On this day in…
1895
129 years ago
Inventor George B Read more…
1895
129 years ago
Automobile Club de France was founded and organized 34 intercity races during the first 8 years of its existence Read more…
1896
128 years ago
The Hill & Boll coachbuilding firm registered the Yeovil Motor Car & Cycle Company in Yeovil, Somerset, England to manufacture complete cars to the designs of Percival W Petter Read more…
1902
122 years ago
William K Read more…
1903
121 years ago
Arthur Duray driving the vast Gobron-Brillie established a new world land speed record of 84 Read more…
1908
116 years ago
In his most ambitious political effort Democrat Henry Ford lost a US Senate race to Republican Truman H Newberry by about 7,500 votes out of the 430,000 votes cast Read more…
1922
102 years ago
Tazio Nuvolari rode a 1000cc Harley-Davidson to his first motorcycle race win, the Riunione Motorcyclistica, at Mantua, Italy Read more…
1926
98 years ago
The Buick 1927 ‘Goddess’ mascot was patented by designer William Schnell Read more…
1927
97 years ago
Britain’s first set of automatic traffic lights came into operation at Princes Square, Wolverhampton Read more…
1950
74 years ago
The first Pebble Beach Road Races (California) were staged, with the main event won by Phil Hill in a Jaguar XK120 Read more…
1952
72 years ago
Joe James, who competed in two Indianapolis 500s, died on this day after an accident three days earlier at San Jose Speedway Read more…
1954
70 years ago
At the home of Chapin “Smitty” Smith, the Satyrs Motorcycle Club held its first official club meeting Read more…
1958
66 years ago
The first MAZ 525 truck was produced at the Byelorussian Automobile Factory in Zhodino, USSR (now Belarus) Read more…
1959
65 years ago
One of the two founders of telecommunications company Motorola and inventor of the first car stereo, Paul Voncent Galvin (64), died Read more…
1960
64 years ago
Country and rockabilly artist Johnny Horton, whose number one hit “Battle of New Orleans” topped the US pop charts for six solid weeks in 1959, was killed in an auto accident in Milano, Texas Read more…
1962
62 years ago
The UK government halved Purchase Tax on cars to boost the economy Read more…
1965
59 years ago
The prototype Shelby GT 350H was shipped to the Hertz Corporation for testing, the first of 936 Ford Mustang-based muscle cars would be built to order for the rental car company Read more…
1966
58 years ago
David Piper and Richard Atwood drove a Ferrari 365P2/3 to victory in the 9 hour sports car race at Kyalami, South Africa Read more…
1967
57 years ago
Bobby Allison fended off Richard Petty by a car-length to win the Western North Carolina 500 at Asheville-Weaverville Speedway (North Carolina, US), closing out the season with a two-race win streak Read more…
1978
46 years ago
Richard Petty appeared to win the NASCAR Winston Cup race at Atlanta, Georgia, US, but after the scoring was rechecked, the win was given to Donnie Allison Read more…
1987
37 years ago
Sports car and Grand Prix driver, Adolf Brudes von Breslau (50) died Read more…
1989
35 years ago
On a rainy day in Adelaide the Australian Grand Prix was stopped after only one lap due to excessive rain Read more…
1999
25 years ago
Ford introduced the all-new 6 Read more…
2001
23 years ago
Roy Thomas, designer of the Titan formula racers, died of complications from lung cancer Read more…
2006
18 years ago
Tony Stewart won the Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway (US) Read more…
2009
15 years ago
In Germany thousands of Opel workers, fearing widespread layoffs, walked off the job to protest General Motors’ decision to abandon their Division’s sale to new owners Read more…
