid testy wage negotiations and allegations of threats against management Read more…
