On This Day

Steam engine pioneer Nathan Read (89) died in Belfast, Maine, US. Graduating from Harvard College in 1781, Read was a tutor at Harvard for four years. In 1788 he began experimenting to discover some way of utilizing the steam engine for propelling boats and carriages. Continue Reading →

Nathan Read

The newly formed automaker General Motors (GM) bought into the Oakland Motor Car Corporation, which later became GM's long-running Pontiac division. Oakland Motor Car was founded in 1907 in Pontiac, Michigan by Edward Murphy, a manufacturer of horse-drawn carriages. The following year, another former buggy company executive, William Durant, founded General Motors in Flint, Michigan, as a holding company for the Buick Motor Company. Continue Reading →

Harry H. Bassett was named President and General Manager of the Buick Motor Company to replace Walter P. Chrysler.

The banked 5/8-mile dirt Legion Ascot Speedway, Los Angeles opened. Crowds of 10,000 and more were flocking to races held on Sundays in the winter and under the lights on Wednesday nights. The big crowds brought big purses and torrid competition. Continue Reading →

Legion Ascot Speedway

The MG Car Company Ltd staged a grand inaugural luncheon at its new factory in Abington, England. In 1935, MG was sold by Morris to Morris Motors Limited, and at this time MG's competition activities ceased, while over the next 18 months, the product range was completely altered to re-align it with Morris and Wolseley. Although the MG Car Company as such became dormant, the MG factory at Abingdon survived as an operational unit into the British Leyland era. Continue Reading →

MG Factory at Abingdon; ZA Magnette and MGA lines circa 1955

Chevrolet produced their last car before shutting down production during World War II.

Kaiser-Frazer automobiles, formed after World War II by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser and Joseph W. Frazer, president of the Graham-Paige Motor Company, displayed prototypes of their two new cars at New York's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. Continue Reading →

Illustration from a 1946 Kaiser-Frazier brochure of the 1947 front-wheel drive Kaiser.

The Cities Service Oil Company Ltd changed its name to Fina Petroleum Products Ltd.

The Buick Riviera, a two-door pillarless hardtop, described in advertising as "stunningly smart", was launched at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City.

1949 Buick Series 70 Roadmaster Riviera 2-Door Hardtop Dynaflow

Tim Flock won the 100-mile NASCAR season opener at Palm Beach Speedway in West Palm Beach, Florida. The race was 200 laps on the half-mile dirt track. A solid field of 27 cars made the trek to south Florida - a great showing for NASCAR whose GN division was beginning only its 3rd full season. Continue Reading →

The Rio Grand Prix at Gávea, Brazil was won by José Froilan Gonzalez in a Ferrari 166C.

The 1954 Oldsmobiles were introduced - the unusual late date has perpetuated a theory that the new cars had actually been planned for the 1955 model year but were moved up because General Motors President Harlow H. Curtice was unhappy with the planned 1954 models

1954 Oldsmobile brochure

General Motor’s Motorama Show opened in New York where the Buick Wildcat III, Chevrolet Bel Air Nomad, Cadillac LaSalle II roadster and sedan, and Cadillac Eldorado Brougham were exhibited

One of the many attractions of the 1955 GM Motorama was this 1955 Oldsmobile 88 Delta. The two-tone blue dream car featured a blue-tinted, brushed aluminum ..

London police began employing radar speed traps.

It was revealed that car development of the secret Austin gas-turbine engine had reached a new phase, the target of which was the evolution of a unit capable of achieving operating economy approaching that of diesel engines. An experimental turbine car, running on diesel fuel, had already covered a large test mileage on public roads.

A Ferrari driven by Cesare Perdisa, Masten Gregory, Eugenio Castellotti and Luigi Musso won the Argentine 1000 Kilometers World Sports Car Championship race on the Costanera circuit. The four drivers covered the 1000 km in 6 hours, 10 minutes. The talk of the race was the V8 Maserati and Stirling Moss built a huge lead in the car before handing over to Juan Fangio. Continue Reading →

Dan Gurney drove a Holman-Moody Ford to victory in the 'Motor Trend 500' NASCAR Grand National race at Riverside International Raceway. Gurney earned $14,400 for his first NASCAR GN win, leading 110 of the 185 laps in a race which took 6 hours to run. A. Continue Reading →

A Mini Cooper S driven by Rauno Aaltonen and Henry Liddon won the Monte Carlo Rally.

1967 Monte winners - Rauno Aaltonen and Henry Liddon celebrate in Monaco

The 1965 USAC Rookie of the Year Billy Foster (29) died in a crash while practicing for the 'Motor Trend 500' NASCAR GN race at Riverside International Raceway. Foster's Rudy Hoerr Dodge crashed hard into the turn 9 wall after the brakes failed at the end of the mile long backstraight. The 29 year old driver from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, finished 9th in Champ Car points in 1966 and impressed with a great drive in the season ending non-points race at Fuji, where he retired while leading late in the race after battling (and passing) Graham Hill and Jackie Stewart.

Billy Foster

Racer Luciano Lombardini was killed when his Lancia Fulvia crashed near Skopje, Macedonia, Yugoslavia during the Monte Carlo Rally.

Three weeks after winning the South African Formula 1 Grand Prix, Jim Clark debuted the new red and white Golden Leaf Team Lotus livery with golden linings at the 3rd round of the 1968 Tasman series by clinching the Lady Wigram Trophy in New Zealand. Contrary to some reports Lotus wasn't the first team to introduce non-automotive sponsorship. The first ever full sponsorship livery shown to the public on a race car at an international motor racing event had already appeared at the South African Grand Prix, courtesy of Team Gunston. Continue Reading →

The Jaguar XJ13 prototype was taken to MIRA for some publicity filming with Jaguar test driver Norman Dewis at the wheel. Unfortunately, a rear tyre (which had been plugged to cure a slow leak) deflated at speed, the car rolled heavily and was nearly destroyed although Norman Dewis was fortunately unharmed. The wreck of the car was put back into storage and later restored by the company.

Jaguar XJ13

Lenny Boyd won the Three Quarter Midget feature at the indoor Atlantic City Convention Hall, New Jersey, US.

Ivan "The Iron Man" Stewart won the Grand National Off-Road Sport Truck race at the Anaheim Stadium, Anaheim, California, US.

Ayrton Senna escaped injury after his Williams-Renault span off during a practice session in Portugal. "I braked and the wheels locked," Senna said. "The car spun round and I stopped against the wall of safety tyres. Continue Reading →

Round 1 of the FIA 2-litre World Championship for Manufacturers, 64th Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo (30 stages, 619 km) began. It won by Patrick Bernardini and Bernrad Occelli in a Ford Escort RS Cosworth .

Alan Brown (84), British racer, team owner, and first man to race the Vanwall Special, died from a heart attack.

NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian Z. France announced radical changes to the method used to determine the annual champion in 2004. Officially called the "Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup," the new points structure involved the top 10 ­drivers in the points standings through the first 26 races to compete for the title over the final 10 races.

In Ireland, the speed limit for motorways and some dual carriageways was changed from 70 mph to 120 km/h (75 mph) as part of their conversion to metric speed limits.

It was reported that the global car industry had an annual excess capacity of some 24 million vehicles.

Professor Sid Watkins, the driving force behind the improvement in medical care at race tracks across the world, announced his retirement after 26 years as the FIA's medical delegate. He oversaw massive improvements in trackside facilities and safety, and proved a huge favourite in the paddock. A great friend of Senna's, he considered retiring after the fatal accident at Imola in 1994. Continue Reading →

Professor Sid Watkins

The new BMW 320d ES saloon was named ‘Car of the Year 2006’ at the prestigious What Car? Car of the Year 2006 awards ceremony in London.

BMW 320d ES Saloon

42-year-old motorcyclist Eric Aubijoux died suddenly during the Paris-DakarRally. The cause of death was initially believed to be a heart attack, however it was later suggested that Aubijoux died of internal injuries sustained in a crash earlier that day while competing in the 14th stage of the race.

Zhongnanshan Tunnel, or Qinling Zhongnanshan Tunnel, the longest two-tube road tunnel in the world, which forms part of the Xi'an-Ankang Highway between the Changan and Zhashui counties in China, opened to traffic. The 18,040-metre (11.21 mi) long tunnel, which crosses under the Zhongnan Mountain (Zhongnanshan) has a maximum embedded depth of 1640 metres below surface level. Continue Reading →

Zhongnanshan Tunnel

More than 100 vehicles crashed into each other on Highway 400 near Toronto, Canada due to bad weather conditions.

The Mini Countryman (R60) was officially announced.