On this day in…
1879
144 years ago
Thomas Hancock (78) , the father of the British rubber industry whose efforts paralleled those of Charles Goodyear in the United States, died in Stoke Newington, England Read more…
1900
123 years ago
The 202 km Nice to Marseille road race was won by René de Knyff in a time of 3 hours 25 mins 30 seconds driving a Panhard 16 hp Read more…
1903
120 years ago
Speed trials were first held at Daytona Beach, Florida Read more…
1923
100 years ago
Construction began on the Milan-Varese Autostrada, Italy – the world’s first inter-urban limited access highway Read more…
1923
100 years ago
The Master Tire & Rubber Corporation was organised in Delaware Read more…
1927
96 years ago
The inaugural Mille Miglia, the most famous long distance race of its time, run over 1,618 km (1,005 miles) from Brescia to Rome and back, began Read more…
1930
93 years ago
Russell Huff (52), Chief Engineer of the Packard Motor Car Company died in Saint Petersburg, Florida, US Read more…
1930
93 years ago
Congress appropriated $50,000 for the Inter-American Highway to link the US to Mexico City and the capitol cities of the Central-America republics and Panama by paved highway Read more…
1932
91 years ago
Henry Martyn Leland (89), the founder of the two premier US marques, Cadillac and Lincoln, died in Detroit, Michigan Read more…
1933
90 years ago
The Tunis Grand Prix was held at the Carthage Street Circuit in Tunis, the capital of colonial Tunisia Read more…
1940
83 years ago
Construction and development of the Mercedes Benz W165 racing car ended due to World War II, with the completed cars hidden in Dresden until the end of the war Read more…
1951
72 years ago
The Richmond Trophy at Goodwood was won by ‘Bira’ in a Maserati 4CLT/48 Read more…
1955
68 years ago
Fonty Flock wheeled Frank Christian’s Chevrolet to victory in the 100-mile NASCAR Grand National race at Columbia, South Carolina, US Read more…
1955
68 years ago
Just before filming began on Rebel Without a Cause, actor James Dean driving a Porsche 356 Speedster, won the first formal motor race he entered, a qualifying race during the California Sports Car Club event at Palms Springs, California, USA Read more…
1960
63 years ago
Porsches finished 1-2 in the Sebring 12 Hour World Sports Car Championship race, with the duo of Olivier Gendebien and Hans Herrman coming home first Read more…
1961
62 years ago
Jack Brabham driving a Cooper-Climax T53 won the Lombank Trophy held at Snetterton Read more…
1961
62 years ago
Bob Burdick raced to the only victory in his brief career in NASCAR’s top series, prevailing in the Atlanta 500 at Atlanta International Raceway, Georgia, US Read more…
1966
57 years ago
The 12 hours of Sebring was won by Ken Miles and Lloyd Ruby in a Ford GT X1 Read more…
1972
51 years ago
The UK’s last trolleybus system, in Bradford, closed Read more…
1975
48 years ago
The Golf GTi, was presented at the Frankfurt Motor Show as ‘The Volkswagen fastest of all time’ Read more…
1976
47 years ago
Duster Bennett (29), singer, guitarist, harmonica player who worked with Alexis Korner, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, Fleetwood Mac and B Read more…
1984
39 years ago
The Ford Escort was named the best-selling car in the world for the third year in a row Read more…
1985
38 years ago
The first United States-built Nissan was produced at the new Nissan Motor Manufacturing Company factory in Smyrna, Tennessee, US, the largest automobile in the country Read more…
1985
38 years ago
Privatisation of Volkswagen AG was approved by the West German government Read more…
1989
34 years ago
Nigel Mansell in a Ferrari won the Brazilian Grand Prix at Rio de Janeiro from his sixth spot on the grid Read more…
1989
34 years ago
Boris Yeltsin was elected to the Soviet Parliament, defeating Communist Party candidate Yevgeny Brakov, manager of the Zavod Imieni Likhacheva, manufacuterers of the ZIL car Read more…
1989
34 years ago
The Brazilian Grand Prix held at Jacarepagua, was won by Nigel Mansell in a Ferrari 640 Read more…
1995
28 years ago
Michael Schumacher won the Grand Prix at the Interlagos circuit in Brazil Read more…
1996
27 years ago
Ford announced a joint venture with Sistemaire, an automotive components maker in Argentina Read more…
2000
23 years ago
Brazil hosted the second round of the F1 championship; five of the top six finishers were disqualified after the race because of problems with the wooden running board under their cars Read more…
2000
23 years ago
Max Papis won the Marlboro Miami Grand Prix, his first CART Champ Car victory Read more…
2004
19 years ago
Jan Berry of Jan and Dean, died at the age of 62, after being in poor health sustained in a 1966 car crash Read more…
2005
18 years ago
Eighty years on, the car that gave MG its maiden victory returned to the place of its inaugural success Read more…
2006
17 years ago
In Florida Paul Dana, a 30-year-old rookie in the Indy Racing League, died at Jackson Memorial Hospital from multiple trauma suffered in the crash during the final morning practice for the season-opening Toyota Indy 300 Read more…
2007
16 years ago
Rookie Oliver Jarvis broke A1 Team Great Britain’s duck giving the team its maiden victory in the Mexico City Feature race Read more…
2008
15 years ago
The Ford Motor Company announced the sale of its Jaguar and Land Rover divisions to the Tata Group, one of India’s oldest and largest business conglomerates, for some $2.3 billion–less than half of what Ford originally paid for the brands Read more…
2009
14 years ago
In Los Angeles US car manufacturer, Tesla Motors unveiled its state-of-the-art five-seat saloon, billed as the world’s first mass-produced, highway-capable electric car. Read more…
2010
13 years ago
Two days before the Australian Grand Prix, Victoria Police witnessed Lewis Hamilton “deliberately losing traction” in his silver Mercedes-AMG C63, and impounded the car for 48 hours Read more…
2014
9 years ago
China’s eastern city of Hangzhou began restricting car sales, joining major cities, including Shanghai and Beijing, in the fight against snarling traffic and heavy smog in the world’s largest automobile market Read more…
