On this day in…
1839
184 years ago
Steam-powered vehicle pioneer William Murdoch (85) died at Sycamore Hill near Soho, England Read more…
1875
148 years ago
Amedee Bollee Snr successfully tested his Bolle-Dalifol vehicle in a run from La Villette to Belleville, France Read more…
1909
114 years ago
The final prototype Detroit-Dearborn designed by Paul Arthur was test driven – the Detroit-Dearborn Motor Company of Dearborn, Michigan was organised by Edward Bland, Arthur L Kiefer, Elmer W Foster and Samuel D Lapham, but would be bankrupt by the end of 1910 after producing just 110 cars Read more…
1909
114 years ago
The 1000th Hupmobile was produced Read more…
1911
112 years ago
The Mora Motor Car Company of Newark, New York was liquidated at auction with its factory, nine acres of land, 50 cars, and assorted parts realising $120,000 Read more…
1924
99 years ago
The Murray Body Company was founded in Detroit, Michigan, US to manufacture automobile bodies Read more…
1927
96 years ago
Race car designer Harry A Read more…
1928
95 years ago
Director General of Roads in Whitehall stated that Hyde Park Corner, London was the busiest road junction in the world Read more…
1930
93 years ago
The Moon Motor Company, based in St Read more…
1930
93 years ago
The 1931 Chevrolets were introduced to the US public Read more…
1950
73 years ago
Ernest J Sweetland (70), inventor of the Purolator oil filter manufactured by Motor Improvement Inc of Newark, New Jersey, US, died in San Francisco, California Read more…
1954
69 years ago
The design drawings were finished for the Moto Guzzi V8 500cc motorcycle grand prix engine Read more…
1960
63 years ago
Karl E Read more…
1965
58 years ago
Craig Breedlove, driving his jet-powered Spirit of America – Sonic 1 vehicle, raced to 600 Read more…
1966
57 years ago
The City of Rome registered its 1,000,000th automobile Read more…
1968
55 years ago
The design of the Austin Maxi was signed-off for production Read more…
1974
49 years ago
The 1975 AMC models were introduced Read more…
1977
46 years ago
At the Mahwah plant in New Jersey, workers completed the 100-millionth Ford to be built in America Read more…
1978
45 years ago
At about 5 Read more…
1980
43 years ago
Benny Parsons won the season finale at Ontario Motor Speedway, California, US as Dale Earnhardt captured his first NASCAR Winston Cup Grand National title Read more…
1987
36 years ago
Gerhard Berger led home Michele Alboreto for a Ferrari 1-2 finish in the Australian Grand Prix on the streets of Adelaide Read more…
1992
31 years ago
The Hooters 500, final race of the 1992 NASCAR season, was held at Atlanta Motor Speedway and was televised live on ESPN Read more…
1998
25 years ago
Nick Favre and Jeremy Agace drove a Bizzarini to victory in the GT class in the 24-hour historic race at Paul Ricard circuit in France Read more…
1999
24 years ago
The world’s first volume production line for aluminium cars opened in Neckarsulm, Germany Read more…
2001
22 years ago
Guildford Cathedral turned into a who’s who of international motor racing as a galaxy of F1 personalities turned out for a service of thanksgiving for the life of Ken Tyrrell, who died of cancer in the summer Read more…
2002
21 years ago
Vivion Daly (48), one of Ireland’s most distinguished racing drivers, passed away after a long illness Read more…
2004
19 years ago
Cosworth Racing was sold to Champ Car World Series owners Gerald Forsythe and Kevin Kalkhoven, who renamed Cosworth Racing to Cosworth Read more…
2004
19 years ago
The Citroen C4 range went on sale in the UK Read more…
2006
17 years ago
BMW announced the start of production of the BMW Hydrogen 7, the world’s first hydrogen-powered luxury saloon car Read more…
2006
17 years ago
Super Aguri announced that Anthony Davidson would be joining Takuma Sato at the team for the 2007 F1 season Read more…
2008
15 years ago
Bernie Ecclestone, under fire after dismissing racial abuse of Lewis Hamilton in Barcelona earlier in the year as “a bit of a joke”, called for anyone found guilty of the offence to be banned from the sport for life Read more…