On this day in…
1862
162 years ago
Isaac Babbitt (62), the inventor in 1839 of the anti-friction metal that bears his name and is essential in modern breaking bearing technology, died Read more…
1868
156 years ago
The Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company was organised Read more…
1903
121 years ago
Marcel Renault, age 31, died without regaining consciousness, 48 hours after crashing on the opening day of the Paris to Madrid race Read more…
1906
118 years ago
Vauxhall Bridge, a steel arched bridge for road and foot traffic, crossing the River Thames in a north-west south-east orientation, between Lambeth Bridge and Grosvenor Bridge, in central London was opened by the Prince of Wales Read more…
1907
117 years ago
The world’s first 24-hour race, the Endurance Derby staged at the Point Breeze dirt track in Philadelphia, L US concluded with winners J L Brown an Robert Maynes-who covered 791 miles in their Autocar at an average speed of just under 33 mph Read more…
1912
112 years ago
Cyril Snipe of England with co-driver Pedrini in a SCAT became the first non-Italian winners of the Targa Florio Read more…
1923
101 years ago
The first 24 Hours of Le Mans, organised by the Automobile Club de L’Ouest, began Read more…
1927
97 years ago
Henry Ford and his son Edsel drove the 15 millionth Model T Ford out of their factory, marking the famous automobile’s official last day of production Read more…
1929
95 years ago
Three spectators died and many more were injured at the Lückendorf hillclimb, Germany when Ernst Mahla’s Bugatti left the road Read more…
1934
90 years ago
The Ford Rotunda designed by Albert Kahn opened at the Chicago Century of Progress exposition Read more…
1936
88 years ago
The 3,000,000th Ford V-8 was produced Read more…
1937
87 years ago
The Battle of the Overpass took place in which labor organizers clashed with Ford Motor Company security guards at the River Rouge Plant complex in Dearborn, Metro-Detroit, Michigan Read more…
1938
86 years ago
Adolf Hitler laid the cornerstone for the Volkswagen factory in Fallersleben, Germany Read more…
1943
81 years ago
Edsel Ford, president (49) of the Ford Motor Company, died Read more…
1950
74 years ago
British drivers cheered the end of fuel rationing Read more…
1958
66 years ago
Stirling Moss led every lap in driving his Vanwall to victory in the 75 lap Dutch Grand Prix on the 2 Read more…
1960
64 years ago
Jaguar Cars Ltd acquired the Daimler Motor Company Ltd of Coventry, England Read more…
1962
62 years ago
Karl Friedrich Rapp (80), the founder and owner of the Rapp Motorenwerke GmbH in Munich, died Read more…
1963
61 years ago
Graham Hill came through to win the first of his five Monaco GPs when long-time leader Jim Clark was hit with gearbox problems Read more…
1968
56 years ago
Lotus driver Graham Hill, who started from pole position, won the Monaco Grand Prix Read more…
1969
55 years ago
Paul Hawkins (31) was killed when his Lola T70 crashed during the Tourist Trophy race at Oulton Park, England Read more…
1971
53 years ago
The Mercedes-Benz ESF-03, the first of five special cars to accent safety features, was unveiled to the public Read more…
1974
50 years ago
In the midst of an energy crisis, and as an infield of hippies stormed the track, Johnny Rutherford came from the 25th starting position, deepest in the field since 1933, to record his first victory in the Indianapolis 500 Read more…
1974
50 years ago
In the Monaco Grand Prix, Lotus driver, Ronnie Peterson set the fastest lap of the race, coming from his third place starting position to win in a time of 1:58:03 Read more…
1974
50 years ago
At the Santa Pod Raceway Whitsun Holiday Weekend Big Go, Allan Herridge in ‘Stardust’ ran the first funny car six with a 6 Read more…
1983
41 years ago
Ford Tempo and Mercury Topaz models were introduced Read more…
1985
39 years ago
A J Foyt made it to his 30th Indianapolis 500 as he got his sluggish Indy-car to start Read more…
1995
29 years ago
Dave Darland won the Hulman Hundred at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA Read more…
1996
28 years ago
Buddy Lazier won the Indianapolis 500 at an average speed of 147 Read more…
1996
28 years ago
Dale Jarrett started deep in the field but ran away for an easy triumph in Charlotte’s Coca-Cola 600, North Carolina (US) Read more…
1996
28 years ago
Jimmy Vasser won the inaugural CART US 500 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan, US Read more…
1997
27 years ago
The 13 mile long M2 Hills Motorway (also known as the Hills M2 Motorway, M2 Motorway or simply M2), a motorway in north-western Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, which utilises electronic tolling, opened to traffic Read more…
2001
23 years ago
Vittorio Brambilla (63), a Formula One driver from Italy who raced for the March, Surtees and Alfa Romeo teams, died Read more…
2001
23 years ago
Rockingham Motor Speedway in Northamptonshire, England the first purpose built race track in the UK since Brooklands, was opened by the Queen Read more…
2002
22 years ago
14 died in the I-40 Bridge disaster on Interstate 40, near Webbers Falls, Oklahoma, US when a barge collided with a bridge support, causing a 580-foot section of the bridge to plunge into the Arkansas River Read more…
2002
22 years ago
David Coulthard sat on pole and held off Michael Schumacher to win the Monaco Grand Prix in a time of 1:45:39, only 1 Read more…
2002
22 years ago
Mark Martin sliced his way through lapped traffic and held off teammate Matt Kenseth in a stirring finish to win the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, North Carolina, US Read more…
2002
22 years ago
Helio Castroneves won the 86th Indianapolis 500, becoming the first driver to win back-to-back Indy 500’s since Al Unser in 1970 and 1971 Read more…
2004
20 years ago
Marcos Engineering Ltd (“Marcos”) announced the new 5 Read more…
2004
20 years ago
The £75,000 mid-engined Noble M14 was unveiled at the Birmingham Motor Show in the West Midlands Read more…
2006
18 years ago
A crashed fuel tanker leaked patrol onto a roadway in Tega, Benin, which exploded as local people tried to collect it, killing between 54 and 75 Read more…
2007
17 years ago
American actress, model and pop singer Lindsay Lohan lost control of her car and ran the vehicle up a curb Read more…
2013
11 years ago
Israel’s trailblazing electric car company Better Place announced that it was shutting down, less than six years after unveiling an ambitious plan that promised to revolutionize the auto industry by reducing the world’s dependency on oil Read more…
2013
11 years ago
30 years after his father won for Williams, Nico Rosberg took his first Monaco Grand Prix win ahead of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber Read more…
2014
10 years ago
China’s government announced plans to take 6 million older, polluting vehicles off the road in 2014 in an effort to revive stalled progress toward cleaning up smog-choked cities Read more…
2016
8 years ago
China’s government announced plans to take 6 million older, polluting vehicles off the road by the end of 2016 in an effort to revive stalled progress toward cleaning up smog-choked cities Read more…
2019
5 years ago
Lewis Hamilton spent almost the entire Monaco Grand Prix fending off Max Verstappen after a decision to switch to the medium tyres instead of the hards proved to be the wrong call Read more…
