On this day in…
1895
129 years ago
The first British Motor Show, the 1895 Horseless Carriage Exhibition, organized by Sir David Salome, was held at Tunbridge Wells Agricultural Showground Read more…
1904
120 years ago
The first Reo was completed band taken for its initial test drive by Ransom E Olds Read more…
1904
120 years ago
The Smith Automobile Company was incorporated in Kansas by Clement Smith, L Anton Smith, Terry Stafford, Leni Smith, Adele A Smith and Laura A Strait Read more…
1908
116 years ago
The Detroit Fire Department, Michigan (US) received its first motorised fire truck Read more…
1926
98 years ago
The Wilys-Overland Company acquired rights to the independent front wheel suspension system developed by Sizaire Freres of France Read more…
1927
97 years ago
Frank Elliott and George Scott won a $1,000 bet after arriving at Canada’s Pacific coast, having persuaded 168 passing motorists in 89 days to tow their engineless Ford Model T from their home town of Halifax, Nova Scotia, a distance of 4,759 miles – the longest tow on record Read more…
1930
94 years ago
The Bentley 8 Litre was announced at the Olympia Motor Show in London Read more…
1931
93 years ago
The Rover prototype called Scarab was displayed at the 1931 London Motor Show Read more…
1935
89 years ago
The first Ford 10 hp Model C was produced Read more…
1935
89 years ago
The 1936 Nash Series 3640A and second series LaFayettes were introduced, Read more…
1936
88 years ago
The 30th International Motor Exhibition opened in London, England, at Olympia Read more…
1936
88 years ago
The last Rolls Royce Phantom II was completed as per special order of Dowager Lady Fox, more than a year after production has officially ceased, Read more…
1936
88 years ago
The MG SA 2-litre made its debut at the 30th International Motor Exhibition at Olympia in London Read more…
1938
86 years ago
The Pak-Age-Car delivery van originally conceived by Stutz was introduced by the Aviation & Transportation Corporation, a successor of the Cord Corporation, bearing the Diamond T logo Read more…
1938
86 years ago
The Mountain Championship held at Brooklands was won by Raymond Mays driving a ERA B-Type Read more…
1945
79 years ago
The US Automotive Council for War Production, created in April 1942 to facilitate the sharing of resources, expertise, and manpower in defense production contracting, was deactivated Read more…
1950
74 years ago
John Jacob Raskob (71), former General Motors executive and developer of the Empire State Building, died Read more…
1950
74 years ago
The seventeenth race of the 1950 season was run at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia, a race now regarded as the second edition of the Old Dominion 500 (the distance changed after the track was paved in 1955 from 200 to 400, and then 500 laps) Read more…
1950
74 years ago
Duke Dinsmore drove a Kurtis-Offenhauser to victory in the AAA Championship race on the dirt track at Sacramento, California, US Read more…
1951
73 years ago
The 1952 Dodge Power Wagons were introduced Read more…
1955
69 years ago
The 1956 British Ford were introduced to the US market Read more…
1957
67 years ago
The Lotus Elite (Type 14) with its highly innovative fibreglass monocoque construction, made its debut at the 1957 London Motor Show, Earls Court Read more…
1959
65 years ago
The 1960 Edsel models were introduced to the public Read more…
1961
63 years ago
Joe Weatherly led only the final five laps, pouncing on a victory in the National 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway (North Carolina, US) for his seventh win of the season Read more…
1961
63 years ago
The Chaparral made its racing debut with designer Jim Hall finishing third in the Los Angeles Times Grand Prix in Riverside, California, US Read more…
1964
60 years ago
While trying to set a new one mile land-speed record, Craig Breedlove inadvertently set another kind of record after he lost control of the Spirit of America jet-powered car on the Bonneville Salt Flats testing area in Utah, US Read more…
1966
58 years ago
In McKinney, Texas, it was reported that a 75-year-old male driver received 10 traffic tickets, drove on the wrong side of the road four times, committed four hit-and-run offences, and caused six accidents, all within 20 minutes Read more…
1966
58 years ago
The United States Department of Transportation was established as a cabinet level agency with Alan S Boyd appointed as its first Secretary of Transportation by President Lyndon B Johnson Read more…
1966
58 years ago
John Hogg, Britain’s most banned driver was sentenced in the High Court, Edinburgh to 5 ½ years in prison and his 3rd, 4th and 5th life bans for drunk driving in a stolen car whilst disqualified Read more…
1976
48 years ago
The US Congress passed legislation establishing the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) requiring all new automobiles manufactured to have an average fuel consumption of at least 18 mpg Read more…
1977
47 years ago
Ford’s CL-9000 line-haul diesel truck went on sale Read more…
1978
46 years ago
Lee Iacocca left Ford Motor Company to become president of Chrysler Read more…
1978
46 years ago
The prototype 3-litre diesel Mercedes C111-3 attained 203 Read more…
1983
41 years ago
In a tight Formula 1 World Championship finale, Nelson Piquet (Brabham) secured his second World title in Kyalami at the South African Grand Prix Read more…
1985
39 years ago
Americans long running automotive television series, MotorWeek, premiered Read more…
1985
39 years ago
Sir Clive Sinclair announced that Sinclair Vehicles went into receivership and production of the C5 ceased Read more…
1989
35 years ago
A restart at the Holly Farm 400, with three laps to go saw Dale Earnhardt leading Ricky Rudd and Geoff Bodine Read more…
1997
27 years ago
Less than three weeks after breaking the elusive 700mph land-speed barrier, British fighter pilot Andy Green set a new land-speed record in the Thrust SuperSonic vehicle, jet-powering through the sound barrier along a one-mile course in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert Read more…
1998
26 years ago
Richard Brown established a British Land speed record on two wheels of 216 Read more…
2000
24 years ago
Dale Earnhardt recorded his 76th and final career victory at Talladega, Alabama Read more…
2000
24 years ago
Seven-time champion Dale Earnhardt made a miraculous comeback to win the Winston 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, Alabama, US Read more…
2001
23 years ago
Underdog Ricky Craven took the lead in the closing stages of the Old Dominion 500 when Kevin Harvick spun Bobby Hamilton Read more…
2002
22 years ago
London’s Somerset House saw the official unveiling of Bentley’s newest model; the magnificent Continental GT Read more…
2004
20 years ago
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ruled that hearse manufacturers no longer had to install anchors for child-safety seats in their vehicles Read more…
2005
19 years ago
NASCAR mandated minimum tire pressures and instituted competition cautions to check pressures during the UAW-GM Quality 500 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, North Carolina, US Read more…
2020
4 years ago
The cabless trailer of an articulated lorry, known as the Pod, ran the Dunsfold test track in Surrey Read more…
