On this day in…
1897
125 years ago
The Winton Motor Carriage Company was organised in Cleveland, Ohio, US with Alexander Winton as President, Thomas W Henderson as Vice President, Geirge H Brown as Secretary-Treasurer, and Leo Melanowski as Chief Engineer Read more…
1902
120 years ago
Several automotive trade publications ran extensive reports at the opening of the 2nd Chicago Auto Show Read more…
1906
116 years ago
Roy D Chapin resigned from the Olds Motor Works Read more…
1907
115 years ago
Officials Nathan M Read more…
1907
115 years ago
Hatsudoki Seizo Co Ltd was founded Read more…
1911
111 years ago
A Saurer 4 Read more…
1925
97 years ago
The 1921 & 1923 Indy 500 winner Tommy Milton won the 250 mile AAA championship race on the 1 Read more…
1928
94 years ago
The Packard Standard Model 443 was introduced Read more…
1931
91 years ago
The Bridgestone Tyre Co., Ltd., the multinational car and truck parts manufacturer, was established by Shojiro Ishibashi in the city of Kurume, Fukuoka, Japan Read more…
1932
90 years ago
BMW cancelled its licensing agreement with Austin, opening the way for Max Friz to develop the first BMW of in-house design Read more…
1932
90 years ago
The RAC Rally & Coachwork Competition ended in Torquay, Devon Read more…
1936
86 years ago
The Pau Grand Prix held at Pau, France was won by French driver Philippe Étancelin in his Maserati V8 Read more…
1937
85 years ago
The first US license plates for the purpose of identifying registered vehicles were issued by the state of Connecticut Read more…
1958
64 years ago
From this day provisional British driving licences became valid for 6 months Read more…
1959
63 years ago
Curtis Turner drove a Holman and Moody Ford Thunderbird to victory in the 110-lap race on the Read more…
1965
57 years ago
Racer Rocky Trosize (25) was killed after a crashing during the Australian Grand Prix in Hobart, Tasmania – photographer Robin Dabrera was also killed in the accident Read more…
1965
57 years ago
Ferrari contracted Fiat to produce its V-6 Dino engine Read more…
1966
56 years ago
Ford signed a £100,000 contract with Cosworth for the development of a new Formula 1 engine. Read more…
1969
53 years ago
Jackie Stewart won the Formula One South African Grand Prix held at Kyalami, the first round of the 1969 F1 season, in his Matra-Cosworth MS10 Read more…
1969
53 years ago
Pontiac General Manager John DeLorean transferred to the same position at Chevrolet, with F James McDonald becoming the new General Manager of Pontiac Read more…
1970
52 years ago
James Hylton held off a furious rally by Richard Petty to win the Richmond 500 at Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway in Richmond, Virginia, US Read more…
1971
51 years ago
Automatic transmission was standardised on all full-size Pontiacs Read more…
1973
49 years ago
The Honda Civic was introduced to the US market as an alternative to the inefficient cars offered by American car companies Read more…
1973
49 years ago
Computerised driving licences were issued, with green paper licences replacing the old-style red booklets Read more…
1975
47 years ago
The South African Grand Prix at Kyalami was won by Jody Scheckter in a Tyrrell-Cosworth 007 – the first South African driver to win the race Read more…
1979
43 years ago
The estate version of Renault 18 launched Read more…
1980
42 years ago
The Osella made its Formula One debut in the South African Grand Prix in Kyalami Read more…
1981
41 years ago
Darrell Waltrip drives the Junior Johnson Buick to win Rockingham’s Carolina 500, North Carolina, US Read more…
1983
39 years ago
The launch of the seven car Austin Maestro range was greeted with huge enthusiasm; maybe more so by the dealers than the public, who after enduring some horrible years selling some horrible mid-range cars, had something new and competent to sell Read more…
1984
38 years ago
British racing driver, Peter Walker (71), died Read more…
1985
37 years ago
The 40,000,000th Toyota vehicle, a Tercel, was produced on the same day that the 10,000,000th Toyota Corolla was produced Read more…
1986
36 years ago
Dale Earnhardt became the first driver to win the first two races of a Nationwide season with his victory at Rockingham, North Carolina, US Read more…
1986
36 years ago
The first Shelby GLH-S, a Dodge-based performance car designed by Carroll Shelby was produced at the Shelby Automobiles Inc Read more…
1987
35 years ago
Glenn Seton drove a Nissan Skyline to victory in the Australian Touring Car race at Calder Park in Victoria, Australia Read more…
1987
35 years ago
German racing driver Wolfgang Seidel (60) died of a heart attack Read more…
1988
34 years ago
The UK Government announced that British Aerospace (BAe) was negotiating to buy the Rover Group Read more…
1988
34 years ago
Pontiac announced the end of the Fiero automobile Read more…
1992
30 years ago
The first round of the season at Kyalami was won by Nigel Mansell in his Williams Renault in front of a crowd of 80,000 Read more…
1993
29 years ago
The Citroen Xantia arrived in UK showrooms Read more…
1996
26 years ago
Plans were approved allowing traffic cameras to be fitted in High Harrington & Shap in England Read more…
1997
25 years ago
Photographic ID became compulsory for both practical and theory driving tests in the UK Read more…
1998
24 years ago
Mark Martin drove his Ford Taurus to victory in the inaugural NASCAR Winston Cup event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Nevada (US) Read more…
1999
23 years ago
Ford entered into a definitive agreement with AB Volvo for the purchase of Volvo’s worldwide passenger car business for a price of $6 Read more…
2001
21 years ago
Cars registered before this day had Road Tax charged according to engine capacity Read more…
2002
20 years ago
Grand American series driver Jeff Clinton (38) was killed during practice in a crash at Homestead-Miami Speedway Read more…
2003
19 years ago
The new Toyota Avensis went on sale in saloon, hatchback and tourer body styles Read more…
2005
17 years ago
Arsenal midfielder Jermaine Pennant was jailed for three months after admitting drink driving while banned Read more…
2005
17 years ago
The Jaguar Advanced Lightweight Coupe was unveiled at the 75th Salon de L’Automobile in Geneva Read more…
2006
16 years ago
The all-new Mitsubishi L200 went on sale Read more…
2007
15 years ago
German drivers were required to purchase an emission sticker when passing through the “environment zones” in several cities and municipalities Read more…
2009
13 years ago
Ron Dennis retired as team principal of McLaren Mercedes F1 team and handed over the reins to Martin Whitmarsh Read more…
2010
12 years ago
Toyota President Akio Toyoda apologised in Beijing to Chinese customers for the company’s quality problems and emphasised the importance of the fast-growing market to his company Read more…
2010
12 years ago
General Motors Co Read more…
2011
11 years ago
Swedish carmaker SAAB, now owned by Spyker Cars, showed off its new 2-door 2+2 PhoeniX prototype at the Geneva Motor Show Read more…
2014
8 years ago
Vehicles manufactured before 1 January 1974 became exempt from the Vehicle Excise Duty in the UK (Finance Bill 2014, as set out in the 2013 Budget) Read more…
2016
6 years ago
The Bugatti Chiron, a mid-engined, two-seated sports car, developed and manufactured in Molsheim, France, by Bugatti Automobiles S Read more…
2017
5 years ago
Austrians became eligible to receiving up to 4,000 euros ($4,300) in rebates to help offset the higher price of an electric vehicle Read more…
2018
4 years ago
The Jaguar I-Pace, an electric SUV, was officially revealed Read more…
