On This Day

Steam road vehicle pioneer Richard Trevithick (62) died in Dartford, Kent, England. Trevithick spent his youth at Illogan in the tin-mining district of Cornwall and attended the village school. The schoolmaster described him as “disobedient, slow and obstinate. Continue Reading →

Richard Trevithick

Hancock’s steam omnibus, Enterprise, began a regular service between London Wall and Paddington via Islington, England. It was the first regular steam carriage service, and was the first mechanically propelled vehicle specially designed for omnibus work to be operated. The engine worked on a crank and iron chains applied the power to the back wheels. Continue Reading →

Enterprise

The Turin-Pinerolo-Saluzzo-Cuneo-Turin road race was won by L Gastè driving a Perfecta 6 hp tricycle, who completed the 131 km at an average speed of 64.5 km/h.

The Targa Florio held at Madonie over 3 laps of the 92.473 mile circuit, totaling 277.42 miles, was won Felice Nazzaro in a Fiat.

Felice Nazzaro, 1907 Targa Florio, Fiat race car

The first British Motorcycle Racing Club (BMCRC) race meeting was held at Brooklands.

The Packard Six, later called the Model I-48, was introduced.

Under the headline "Automobilism: the Wear of Roads and Trackways", The Times, published an early comment on the expense of the construction and maintenance of roads as traffic became more mechanical and of greater volume. The correspondent pointed out that although a reasonable average width of a main road was 18 feet, the wheels of the vehicles together touched only about 6 inches of the surface. Thus, to save the expense of renewing the surface of the whole 18ft width, he offered the solution that roads be prepared with plateways. Continue Reading →

Leland F Goodspeed, Chief Engineer of the Roamer Motor Car Company, set an unofficial stock car speed record of 105.08 mph at Daytona Beach, Florida, US driving a Roamer D-4-75 with a 4-cylinder Rochester-Duesenberg engine.

Racer Fred Wells (26) was killed when the Wells Hornet, a car he had designed , crashed during a test run on the Long Island Parkway between Central islip and Brentwood, New York, US.

Ray Keech set a one-mile land speed record of 207.552 mph driving the 81 litre triple-engined internal combustion White-Triplex at Daytona Beach, US. His record was broken by Henry Segrave on March 11, 1929. Continue Reading →

Keech in front of the Triplex, 1928

Sir Frederick Henry Royce (70), joint founder of Rolls Royce Ltd., died in West Wittering, West Sussex, England. The first Rolls-Royce car, the Rolls-Royce 10 hp, was unveiled at the Paris Salon in December 1904. Continue Reading →

Frederich Henry Royce

The Alessandria Circuit Grand Prix, held in Bordino, Italy was won by Achille Varzi in an Alfa Romeo B/P3. The event consisted of two heats with five drivers from each heat going to the final. Scuderia Ferrari driver Tadini led the first heat, run in rain, before being passed by his team mate Chiron. Continue Reading →

Alfred Neubauer, the head of the Mercedes team, ignored Hitler's instructions that only German drivers should drive German cars and hired the best drivers available to drive the new 3.99 litre, 460 hp W25 at the Monaco Grand Prix. The mechanics looked more like laboratory assistants, the engine oil needed to be pre-heated to become fluid, mechanical parts were covered in electrical heated blankets and the fuel was the same as used in the V1 rockets. Continue Reading →

Alfred Neubauer

The 2.267 mile Campbell Circuit opened at Brooklands. The lap record of 77.79 mph was set by Raymond Mays driving an ERA.

The Campbell Circuit

The man who coined the words "petrol" and "motorcar" and founded of the Royal Automobile Club, and the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, Frederick Richard Simms (80), died. In 1889, the 26-year-old Simms met and became firm friends with Gottlieb Daimler, from whom in 1890 he purchased the rights for the use and manufacture of Daimler's high-speed petrol engine and other patents, in the British Empire – 'England and the colonies' (excluding Canada). They were first used in motor launches but soon paved the way for the start-up of the British motor industry. Continue Reading →

Frederick Richard Simms

Gigi Villoresi drove a Maserati 4CL to victory in the first post-World War II Grand Prix, in Nice, France. According to some sources this was the first official Formula 1 race.

The San Remo Grand Prix was held at .Autodromo di Ospedaletti, in San Remo, Liguria, Italy. It was the fourth race of the 1951 Formula One season. Continue Reading →

Marshall Teague drove his "Teaguemobile" Hudson Hornet to victory in the 150 mile NASCAR Grand National race on the Arizona State Fairgrounds 1 mile dirt oval. On lap 72, Teague hooked bumpers with the lapped car of Al King, sending King's Ford flipping. Teague stopped, got out of his car and checked to make sure King was OK before continuing in the race. Continue Reading →

Marshall Teague - 1951

Stirling Moss, in a privately entered Maserati 250F, won the Aintree 200, a non-championship Formula One race.

Walt Faulkner (38), the first rookie to win pole position at the Indianapolis 500, died after a qualifying crash at a USAC Stock Car event in Vallejo, California.

Walt Faulkner

Buck Baker drove one of the Kiekhaefer team Chrysler juggernauts to victory in the NASCAR GN race on the 1 mile circular dirt Langhorne Speedway, Pennsylvania, US. Future star Fred Lorenzen made his GN debut, finishing 26th.

Carroll Shelby drove a Ferrari to victory in the 100 mile 'Del Monte Trophy' race held on the 2.1 mile Pebble Beach public road circuit. The race was marred by an accident fatal to Ernie McAfee. Continue Reading →

Jean Behra in a Maserati 250F won the Pau Grand Prix run over 110 laps of the Pau temporary street circuit in France.

The VI Aintree 200 run to Formula One rules at Aintree Circuit, was won by Australian driver Jack Brabham in a Cooper T55.

In the 'Virginia 500' won by his son Richard, Lee Petty made his first start since being badly injured in a 1961 Daytona qualifier, finishing 5th with relief help. Junior Johnson used the outside to move from 26th starting to the lead in 56 laps. Johnson later retired with rear gearing problems.

Ford Motor Company's Wonder Rotunda opened at the New York World's Fair.

The first Earth Day was held in communities all across the US. Earth Day was the creation of Senator Gaylord Nelson. As he describes it, a number of senators were concerned about the state of the country's environment in the early 1960s. Continue Reading →

Vern Schuppan drove his March 722 to victory in the Singapore Grand Prix, a 50 lap Formula Libre race held on the public road Upper Thomson circuit. Singapore's National Sports Promotion Board was the driving force behind the event (the write-up noted: "few governments of the free world take such a direct interest in motor sport.. Continue Reading →

Birrana Engineering chief Malcolm Ramsay in his Birrana 273 '010' Ford Hart during the 1973 Singapore Grand Prix.

Richard Petty enjoyed a dominant day at Martinsville Speedway to capture the Virginia 500, notching his first victory in a Chevrolet. Petty, known for driving for several manufacturers over the course of his career, started second and led 247 of the 500 laps. Buddy Baker led 196 laps and drove home second, four seconds behind at the finish. Continue Reading →

Darrell Waltrip, driving the #88 Chevy, manages to keep #11 Cale Yarborough and #43 Richard Petty at bay during 1979 Virginia 500 at Martinsville Speedway.

Two buses collided in Havana, Cuba, killing 11 and seriously injuring 13.

At the 66th Turin International Motor Show, the series version of the Mercedes-Benz SLK was publicly presented for the first time. The designation "SLK" derives from the company's design mission to create a roadster that was at once sporty, light and short—in German: sportlich (sporty), leicht (light) und kurz (short). It was powered by a 193 hp 2. Continue Reading →

Mercedes-Benz SLK

President. Bush declared hydrogen to be the fuel of the future in an Earth Day speech in Sacramento on the 2nd day of his visit to California.

A car scrappage scheme was introduced in the United Kingdom Budget by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling. Any car which was over 10 years old and had been in a person’s possession for at least 12 months attracted a payment of £1000 from the government and a discount of £1000 from a manufacturers towards the purchase of a new car.