Henry Ford II, known as “Hank” to many, was born on September 4, 1917, in Detroit, Michigan, to Edsel Ford and Eleanor Clay Ford. He was the eldest grandson of the legendary automotive pioneer Henry Ford, who had founded the Ford Motor Company. Growing up in the shadow of the company’s success, young Henry was […] The post August 29, 1987 – Henry Ford II dies appeared first on This Day In Automotive History.| This Day In Automotive History
On August 7, 2001, Ford and Navistar joined forces to create the Blue Diamond Truck Co. The venture would last about 15 years.| This Day In Automotive History
There many not have been any cars on Watkins Glen Grand Prix Raceway on this day in 1973, but 600,000 people still showed up. For what? One heck of a concert. Summer Jam drew the record-breaking crowd to the track to see performances by The Band, The Allman Brothers Band and the Grateful Dead. The […]| This Day In Automotive History
There are few automobiles that feature such innovation as the 1936/7Cord 810/812. Designed by a host of industry superstars, including Gordon M. Buehrig and Alex Tremulis, who would later offer his skills to the 1948 Tucker, the Cord 810 combined luxury, speed, futurism, and ultimately, failure. Originally, The 810 was supposed to be a Duesenberg, […] The post July 19, 1934 – Patent filed for retractable headlights for Cord appeared first on This Day In Automotive History.| This Day In Automotive History
Italian car designer Carlo Chiti, who shares a birthday with the inventor of sliced bread, was born on this day in 1924 in Tuscany. On his fourth birthday, in the far away land of Missouri, USA, the first loaf of presliced bread would be sold. Presumably, he and his family continued to break bread the […] The post July 7, 1924 – Alfa Romeo & Ferrari designer Carlo Chiti is born appeared first on This Day In Automotive History.| This Day In Automotive History
The final Renault CV4, the first French car to reach one million production units, left the assembly line on July 6, 1961.| This Day In Automotive History
On this day in 1942 four prisoners of the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz staged a daring escape utilizing a stolen SS member’s personal vehicle, a Steyr 220 sedan, to drive right out the front gate. The escapees were three Polish prisoners, Kazimierz Piechowski, Stanisław Gustaw Jaster and Józef Lempart, along with a prisoner who was […]| This Day In Automotive History
The Grand Prix de l’Automobile Club de France, the first Grand Prix event in France, started on this day in 1906 and would come to an end the following evening. Each day of the race had the drivers completing six laps of a 103.18-kilometre (64.11 mi) circuit composed of closed public roads outside the city […]| This Day In Automotive History
The last true Packard rolled out of the Packard plant in Detroit on this day in 1956. The name lived for two more years on re-badged Studebakers built in Indiana. Packard is said to be born out of a feud that started in 1898 between James Ward Packard and Alexander Winton, the founder of Winton […]| This Day In Automotive History
Juan Manuel Fangio, born in Argentina on June 24, 1911, dominated the first decade of Formula One with five World Championships.| This Day In Automotive History
The movie Le Mans starring Steve McQueen debuted on June 23, 1971. McQueen's character Michael Delaney drives a Porsche 917K.|The movie Le Mans starring Steve McQueen debuted on June 23, 1971. McQueen's character Michael Delaney drives a Porsche 917K.| This Day In Automotive History
On this day in 2001 The Fast and the Furious debuted in theaters around the globe, launching one of the most successful film and entertainment empires to date. To date it is the tenth highest grossing film series ever, raking in $5.8 billion to date. The ninth film in the series scheduled for release in […]| This Day In Automotive History
Brian Wilson, a founding member of the iconic band The Beach Boys, passed away on June 11, 2025 at the age of 82.| This Day In Automotive History
The first Porsche was registered on June 8, 1948. It lead to the first production Porsche sports car, the Porsche 356.| This Day In Automotive History