On this day in…
1897
126 years ago
The Pope Manufacturing Company unveiled its first automobiles in what is often cited as the world’s first automotive press preview Read more…
1899
124 years ago
The five-day old Olds Motor Works purchased a factory site in Detroit, US as part of a planned relocation from Lansing, Michigan, US Read more…
1900
123 years ago
Friz Held driving a Benz won the Mannheim-Pforzheim-Mannheim road race Read more…
1915
108 years ago
H F S Morgan was issued with a British patent for a four-wheeled version of the three-wheeled Morgan, but actual production was shelved due to World War I Read more…
1923
100 years ago
The racing debut of Tatra was successful as Josef Vermirovsky won the Ledec Alej flying kilometre in Brno, Czechoslovakia driving a T11 Read more…
1926
97 years ago
Renwick & Bertelli Ltd Read more…
1934
89 years ago
“Eric Lora” and 6 spectators died, many more were injured, when his Bugatti ran into the crowd at Fontainebleau in France Read more…
1938
85 years ago
The Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Company was liquidated Read more…
1949
74 years ago
Clarence Willard Avery (67), a driving force behind Ford Motor Company’s moving assembly line, died Read more…
1950
73 years ago
The very first round of the Formula One World Championship was held on the Silverstone circuit in Northamptonshire, England Read more…
1951
72 years ago
Chico Landi in a Ferrari 125C F1 won the Saõ Paulo Grand Prix held at Interlagos Read more…
1956
67 years ago
Race 2 of 8 in the 1956 World Championship of Drivers was held in Monaco Read more…
1958
65 years ago
During a goodwill trip through Latin America, American vice president Richard Nixon’s car was attacked by an angry crowd and nearly overturned while travelling through Caracas, Venezuela Read more…
1958
65 years ago
‘Breathalyser’, the brand name for the instrument developed by inventor Robert Frank Borkenstein 1912-2002), for estimating blood alcohol content (BAC) from a breath sample, was registered as a trademark Read more…
1960
63 years ago
American driver Harry Schell (38) died in practice for the non-championship International Trophy event at Silverstone in 1960, when he crashed his Cooper at Abbey Curve Read more…
1961
62 years ago
Eddie Sachs, of Center Valley, Pennsylvania, US, became the 3rd driver in Indy 500 history to win the pole for consecutive races by qualifying at 147 Read more…
1962
61 years ago
Edoardo Lualdi drove a Ferrari 250 GTO to victory in the Coppa Asiago in Stay Read more…
1966
57 years ago
Darel Dieringer led 178 of 250 laps to cruise to victory in the Independent 250, the only race for NASCAR’s premier series at Starlite Speedway in Monroe, North Carolina, US Read more…
1967
56 years ago
Over 100,000 people attended the burial of racing driver Lorenzo Bandini who had died from injuries sustained from an horrific crash at the Monaco Grand Prix Read more…
1971
52 years ago
Mark Donohue recorded the first sub-50 second lap (49 Read more…
1978
45 years ago
Joie Chitwood, Texas-born race car driver, set a world record when he drove a Chevette 5 Read more…
1979
44 years ago
At the Belgium Grand Prix in Zolder, Ferrari driver, Jody Schecter came from seventh on the grid to win in a time of 1:39:59 over polesitter, Jacques Laffite in the Ligier Read more…
1980
43 years ago
Douglas A Read more…
1986
37 years ago
The Jeep Wrangler was introduced as a 1987 model, replacing the Jeep CJ Read more…
1987
36 years ago
The Standard Oil Company of Ohio and BP North America Inc Read more…
1990
33 years ago
Italian driver Riccardo Patrese driving a Williams FW13B won the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola Read more…
1994
29 years ago
Duncan Hamilton (74), British amateur racing driver who famously won Le Mans 24 Hours, died Read more…
1995
28 years ago
Tony Stewart won the Indiana Sprint Classic at Indianapolis Raceway Park in Indianapolis, Indiana, US Read more…
2000
23 years ago
The former Happy Mondays singer Shaun Ryder’s Volkswagen Corrado was found abandoned after being stolen and used as the getaway car in an armed robbery on a Harry Ramsden’s fish and chip restaurant in Manchester Read more…
2000
23 years ago
A bus carrying Muslim pilgrims plunged into a river in Bosnia killing 43 Read more…
2001
22 years ago
Juan Pablo Montoya led the early part of the Spanish GP and was enjoying a nice little dice with Michael Schumacher Read more…
2007
16 years ago
Fernando Alonso made a bit of an error at the first corner at the Spanish GP when he tried to pass pole-sitter Felipe Massa around the outside, only to bang wheels with the Ferrari and end up running across the gravel and dropping to fourth Read more…
2012
11 years ago
Pastor Maldonado was promoted to pole position at the Spanish GP after Lewis Hamilton was thrown out of qualifying for not having enough fuel Read more…
2018
5 years ago
Lewis Hamilton thrashed Valtteri Bottas in a slightly underwhelming Spanish GP as Max Verstappen pinched third from Sebastian Vettel Read more…
