On this day in…
1897
126 years ago
The editor of Autocar, Henry Sturmey, began the first Land’s End to John o’ Groats motor journey, which took 11 days to complete Read more…
1899
124 years ago
The first regular petrol motor-bus service in Great Britain began in London Read more…
1909
114 years ago
George Robertson drove a Simplex “90” to victory in the 200 miles AAA Championship race in Philadelphia, US Read more…
1909
114 years ago
The Alabama (US) Legislature approved an act requiring automobile owners to register with their county probate judge Read more…
1911
112 years ago
The last of four Founders Day Races staged by the Quaker City Motor Club at Fairmount Park in Philadelphia, US was won by Erwin Bergdoll in a Benz Read more…
1915
108 years ago
Racer Gil Anderson set a new speed record on the opening day of motor racing at the Sheepshead Bay Speedway, located in Brooklyn, New York Read more…
1919
104 years ago
Hare’s Motors Inc Read more…
1919
104 years ago
The legendary Hispano-Suiza H6 luxury car was introduced at the Paris Motor Show Read more…
1928
95 years ago
Motor Traders stated that any Briton earning £440 or more per year could afford to buy and run a car Read more…
1951
72 years ago
The 125 miles (201 km) Seward Highway from Seward to Anchorage in Alaska was completed Read more…
1953
70 years ago
The Chrysler Corporation sold its New York City real estate including the art-deco Chrysler Building Read more…
1954
69 years ago
George Walter Mason (63,) the American industrialist died Read more…
1955
68 years ago
Speedy Thompson took the lead from Tim Flock in the 43rd of 200 laps and rolls to victory at Memphis-Arkansas Speedway in LeHi, Arkansas, US Read more…
1959
64 years ago
The first phone call between a car and airplane took place Read more…
1962
61 years ago
The 1,000,000th Volkswagen Transporter was produced Read more…
1963
60 years ago
The Rover company, previously manufacturers of staid and technically unadventurous cars, announced the advanced P6 2000 Read more…
1967
56 years ago
Rootes announced its new 1725cc Sunbeam Rapier Fastback Read more…
1968
55 years ago
The Austin 3 litre was relaunched in production form Read more…
1969
54 years ago
The Series I XJ6-based Daimler Sovereign was launched which was offered with either the 2 Read more…
1972
51 years ago
Emerson Fittipaldi became the youngest driver to win the Formula 1 World Championship and the first Brazilian ever to do so Read more…
1977
46 years ago
British Leyland Chairman Sir Richard Dobson resigned over remarks he made about ”wogs” Read more…
1983
40 years ago
Richard Petty won the Miller High Life 500, his 198th career Winston Cup race, but failed the post-race inspection Read more…
1988
35 years ago
Eddie Hill at Baytown, Texas, US achieved the lowest elapsed time – 4 Read more…
1988
35 years ago
Felix Wankel, the only twentieth-century engineer to have designed an internal-combustion engine which went into production, passed away at the age of 86 in Lindau, Germany, where he did much of his research and where Wankel Research and Development is still located Read more…
1992
31 years ago
Thousands of people in the Eastern United States witnessed an above-average-size meteorite enter the Earth’s atmosphere with a sonic boom, and burst into flames as it streaked across the sky over several states Read more…
1994
29 years ago
Mario Andretti drove in his final CART Champ Car race Read more…
1997
26 years ago
The Alfa Romeo 156 was launched in Lisbon Read more…
2000
23 years ago
The United Automobile Workers and Ford Motor Company reached a tentative agreement on a new contract, hours after a handful of workers walked off the job when a strike deadline passed Read more…
2000
23 years ago
The Series 2 Lotus Elise, a redesigned Series 1 using a slightly modified version of the Series 1 chassis and the same K-series engine with a brand new Lotus-developed engine control unit, was unveiled Read more…
2001
22 years ago
A man wrecked a $300,000 sports car owned by hip-hop star Missy Elliott after losing control of the 550 hp vehicle and crashed into a traffic sign and a tree Read more…
2005
18 years ago
A driverless Volkswagen won the $2-million Pentagon-sponsored race across the rugged Nevada Desert, beating four other robot-guided vehicles Read more…
2005
18 years ago
A total of 249 Mazda MX-5 cars took part in a parade organised by Mazda (New Zealand) at Alexandra Park, Auckland, New Zealand Read more…
2007
16 years ago
British sportscar manufacturer, Marcos announced it would cease production and go into voluntary liquidation Read more…
2018
5 years ago
A Berlin court ordered the city to ban older diesel vehicles from several downtown streets to reduce nitrogen dioxide levels in the German capital Read more…