On This Day

The birth of the first grand prix winner, Ferenc Szisz, in Szeghalom, then part of the Austro-Hungarian empire. An engineer, he moved to France in 1900 and acted as the riding mechanic for Louis Renault and subsequently took up driving. It was in 1906 he drove a Renault AK 90CV to victory in the first Grand Prix at Le Mans.

Ferenc Szisz

The first US car manufacturer Duryea Motor Wagon Company, founded by Charles Duryea and his brother Frank, unveiled a one-cylinder "Ladies Phaeton", in Springfield, Massachusetts. It is considered the first successful gasoline-engine vehicle built in the US. In 1895, a second Duryea (built in 1894), driven by Frank, won the Chicago Times Herald race in Chicago on a snowy Thanksgiving day. Continue Reading →

Duryea automobile

Byron J Carter applied for a patent on his friction drive transmission. It was designed to replace the conventional transmission to provide, among other things, more precise control of a car's speed. Carters radical new transmission used friction discs, instead of gears, so arranged as to be instantly changed to any desired speed. Continue Reading →

Byron J Carter

The (Societa) Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobile (A.L.F.A.) was forced into receivership, leading to the creation of the Societa Anonima Italiana Nicola Romeo e C., manufacturers of the Alfa Romeo.

Wealthy London playboy and race-car driver Noel van Raalte took delivery of the first production Bentley. The 3 litre (2,996-cc or 183-cu-in), straight-4 engine car was capable of 90 mph – a remarkable achievement for a standard production car at that time. It was one of the first production-car engines with four valves per cylinder, an overhead camshaft, two spark plugs per cylinder and twin carburettors. Continue Reading →

Noel van Raalte

The world's first inter-urban highway, the Milan-Varese Austostrada, was officially opened by Kind Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, Engineer Piero Puricelli , Count of Lomnago conceived the idea of ​​the highway as "street for cars alone", ie reserved for fast traffic (no wagons, coaches, bicycles or pedestrians) and paying a toll to cover the Construction and management costs. The idea was futuristic, because the cars in circulation at that time were few. In 1923, a total of 84,687 cars travelled on the Italian roads, of which fifty-seven cars , 25,000 trucks and 2,685 buses. Continue Reading →

Inauguration of Milan-Varese Austostrada - September 1924

Jaroslav Horák and his mechanic in Bugatti T35B hit bike rider Edmund Müller during Ecce Homo hillclimb (Czech Republic) practice. All three died.

The French Grand Prix held over 25 laps of a 15.835 km circuit at Pau for a total race distance of 395.875 km, was won by Philippe Étancelin driving a Bugatti. The race was notable for the fact that Sir Henry Birkin came second in a 4.5 litre supercharged Bentley, which was a stripped-down road car.

French Grand Prix - 1930

The first Ford-Gregorie speedster was delivered to Edsel B Ford.

John Cobb & T.E. Rose-Richards driving a Napier Railton won the 500 Miles Race Brooklands.

Napier Railton

The SS Jaguar 2½-litre saloon with its 102 bhp six-cylinder Weslake-designed cross-flow ohv cylinder head on its Standard engine caused a sensation when it was launched at a trade luncheon for dealers and press at London's Mayfair Hotel. The show car was in fact a prototype. Luncheon guests were asked to write down the UK price for which they thought the car would be sold and the average of their answers was £765. Continue Reading →

SS Jaguar 2½-litre saloon advertisement 1936

The Cord 810 was previewed to dealers. The styling of the Cord 810 was the work of designer Gordon M. Buehrig and his team of stylists, which included young Vince Gardner and Alex Tremulis. Continue Reading →

Cord 810

The 1,000,000th post-World War II Buick was produced, a Model 43-D Special Deluxe Sedan featuring new 1950 styling.

Henry Ford II, grandson and namesake of Henry Ford, succeeded his father as president of the Ford Motor Company, inheriting a company that was losing money at the rate of several million dollars a month. After recovering from the shock of his father's unexpected death, Henry Ford II was effectively given a crash course in management, but fortunately for the company, he turned out to have the magic touch. He quickly set about reorganising and modernizing the Ford Motor Company, firing the powerful Personnel Chief Harry Bennett, whose strong-arm tactics and anti-union stance had made Ford notorious for its bad labour relations. Continue Reading →

Henry Ford II

The Kaiser-Frazer Corporation signed a 5-year lease on the Willow Run factory, Michigan, US.

Monegasque driver Louis Chiron crossed the finish line in Lyon to win the French Grand Prix in a Talbot-Lago. The race was a continuation of the Grand Prix’s long history and France’s first major post-World War Two race. The event had been suspended for several years during the war, along with almost all other car racing.

Louis Chiron

Yorkshireman Peter Whitehead (43), who became the first Ferrari F1 privateer after convincing Enzo Ferrari to allow him to buy a Formula 1 car in 1949, died. In ten starts he climbed on the podium once, leading the French Grand prix in 1950 before gearbox problems relegated him to third. In 1958 while competing in the Tour de France Automobile, his 3. Continue Reading →

Peter Whitehead

The first Plymouth Valiant was produced in Michigan, US although it was not known by that name until 1961. Originally code named "Falcon" after the 1955 Chrysler Falcon, plans for the new model went awry when the Chrysler marketing team found out at the last minute that Ford had already registered the name "Falcon" for its compact car. The news resulted in a wild scramble, for the logo castings had already been made and marketing plans finalised. Continue Reading →

BP became the first company to strike oil under the North Sea.

Mark Donohue, driving a Chevrolet Camaro, beat Parnelli Jones, driving a Ford Mustang, by 2.17 seconds to win the Sears Point 200 Trans-Am race at Sears Point, Caliornia. The win clinched Chevy's second straight Trans-Am title. Continue Reading →

Mark Donohue, driving a Chevrolet Camaro, beat Parnelli Jones, driving a Ford Mustang, by 2.17 seconds to win the Sears Point 200 Trans-Am race at Sears Point, California, USA. The win clinched Chevy's second straight Trans-Am title. Continue Reading →

The Ford Mustang II was introduced, two months before the first 1973 oil crisis, and its reduced size allowed it to compete against imported sports coupés such as the Japanese Toyota Celica and the European Ford Capri. The car was available in coupé and hatchback versions, including a "luxury" Ghia model designed by Ford's recently acquired Ghia of Italy. The coupe was marketed as the "Hardtop" but in fact had a thin "B" pillar and rear quarter windows that did not roll down. Continue Reading →

Ford Mustang II advertisment

Richard Petty outran Cale Yarborough at the finish to score his 175th victory in NASCAR’s premier series, winning the Wilkes 400 at North Wilkesboro (North Carolina, US) Speedway. Petty, the pole starter, led 184 of the 400 laps and wound up 2.4 seconds ahead of Yarborough at the finish. Darrell Waltrip finished third, four laps behind the lead pair.

Gordon Johncock drove a Wildcat-DGS to victory in the USAC Championship race on the oval in Trenton, New Jersey.

Lee Anders Hasslestrom ran a 5.99/235 in the first round of the Funny Car elimination, at Santa Pod, Northamptonshire. This is considered by many to be the first five second funny car run in the UK. Continue Reading →

At the Portuguese Grand Prix Nigel Mansell completed what the Guardian described as "possibly the most important win of his career" to leave him needing victory in the penultimate race in Mexico to secure the championship. It was not to be, but it was "flawless performance" to set up the finale. Ayrton Senna, who started on pole, appeared set for second until he ran out of fuel on the last lap, a situation caused by a malfunctioning computer which showed he had enough left.

The two millionth Citroen AX rolled off the production line at the Aulnay-sous-bois site.

Contested over 71 laps of the 2.697 mile A1-Ring circuit, the Austrian Grand Prix was won by Jacques Villeneuve for the Williams team, from a pole position start. David Coulthard finished second in a McLaren, with Heinz-Harald Frentzen third in the other Williams car. Austrian Formula One veteran Gerhard Berger announced he was to retire at the end of the season, shortly after he qualified 18th on the grid.

Start of the 1997 Austrian Grand Prix

Ford and NASA bought artificial intelligence to vehicles courtesy of a new neural network computer chip that mimiced the human mind. The new intelligent chip reduced vehicle emissions and improved fuel economy by monitoring fuel combustion.

Ford of Canada delivered the first TH!NK city electric vehicle in Canada to the chairman and CEO of Ballard Power Systems.

The production run of 4,038 Ford GTs ended short of the originally planned 4,500.

Ford GT

California Governor Jerry Brown signed several legislations to encourage the electric car market in the state, which accounted for 40 percent of all electric vehicles sold in the United States.