On This Day

Henry Ford accepted his first order from Chicago Dentist Ernst Pfenning for an $850 two-cylinder Model A automobile. 1,750 cars were made from 1903 through 1904 during Ford's occupancy of its first facility: the Ford Mack Avenue Plant, a modest rented wood frame building on Detroit's East Side. The Model A was replaced by the Ford Model C during 1904 with some sales overlap. Continue Reading →

Advertisment for the Model A from a December 15, 1903 newspaper

Clarence E Bonner of Chrisman, Illinois, US introduced the Bonner six-cylinder touring car by making a promotional drive to Paris, Illinois, but production was limited to this prototype and possibly one additional unit.

The first Model T was sold.

Jake DeRosier, on an Indian, defeated Charlie Collier, on a Matchless, in a 10 lap (22 mile) motorcycle race at Brooklands, England. He was one of the first factory-backed motorcycle racers of the early 20th Century. He rode for Indian and then Excelsior, and was the fastest rider in the United States in the early 1900s. Continue Reading →

Jake DeRosier

Dodge Brothers, Inc. was incorporated to manufacture Dodge Brothers automobiles with an initial sale of $5 million in shares of common stock.

The Unites States Army ordered 150 Dodge cars for use in the Mexican campaign.

The Fuel Research Board in London initiated research into alternatives to petrol, stating that Britain would have 0.75 million cars by 1921.

The first 24-hour road race run in Europe, the Bol d’or at Sainte-Germain, was won by Andre Morel in a 1,100cc Amilcar at 37.54 mph.

The first all-steel Dodge brothers 4-door saloon body was completed by Edward G Budd Manufacturing Company of Philadelphia, US.

The Bugatti Type 30 made its racing debut, with Pierre de Vizcaya and Pierre Marco taking second and third places at the French Grand Prix in Strasbourg.

Bugatti Type 30

The Mercedes-Benz SS made its racing debut at the German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring and occupied the top three places - Halle in an Amilcar and Vinzenz Junek in a Bugatti were killed in accidents during the race.

Mercedes-Benz SS

Francis Birtles driving a 14 hp Bean, arrived in Sydney to complete the first overland trip from England to Australia by car. He departed from Australia House in London on 19 October 1927, farewelled by a crowd of wellwishers including the 1927 Miss Australia. In an era when there were few roads and gasoline supplies sparse, the epic eight-month journey carried him across mountains, deserts and through tropical jungles and included a number of sea voyages – the last being from Singapore to Darwin. Continue Reading →

Francis Birtles

Carl Fisher (65), the founder of both the Indy 500 and Miami Beach, died in Miami. Born in Greensburg, Indiana, Fisher grew up racing cars and bicycles and aspired to be a successful inventor. He turned out to be a better businessman than an inventor, and left his first imprint on the business world when he partnered with Fred Avery, who held the patent for pressing carbide gas into tanks. Continue Reading →

Carl Fisher

During the night of 15 to 16 July, RAF Lancaster planes bombarded Peugeot car-manufacturing factories at Sochaux, near Montbéliard, France. The raid caused little damage but over 100 French civilian workers were killed.

Full-scale production of the Ford Edsel began. The 1958 Edsel came in two sizes. "Big and bigger" you might say, but they are actually two distinctly different designs. Continue Reading →

Edsel - 1958 - advert

John Lennon’s mother, Julia, was struck and killed by a Standard Vanguard car, driven by an off-duty constable, PC Eric Clague, whilst crossing Mendlove Road in Liverpool. Clague who was a learner driver, was acquitted of all charges and given a short suspension from duty.

The first Jaguar Mark 2 saloon was produced. The Mark 2 gained a reputation as a capable car among criminals and law enforcement alike; the 3.8 Litre model being particularly fast with its 220 bhp (164 kW) engine driving the car from 0-60 mph (97 km/h) in 8. Continue Reading →

Jaguar Mark 2 sales brochure

Following a wet weekend, with torrential rain affecting both qualifying and the race start, the British Grand Prix at Aintree was ultimately dominated by Scuderia Ferrari, with their drivers taking all three podium positions. The race was won by German Wolfgang von Trips, who had led for much of the race after starting from fourth place. This was von Trips's second and last Grand Prix victory, as two races later he was killed in an accident during the 1961 Italian Grand Prix. Continue Reading →

Start of the 1961 British Grand Prix, Aintree

Jim Clark kick-started his faltering season with victory in the British Grand Prix. Lotus had the fastest car but struggled with transmission problems - both cars had retired while running 1-2 in the French Grand Prix a fortnight earlier - but as Clark and Graham Hill dominated all seemed to be right at Silverstone. Hill led up to the 55th lap when his car suffered from a rear suspension issues and then engine failure, but Clark held on.

Jim Clark - 1967 British Grand Prix

Richard Petty led all the way in the Islip 250, the final race for NASCAR’s top series at Islip (New York, US) Speedway, in an event shortened by 20 laps because of scoring confusion. Petty started from the pole and led all 230 laps, finishing two laps ahead of Friday Hassler, who posted his career-best finish in second. Elmo Langley was third, six laps down at the end. Continue Reading →

Islip Speedway

Emerson Fittipaldi won an eventful British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch. Jackie Icyx led early on before retiring with oil pressure problems, while Ronnie Peterson appeared set to take fourth place when his engine cut out and he crashed into the abandoned cars of Graham Hill and Francois Cevert.

Emerson Fittipaldi, British Grand Prix 1972

The last International truck, a Transtar conventional semi-tractor, was completed at Fort Wayne, Illinois, US plant as all production was shifted to the Springfield, Ohio plant.

England international footballer Laurie Cunningham (33), was killed in a car crash in Madrid. While at Real Madrid he achieved two landmarks; he was both the first English player in the club's history, and was also the first black player.

Alain Prost secured his third successive win at the British Grand Prix to move ahead of Ayrton Senna in the drivers' championship. The early battle had been between Senna and Nigel Mansell as the pair swapped the lead, but mechanical problems took their toll on Mansell while Senna spun off, allowing Prost to cruise home. A fuming Mansell, who eventually had to retire on the 56th lap, said afterwards that he was "much quicker than anyone else … I'm bound to wonder why these problems don't happen to the other guys". Continue Reading →

1990 British Grand Prix

The last Cadillac Allante was produced.

Cadillac Allante

The one millionth Porsche rolled off the assembly line, a Carrera for the Swabian police force.

Aerosmith drummer Joey Kramer narrowly escaped serious injury as his Ferrari convertible was destroyed when a leak in the gas tank hose caused the fuel to ignite at a gas station near his Scituate, Massachusetts home. Kramer suffered minor burns on his hands, arms, and one leg.

A car designed by the Microjoule Team from Toulouse, France, achieved a performance of 9,845 mpg at the Shell Eco Marathon at Silverstone in Northamptonshire. It was driven by 14-year-old Julien Lebrigand and 10-year-old Thibaud Maindru.

Two men caught on camera for dangerous driving escaped prosecution. In a landmark case Judge Peter Crawford ruled that the police letter sent to motorists caught on speed cameras required them to incriminate themselves and was therefore in breach of their human rights under European law.

In his period of dominance, the British Grand Prix was a rare failure for Michael Schumacher as he failed to win despite taking pole, the victory going to Mike Hakkinen. For Heinz-Harald Frentzen it marked the end of his time with Jordan who sacked him following a disappointing season.

Rookie Kevin Harvick held off Robert Pressley to win the inaugural race at Chicagoland Speedway, Illinois, US. The victory was Harvick's second of the season. Jeff Gordon and Dale Jarrett were locked in a tie for the lead in the championship points race.

Following extensive wind tunnel testing, the final design of the first A1GP race car was shown in public for the first time at the Farnborough International Air Show in the UK.

A supercar set a new land speed record for central London of 175.7mph on an airport runway. The £317,500 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren hit the top speed during a challenge event at London City Airport.

Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren

Luxury carmaker Jaguar, owned by India's Tata Motors, announced it would end Liverpool production of its X-Type car by the end of the year with the loss of up to 300 jobs.

Jaguar X-Type

The first all-new model from MG in the UK for 16 years, the MG 6, was officially launched. Derived from the Roewe 550, it was distantly related to the Rover 75, sharing its front subframe. The MG 6 was initially announced in April 2009 at the Shanghai Auto Show, as a five door hatchback/fastback and in October 2010 at Shanghai Expo as a four door notchback saloon model. Continue Reading →

MG 6

Nissan launched a new Datsun in India, three decades after shelving the brand that helped win Western acceptance of Japanese autos. The reimagined Datsun, a five-seat hatchback, went on sale in India in 2014 for under 400,000 rupees (about $6,670).

Datsun Go (2013)

A Toyota GT86 set the world record for the longest drift. Germany’s Harald Müller spent an incredible 89.55 miles sideways in Samsun, Turkey, on 15 July 2014. Müller was at the wheel for nearly two-and-a-half hours pirouetting the coupe around a 235-metre course, during which time he racked up 612 laps – and that was his second attempt.

The Chinese built Noi EP9 became the fastest electric production car to ascend the hill climb in front of the Goodwood House, West Sussex, England. With a time of 44.32 seconds in the Festival of Speed’s ‘Final Shoot Out’, the time also represents the fifth fastest official timed run to be set during the event’s 25-year history.