On This Day

The Standard Motor Company was registered by Reginald Maudslay. Although little known today, the Standard Motor Company was in the top six selling marques in pre-war Britain. It was founded in Coventry in 1903 by Reginald Walter Maudslay who is reputed to have said "I want my car to be composed purely of those components whose principles have been tried and tested and accepted as reliable standards, in fact, I will name my car the Standard car. Continue Reading →

Standard Estate - car brochure -1950

The first regular production ReVere was completed. Named for Paul Revere, the ReVere Motor Car Corporation of Logansport, Indiana, was founded in 1918. It sprung up with a lot of fanfare and its chassis engineer was none other than Gil Andersen, the Norwegian-born pole sitter for the second running of the Indianapolis 500. Continue Reading →

ReVere - 1919

Public vehicles were allowed in Hyde Park, London for the first time since 1636.

Hyde Park

State and federal highway officials developed a nationwide route numbering system and adopted the familiar US shield-shaped, numbered marker. For instance, in the east, there is U.S. Continue Reading →

The shields for Interstate highways (left) and U.S. routes (right) can be seen on this set of reassurance markers in Southwest Virginia indicating two sets of wrong-way concurrencies

Bentley Motors Ltd was reorganised with Woolf Barnato as Chairman, W O Bentley as Managing Director and Hubert Pike, Ramsay Manners and John Kennedy Carruth as Directors.

Woolf Barnato

Bill Cummings, driving the Cummins Diesel Special that had finished 12th in the 1934 Indianapolis 500, raised the land speed record for diesel powered cars to 137.195 mph at Daytona Beach, Florida, US.

Cummins Diesel Special

The US government implemented automobile rationing due to World War II.

Racer Raymond Mays contacted key British motor industry figures with plans that led in1947 to the formation of British Racing Motors, Ltd., manufacturers of BRM racing cars.

Stirling Moss at the age of 18 entered his first official race, the Harrow Car Club Trial, at the wheel of a BMW 328.

Enzo Ferrari drove the first 125S vehicle out of the factory gates. Like the 815, it was a racing sports car, but unlike its Fiat-powered 8-cylinder predecessor, the 125S featured a V12 engine (the "125"), a trait it shared with most Ferrari cars of the following decades. The 125S was the first vehicle to bear the Ferrari name when it debuted on May 11, 1947 at the Piacenza racing circuit.

Ferrari 125S

Achille Varzi driving an Alfa Romeo 308 won the San Lorenzo Cup at Rosario.

Achille Varzi

The Connecticut Light and Power Company installed the first automatic streetlight system in which the streetlights turned themselves on when it became dark in New Milford, Connecticut, US. Each streetlight contained a photoelectric cell that measured the intensity of outside light. By November of 1949, seven miles of New Milford's roads were automatically lit at dusk by a total of 190 photoelectric streetlights.

Four days after the race, Lee Petty was declared the winner of the 100-mile NASCAR Grand National at Concord Speedway despite protests from Curtis Turner and Speedy Thompson, the apparent top two finishers. Scorecard data indicated that Petty finished the 200 laps first although Turner started on the pole and led the entire ­distance.

The Ford Motor Company announced that the Cardinal, a sub-compact with front wheel drive and a German built V-4 engine, would be produced at its Louisville, Kentucky, US plant from July.

The Ford Motor Company celebrated the production of its 1,000,000th Mustang, a white convertible. The sporty, affordable vehicle was officially launched two years earlier, on April 17, 1964, at the World's Fair in Flushing Meadows, New York. That same day, the new car debuted in Ford showrooms across America; almost immediately, buyers snapped up nearly 22,000 of them. Continue Reading →

Millionth Ford Mustang

The M6 from the southern end of the Stafford bypass to the A462 just south of Cannock opened to traffic. This piece of new motorway was significant as it crossed the A5 meaning that London bound traffic now just had to negotiate the A5 between the M6 and the M1.

Hans Ledwinka (89), the engineer who created the Tatra marquee, died in Munich, Germany. In 1923, the first official Tatra automobile, the Tatra T11, was completed, and Ledwinka's hope for an affordable "people's car" was realised. The reliable, rugged T11, like Ford's Model T, gave many Czechoslovakians their first opportunity to own an automobile. Continue Reading →

Tatra T77 Advertising

Sir Reay Geddes, Chairman of the Dunlop Rubber Company Ltd, and Leopoldo Pirelli, Chairman of Pirelli SpA, announced a merger of their two firms.

Evil Knievel broke a record by jumping over 15 cars at the Cow's Palace near San Francisco, but after the successful landing, he crashed and skidded through the short tunnel leading to the concessions. The crowd rushed after him, expecting him to be dead, but Knievel stood up (despite a newly broken ankle) and told the crowd: "If someone breaks this indoor record by jumping more than 15 cars, I’ll jump 16 or whatever the number … even if it kills me."

Evil Knievel - March 1972

Anthony Joseph ‘A J’ Foyt, driving a Coyote-Foyt, and Wally Dallenbach, driving a Drake-Offenhauser powered Eagle, won the two heats of the California 500 at Ontario Motor Speedway in Ontario, California, USA.

Officially unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show, the Renault 18 was intended as a replacement for Renault 12. It was designed with a more traditional body shape to complement the brand’s line-up, the style of which was primarily functional at the time. However, the car also incorporated more modern features, reflecting recent changes in demand. Continue Reading →

Renault 18

Gilles Villeneuve won the South African Grand Prix at Kyalami in a Ferrari 312T4.

Jack N Humbert, General Motors stylist 1948-84, who designed the Pontiac GTO, Firebird and Grand Prix, died.

Protesters tried to stop Land Rover motor company being sold to US.

J. Michael Losh, General Manager of Pontiac, announced that the Fiero would be discontinued at the end of the current model year and that the Pontiac brand would be completely dismantled by late 2010.

At the Firestone Test Center near Fort Stockton, Texas, a team of drivers completed a two day trial during which they set a dozen land speed records with a Corvette ZR-1 and a Corvette L-98. Cars were in near stock condition, minus mufflers and catalytic converters. Records broken included 5000 miles in a time of 28:46:12. Continue Reading →

Corvette ZR-1 - 1990

Rusty Wallace won the Pontiac Excitement 400 at Richmond, Virginia, US in what turned out to be his only win of the Cup season. The victory gave Wallace wins in 12 straight seasons; he would run the streak to 16 before it ended in 2002.

Derek Michael Armstead (21), better known by his stage name Bloodshed, was an American rapper from Harlem, New York. died in a fatal car accident. He was a member of the short-lived hip hop group Children of the Corn with Big L, Murda Mase, Herb McGruff and his cousin k!lla Kam. Continue Reading →

Derek Michael Armstead

Ford opened the first franchised Ford sales and service facility in Kazakhstan, Turkey operated by RAM Auto Almaty Ltd.

The following major introductions were made at the Geneva Auto Show: Opel Speedster, Opel Omega V8, SEAT Salsa concept and Tata Aria concept.

Never one to back down from controversy, Bernie Ecclestone said he thought a woman could never be an F1 champion. "In all likelihood they [women] will never get the opportunity because no one will ever take them seriously," he said. "Therefore they're never ever going to get into a competitive race car. Continue Reading →

Bentley Motors launched two exclusive and limited edition motors, specially developed to celebrate the company’s return to the world’s greatest motor race, Le Mans, after 71 Years. The launch of the Bentley Arnage Le Mans Series and the Bentley Continental R Le Mans Series came just seven weeks after Bentley Motors officially unveiled its EXP Speed 8 Le Mans contender at the Detroit Motor Show. Only 150 Arnage and just 50 Continental R Le Mans Series models were made.

Bentley Arnage Le Mans

Michael Schumacher walked away from a horrifying crash during the first practice session of the season in Australia. His Ferrari snapped out of control in the 175mph turn 6 and flipped twice when entered the gravel sideways and dug in. He left the scene in a medical car but was unharmed and went on to take pole position in qualifying and win the race.

Matt Kenseth scampered away from the field in the final laps and ­finished nine seconds in front of runner-up Dale Earnhardt, Jr., to win the UAW-Daimler Chrysler 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (US). It was be Kenseth's lone triumph in 2003.

His Excellency Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, CEO Mubadala Development Company and Victor Muller, CEO Spyker Cars, unveiled the Spyker D12 Peking-to-Paris at the 76th Salon International de l’Auto in Geneva. The world première of this Super Sports Utility Vehicle (SSUV) marked the introduction of a second product line for Spyker who are already known for producing the Spyker C8 Spyder, Laviolette and Double12 and C12 LaTurbie super sports cars. The Spyker D12 Peking-to-Paris was a four-wheel drive, four-door, four-seater luxury Super Sports Utility Vehicle with a spacious interior and a high performance W12 500 bhp engine.

Spyker D12 Peking-to-Paris

General Motors Corp. said it had made major steps in developing a commercially viable hydrogen-powered vehicle and expected to get the emission-free cars into dealerships in the next four to nine years.

The Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano (internal code F139) a 2-seat Gran Turismo, to replace the 575M Maranello in 2006 as a 2007 model debuted at the Geneva Motor Show. Styling of the 599 GTB was handled by Pininfarina, under the direction of Ferrari stylist, Frank Stephenson. It was named for its engine displacement and the Fiorano test track used by Ferrari. Continue Reading →

Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano

Carl Edwards won his 2nd Sprint Cup race in 6 days by holding off Dale Earnhardt Jr at Las Vegas. It was Edwards 9th career Sprint Cup win. Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart both suffered hard crashes during the event.

In Switzerland the large family car Volkswagen Passat was voted car of the year by European automotive editors at the Geneva International Motor Show.