Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A
Friday 24th June 1910 Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. was founded as A.L.F.A. (Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili) in Milan. The company has been involved in car racing since 1911. It was owned by Italian state holding company Istituto per la Ricostruzione Industriale between 1932 and 1986, when it became a part of the Fiat group. In…
Virgil Max “Ex” Exner, Sr.
Friday 24th September 1909 Born this day, Virgil Max “Ex” Exner, Sr., an automobile designer for numerous American companies, notably Chrysler and Studebaker. He is known for his “Forward Look” design on the 1955 through 1961 Chrysler products and his fondness of fins on cars for both aesthetic and aerodynamic reasons.
E
Friday 14th May 1909 E.G. “Cannonball” Baker finished a transcontinental motorcycle ride from San Diego, California, to New York, a distance of 3378.9 miles, in 276 hours aboard a two-speed Indian motorcycle. His best-remembered drive was a 1933 New York City to Los Angeles trek in a Graham-Paige model 57 Blue Streak 8, setting a…
Jean Daninos
Sunday 2nd December 1906 Born on this day, Jean Daninos, Greek-French founder of the luxury automobile manufacturer, Facel Vega. The first Facel Vega model, designed by Daninos himself, debuted in 1954, equipped with a Chrysler engine. Daninos counted among his clients celebrities including (Tony Curtis, Ava Gardner) and racing drivers (Stirling Moss, Maurice Trintignant). Several…
The Sunbeam Motor Car Company Ltd was registered in Wolverhampton, England with John Marston as Chairman and Thomas Cureton as Managing Director
Monday 16th January 1905 The Sunbeam Motor Car Company Ltd was registered in Wolverhampton, England with John Marston as Chairman and Thomas Cureton as Managing Director. The first new car to be produced by Sunbeam Motor Car Company was based on a Peugeot; it ws fairly popular from its 1906 introduction, with ten produced each…
The Maxwell-Briscoe Motor Company was incorporated by Jonathan D Maxwell and Benjamin Briscoe with financial help from banker John Pierpont Morgan
Tuesday 21st June 1904 The Maxwell-Briscoe Motor Company was incorporated by Jonathan D Maxwell and Benjamin Briscoe with financial help from banker John Pierpont Morgan. The company was named after founders Jonathan Dixon Maxwell, who earlier had worked for Oldsmobile, and Benjamin Briscoe, an automobile industry pioneer and part owner of the Briscoe Brothers Metalworks,…
Born on this day, Gordon Miller Buehrig, noted automobile designer for Packard, General Motors and Stutz
Saturday 18th June 1904 Born on this day, Gordon Miller Buehrig, noted automobile designer for Packard, General Motors and Stutz. In 1929, he was responsible for designing the bodies (built by Weymann) of the Stutz Black Hawks entered at Le Mans. At age 25 he became chief body designer for Duesenberg, where he designed the…
The first Maxwell was successfully tested in Detroit, Michigan, US
Friday 25th December 1903 The first Maxwell was successfully tested in Detroit, Michigan, US. Maxwell was a brand of automobiles manufactured in the United States of America from about 1904 to 1925. The present-day successor to the Maxwell company is Chrysler Group.
Henry Ford hired John F
Saturday 28th February 1903 Henry Ford hired John F. and Horace E. Dodge to supply the chassis and running gear for his 650 Ford automobiles. Manufacturing car bodies for Henry Ford and Ransom Olds, the Dodge Brothers had become the largest parts-manufacturing firm in the U.S. by 1910. In 1914, the brothers founded the Dodge…
Robert E
Tuesday 3rd April 1900 Robert E. Twyford, a resident of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was issued with a US patent (646,477) for the first four-wheel drive system, which included a mechanical power steering mechanism. Chrysler Corporation introduced the first commercially available passenger car power steering system on the 1951 Chrysler Imperial under the name “Hydraguide”.
An Everyday Journey Through Motoring History, Facts & Trivia
This Day In Automotive History
