On This Day

The trade name "Mercedes" was legally registered by Emil Jellinek. He used the his daughter's name for a line of Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft cars, beginning with the Mercedes 35 hp model of 1901. From June 1903, Emil Jellinek obtained permission to call himself Jellinek-Mercedes, commenting: "This is probably the first time that a father has taken his daughter’s name."

The Motorcar Company, manufacturers of the Cartercar, was incorporated in Detroit, Michigan, US by Bryon J Carter, Frank T Caughey, Fred Postal, Randall Palmer, Harry R Radford and George A Young. The Cartercar was produced from 1906 - 1916. Byron J. Continue Reading →

William C. Durant, carriage maker and entrepreneur, was the original patriarch of the corporate behemoth General Motors, but financial difficulties caused him to finally lose control of the company on this day. Determined to regain control of his brainchild, Durant joined forces with Louis Chevrolet to establish the Chevrolet Motor Company. Continue Reading →

The Ford Ranger, named after the Texas Ranger, was first announced, appropriately in Houston, Texas. Although the Ford truck has changed considerably since the first Ranger model, the name still connotes a rugged, tough image. The Ford Ranger 4x4's are especially popular for off-road driving and other hardy pursuits that an actual Texas Ranger might enjoy.

Work began at the new Galvin Manufacturing Corporation in Chicago, just one day after being officially incorporated. In 1930, Galvin introduced the Motorola radio, the first mass-produced commercial car radio. The name had two parts: "motor" evoked cars and motion, while "ola" derived from "Victrola" and was supposed to make people think of music.

1930 Galvin Motorola car radio

Philippe Etancelin, driving a Bugatti Type 35C, won the French Grand Prix at Pau.

US blues singer Bessie Smith (43) was critically injured while travelling along US Route 61 in Mississippi in an old Packard. Her lover, Richard Morgan, was driving and misjudged the speed of a slow-moving truck ahead of him. Tire marks at the scene suggested that Morgan tried to avoid the truck by driving around its left side, but he hit the rear of the truck side-on at high speed. Continue Reading →

Bessie Smith

Robert A. Weinhardt, a design engineer with Ford, Packard, Kaiser-Frazer, and Willys, died at the age of 66. Weinhardt had helped design the first demountable disc wheels and shock absorbers.

The Kaiser-Frazier Corporation announced plans to produce a plastic-bodied sports car designed by Howard A 'Dutch' Darrin.

The New Central Office Building was dedicated at Michigan Avenue and Southfield Roads, in Dearborn. It was later renamed the Ford World Headquarters, then the HQ and Ford Credit Complex and finally the Henry Ford II World Center.

The Vespa 400, a rear-engined microcar, produced by ACMA (Ateliers de construction de motocycles et d'automobiles) in Fourchambault, France, made its public debut at a press presentation staged in Monaco. Two different versions were sold, "Lusso" and "Turismo". The 400 was a two seater with room behind the seats to accommodate luggage or two small children on an optional cushion. Continue Reading →

Vespa 400

Charles Erwin Wilson (71), American businessman and politician, died. He was United States Secretary of Defense from 1953 to 1957 under President Eisenhower, and had previously worked as CEO for General Motors.

The 1963 Chryslers were introduced.

The Ford Motor Company announced a two-year, 24,000 mile warranty on all of its 1963 cars and trucks

Vauxhall launched the new Viva, a small family saloon similar in size to BMC's 1100 and the Ford Anglia. It was Vauxhall's first serious step into the compact car market after the Second World War. The first new small car produced by Vauxhall since 1936, the Viva was powered by a 1,057 cc, overhead valve, four cylinder, front-mounted engine driving the rear wheels. Continue Reading →

The 11th Tokyo Motor Show opened. The Toyota Corona, the third generation RT 40, made its debut to compete with the Bluebird. Toyota equipped the Crown Eight with a V8 engine to contend with foreign cars, while Isuzu Bellet 1300 and 1500 Coupe & GT, and the 6 cylinder Skyline GT long-nosed "sheep skinned wolf" attracted attention. Continue Reading →

Toyota Crown Eight

A.J. Foyt, drove a Lotus-Ford to victory on the USAC Championship race on the kidney-shaped oval at Trenton, New Jersey.

The Mini Marcos made its racing debut at a rain soaked Castle Combe race track. Driven by Geoff Mabbs, it lapped all but one car to win the BRSCC race by 81 seconds at an average of 76 mph.

Mini Marcos

The Sportop option for the International Scout was introduced.

The Chevrolet Camaro "pony car" made its first public appearance. It was introduced as a 1967 model year and was designed as a competing model to the Ford Mustang. The first-generation Camaro was built through the 1969 model year. Continue Reading →

1968 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28

The Jaguar 240 and 340, relabelled Mark 2's, were launched as interim models to fill the gap until the introduction of the XJ6 in September 1968. Production of the 340 ceased with the introduction of the XJ6 but the 240 continued as a budget-priced model until April 1969; its price of £1,364 was only £20 more than the first 240 in 1956.

The XJ6 made its public debut at the Paris Motor Show. Sir William Lyons himself appeared in the advertisements for the car, declaring it to be the finest saloon Jaguar had ever made. The 4. Continue Reading →

Jaguar XJ6 series1

The first episode of the television show Knight Rider aired on this day, starring David Hasselhoff as private eye Michael Knight. However, the real star of the show was "KITT," his talking car. KITT, a modified Pontiac Firebird, complete with artificial intelligence and glowing red lights, assisted Michael in his detective work. Continue Reading →

Ernie Irvan won the Goody's 500 at Martinsville, Virginia (US) in his fourth start with the Robert Yates team. Irvan was wearing a Davey Allison T-shirt under his uniform in honor of the late driver he replaced on the Yates Ford team.

Alain Prost became only the second man after the legendary Juan Manuel Fangio to win four world championships when a second-place finish at the Portuguese Grand Prix secured him the title. Ironically, the winner was Schumacher, the man who went on to take five and equal Fangio. "These records only mean anything when you are racing," Prost said. Continue Reading →

Alain Prost - 1993

His Royal Highness the Prince of Asturias of Spain drove the 10,000,000th SEAT (a Toledo) off the Martorell assembly line.

A bank worker broke the world land-speed record for a blind person. Steve Cunningham, from Chacombe in Oxfordshire, broke the then record of 132.5 mph in a borrowed £70,000 Chrysler Viper, capable of 180 mph. The 36-year-old father-of-two reached a speed of 147 mph at the Bruntingthorpe airfield in Leicestershire.

Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada Inc. (TMMC) became the first automobile plant outside of Japan to manufacture the luxury brand of Lexus vehicles. The first Canadian-built Lexus RX 330, the luxury sport utility vehicle (SUV), rolled off a dedicated Lexus line at the plant in Cambridge, Ontario in view of TMMC team members, as well as Toyota executives from around the globe, and government dignitaries.

Bentley Motors announced that its all new coupé would be named the Bentley Continental GT and would go on sale in 2003.

Nils Ivar Bohlin (82), Swedish inventor of the three-point safety belt, died. Bohlin worked on the seat belt for about a year, using skills in developing ejection seats for SAAB; he concentrated on keeping the driver safe in a car accident. After testing the 3-point safety belt, he introduced his invention to the Volvo company in 1959 and received his first patent (number 3,043,625). Continue Reading →

Nils Bohlin

With Michael Schumacher's fifth consecutive title for Ferrari wrapped up before the end of August, it was team-mate Rubens Barrichello's chance to take his rewards for his yeoman-like support, and he followed victory a fortnight earlier at Monza with another win at the debut Chinese Grand Prix. The race as a spectacle was helped by Schumacher being forced to start from the back of the grid after a spin during qualifying, and without him dominating there was a real ding-dong battle, less than a second and a half covering Barrichello, Jenson Button and the McLaren- Mercedes of Kimi Raikkonen at the finish. Richard Williams in the Guardian said of the new venue that it was an "outstanding new track, which combines a rich architectural spectacle with a layout that encourages the drivers to attempt the overtaking manoeuvres that used to be the point of motor racing. Continue Reading →

Michael Schumacher, Ferrari F2004, 2004

Bentley announced the introduction of the W12 561hp convertible Continental GTC.

Bentley Continental GTC

The ⅞ mile ocal paved Iowa Speedway, in Newton, Iowa (US) track opened with the Soy Biodiesel 250, won by Woody Howard, for the USAR Hooters Pro Cup Four Champions playoff.

The United Auto Workers union and General Motors Corp reached a tentative contract, ending a national strike by 73,000 workers with a groundbreaking deal that included a health-care trust fund. The Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association (VEBA) was administered by the union and took on some $51 billion in health-care liabilities.

Top 1 Oil Ack Attack reached the blistering speed of 360.913 mph to reclaim the absolute world speed record for motorcycles. Owned by Mike Akatiff and driven by Rocky Robinson, the 20-foot-long Ack Attack was powered by 900 hp 2600cc heavily-modded Suzuki Twin Hayabusa engines. Continue Reading →

Top 1 Oil Ack Attack

Switzerland temporarily banned the sale of Volkswagen (VW) diesel-engine models which could have devices capable of tricking emission tests.