On this day in…
1901
122 years ago
Wily Tischbein driving a De Detrich won the Mannheim-Pforzheim-Mannheim race in Germany Read more…
1904
119 years ago
The first and only speed trials staged at Douglas Promenade, Isle of Man were won by S Read more…
1906
117 years ago
E R Hollander, G P Tangeman and C H Tangeman registered the coined “Hol-Tan” name as a trademark for their New York City car dealership Read more…
1914
109 years ago
Vauxhall Motors Ltd (1914) was registered in Great Britain to succeed the company of the same name founded in 1907 Read more…
1914
109 years ago
A United States patent was issued for the Pierce-Arrow fender-mounted headlights Read more…
1925
98 years ago
Treaded pneumatic tires were patented in the US by Alden Putnam. Read more…
1934
89 years ago
The smaller Read more…
1935
88 years ago
The Alfa Romeo 16-cylinder Bimotore race cars debuted at the 9th Tripoli Grand Prix in Libya, with two cars driven by Tazio Nuvolari and Louis Chiron finishing 4th and 5th Read more…
1935
88 years ago
The Cape Cod Challenge Cup Race, the first race held at the Marston’s Mills track in Massachusetts, US was won by Sidney Shurcliff in a Ford Read more…
1936
87 years ago
The 3,000,000th Ford truck was produced Read more…
1943
80 years ago
J H McDuffee (64), a pioneer racer of Stanley steamers, receiver of the first shipment of Ford automobiles and the first licensed driver in New York City who later became an executive with Willys-Overland, died Read more…
1953
70 years ago
The third and last General Motors Parade of Progress featuring 44 Futurliners began its three year journey in Dayton, Ohio, US Read more…
1957
66 years ago
Spanish road racer Alfonso de Portago and his co-driver Edmund Nelson were killed in a crash during the course of the Mille Miglia about 40 miles from Brescia, the start-finish point of the road race Read more…
1957
66 years ago
1961
62 years ago
Melvin Eugene ‘Tony’ Bettenhausen (44), a dedicated and fearless driver, winner of the National US-Championship in 1951 and 1958, died Read more…
1962
61 years ago
Parnelli Jones, driving his Watson Roadster “Old Calhoun” became the first driver to qualify over 150 mph at the Indianapolis 500, winning the pole position at a speed of 150 Read more…
1962
61 years ago
Nelson Stacy executed a last-lap pass of Marvin Panch to win a 300-miler at Darlington (South Carolina, US) Raceway by two car-lengths Read more…
1968
55 years ago
The Spanish Grand Prix was held at Jarama Circuit Read more…
1969
54 years ago
Chevrolet announced that it would discontinue production of the Corvair Read more…
1969
54 years ago
Electric folk rock band Fairport Covention’s van crashed on the M1 motorway on the way home from a gig at Mothers, a club in Birmingham, killing the band’s Martin Lamble (19) outright Read more…
1970
53 years ago
Denny Hulme sustained second and third degree burns to his hands and feet during a cockpit fire in his McLaren during practice for the Indy 500 Read more…
1971
52 years ago
Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane crashed her Mercedes into a wall near the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and was hospitalised Read more…
1974
49 years ago
The Spanish Grand Prix was held at Jarama Circuit Read more…
1984
39 years ago
To celebrate the opening of the new, shorter Nürburgring, Mercedes organised a race between established (including nine world champions) and up-and-coming racers in street-legal 190Es Read more…
1984
39 years ago
Tom Sneva became the first to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 over 210 mph (338 Read more…
1986
37 years ago
Joe Strummer of The Clash was banned from driving after being convicted of drink driving Read more…
1988
35 years ago
The Ford Probe was introduced Read more…
1991
32 years ago
Ayrton Senna driving a McLaren-Honda MP4/6 won the Monaco Grand Prix at Monte Carlo Read more…
1993
30 years ago
Reigning Formula 1 champion, Nigel Mansell passed his Indianapolis rookie test Read more…
1996
27 years ago
The fastest qualification for the Indianapolis 500, taken as an average speed for four laps, of 381 Read more…
1999
24 years ago
Production of the BMW 8 Series (chassis code BMW E31), available as a V8 or V12-engined 2-door 2+2 coupe, ceased Read more…
2000
23 years ago
Adam Petty (19), the fourth-generation driver of NASCAR’s most famous family, died in a crash during practice for the Busch 200 at New Hampshire International Speedway, US Read more…
2000
23 years ago
Ford confirmed that car production at its Dagenham plant in Essex would end after more than 70 years, with the loss of around 3,000 jobs with car assembly at the plant ceasing within two years Read more…
2002
21 years ago
The Austrian Grand Prix was held at the A1-Ring Read more…
2004
19 years ago
Porsche released the first pictures of its new 911 models Read more…
2006
17 years ago
Former world boxing champion Naseem Hamed was jailed for 15 months and banned for 4 years for dangerous driving after a crash which left another driver severely injured Read more…
2006
17 years ago
General Motors announced that it would cease production of the original H1 Hummer Read more…
2007
16 years ago
The single digit ‘5’ car registration plate was sold to Al Awail Holding company (UAE) for Dh25.2 million (£3.46 million) during a special number-plate auction organised by Emirates Auction Company in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Read more…
2008
15 years ago
In India, Renault-Nissan and India’s Bajaj group said they planned to make a 2,500-dollar car by early 2011, their second effort to make a cheap car for the South Asian nation’s rapidly growing middle class Read more…
2012
11 years ago
MINI officially announced the limited-edition 2013 MINI John Cooper Works GP Read more…
2013
10 years ago
After starting fifth on the grid at the Spanish GP and then brilliantly sweeping around the outside of Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton at Turn 3, Fernando Alonso and Ferrari embraced a four-stop strategy in a race where tyre wear was off the charts to win fairly comfortably from Raikkonen, with Felipe Massa finishing third Read more…
2017
6 years ago
One of Renault’s manufacturing plants’ computer networks was attacked by a malware known as WannaCry resulting in it shutting down production for one day Read more…
2019
4 years ago
Lewis Hamilton took the lead from teammate and pole-sitter Valtteri Bottas at the start ,of the Spanish GP and that’s pretty much how things stayed as Mercedes recorded its fifth one-two finish in five races Read more…
