On this day in…
1898
125 years ago
(11th-12th): The 357 mile (574 km) road race between Paris and Bordeaux was won by René de Knyff in a Panhard Read more…
1900
123 years ago
The first competitive English sprint race held at Welbeck Park as part of the Thousands Miles Trial was won by Hon Charles S Rolls, driving a Panhard Read more…
1904
119 years ago
The first Isle of Man speed trial was held on a half-mile hill as part of the eliminating trials for that year’s Gordon Bennett Cup Race Read more…
1908
115 years ago
Henry Ford informed William C Durant of his terms to add the Ford Motor Company to Durant’s General Motors, but lack of cash caused that deal and a similar one with Ransom E Olds of Reo to fall through Read more…
1908
115 years ago
The Ohio (US) Secretary of State required all automobiles to be registered and display state-issued license plates Read more…
1915
108 years ago
The trademark Volvo (which is Latin for I roll) was first registered by the ball bearing maker SKF, with the intention to use it for a special series of ball bearing for the American market (however in the application for the trademark, it was also designated for the purpose of automobiles), but it was never used for this purpose Read more…
1916
107 years ago
Charles Kettering and Edward Deeds agreed to sell their Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company (Delco) to the United Motors Corporation, a holding company founded by William C Read more…
1920
103 years ago
The 4,000,000th Ford Model T was produced Read more…
1927
96 years ago
Packard officially entered the custom-bodied market with a New York City exhibit of nine cars by six coachbuilders Read more…
1929
94 years ago
The Junior Car Club Double Twelve race at Brooklands (8 a Read more…
1945
78 years ago
The United States government authorised the production of 40,000 passenger cars for ‘priority users’ Read more…
1947
76 years ago
1947
76 years ago
Ferrari made its independent racing debut at a race in Piacenza, Italy Read more…
1952
71 years ago
Giuseppe Farina won the Naples Grand Prix on a works Ferrari 500F2 from teammate Piero Taruffi and the private Ferrari 166F2/50 of Gianfranco Comotti, who was no less than 5 laps down Read more…
1954
69 years ago
The Hindustan Landmaster, a badge-engineered variant of the Morris Oxford Series II, was introduced by Hindustan Motors Ltd, of Calcutta, India Read more…
1961
62 years ago
The Autostacker, an automated multi-storey car park situated above a car showroom, workshop and petrol station in Woolwich, south-east London, was officially opened by Princess Margaret Read more…
1964
59 years ago
Jacques Swaters purchased from the Ferrari factory the last 250 GTO built Read more…
1975
48 years ago
The Monaco Grand Prix was won by Austrian driver Niki Lauda giving the new Ferrari 312T its first win Read more…
1978
45 years ago
The 2,000,000th Chevrolet Camaro was produced, a gold coupe driven off the Van Nuys, California , US assembly line by General Manager Robert D Lund Read more…
1985
38 years ago
Duane ‘Pancho’ Carter grabbed the pole position for the Indianapolis 500 Read more…
1986
37 years ago
Alain Prost won the Monaco Grand Prix held on the streets of Monte Carlo, driving a McLaren-TAG Porsche MP4/2C Read more…
1988
35 years ago
Christie’s sold an Alfa Romeo 8C-35 for $2,850,000 at an auction in Monte Carlo, a record for a Grand Prix car Read more…
1993
30 years ago
The US Senate approved the so-called “motor voter” bill, designed to make voter registration easier Read more…
1997
26 years ago
The Monaco Grand Prix contested over 62 laps, was won by Michael Schumacher for the Scuderia Ferrari team after starting from second position Read more…
2006
17 years ago
George Michael was involved in his second minor car crash in a month after a tabloid photographer found Michael asleep in his parked car in central London Read more…
2007
16 years ago
Englishman Marek Turowski drove a motorised sofa, designed and built by the Auto Trader TV show presenter Edd China, reaching 92 mph on the 2-mile-long Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome runway in Leicestershire, England. Read more…
2008
15 years ago
Felipe Massa confirmed that he really was the king of Istanbul Park, Turkey with his third consecutive pole and victory, with Lewis Hamilton finishing second and Kimi Raikkonen third Read more…
2014
9 years ago
Lewis Hamilton just about fended off Nico Rosberg to narrowly win the Spanish GP – Rosberg had been all over the back of Hamilton in the closing stages but unable to pass, losing out by just six-tenths of a second Read more…
2017
6 years ago
The one-millionth Porsche 911 model rolled off the production line – a Carrera S in the special colour “Irish Green”, with numerous exclusive features following the original 911 from 1963 Read more…