February 11, 1959, Marshall Teague, a famous NASCAR driver and racing pioneer, lost his life at the age of 37 during the newly opened Daytona International Speedway while attempting to break the speed record . […]
12 car features that were banned for a reason (and why we secretly want them back) Older cars possessed a distinctive character that modern vehicles sacrifice in pursuit of safety regulations, emissions compliance, and standardized […]
Start your Engines! If you consider yourself a classic car enthusiast, chances are you can distinguish not only makes and models, but different years as well, just by a single glance at the body. Heck, […]
After the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941, the U.S. entered World War II, and car companies quickly switched from making civilian vehicles to building war supplies. On February 10, 1942 Ford finished its last regular […]
On February 9th 1846, the father of the modern automobile was born. Wilhelm Maybach, a pioneering German inventor and engineer who is famous for his work in shaping the early car industry. While many people […]
On February 8th, 1891, a mechanical pioneer named Frederick Simms wrote a letter to his solicitor that would change the way we talk about travel forever. In that letter, Simms used a specific term for […]
On February 6, 2000, for one full Sunday, 14 Italian cities, including Rome, Florence and Milan, had a full no-car day to combat rising pollution, reclaim urban spaces for the people and to promote Italy’s […]
On February 4, 1922, Henry Ford, encouraged by his wife, Clara, and his son, Edsel, purchased the Lincoln Motor Company for $8 million. This acquisition marked the beginning of the creation of an iconic American […]
On February 2, 1962, the very first Shelby Cobra prototype, CSX2000, arrived in the United States, marking the birth of Shelby American and a new era in American performance. The story of the Cobra began […]
February 1, 1898, marks the date The Travelers Insurance Company issued the very first automobile insurance policy in the United States. The policy was issued to Dr. Truman J. Martin, a physician from Buffalo, NY, for […]
On January 30, 1920, Jujiro Matsuda founded a company called Toyo Cork Kogyo Co. in Hiroshima, Japan, initially operating as a cork-making factory. A little over a decade later, Toyo Cork Kogyo transitioned into vehicle […]
On January 29, 1886, a German engineer named Karl Benz changed the world forever. He filed a patent for his gas-engine-powered vehicle, which we now know as the Benz Patent-Motorwagen, and this was the day […]
On January 28, 1896, a man named Walter Arnold made history in a way he probably didn’t want to. He became the first person ever to be caught speeding in a motorized vehicle. Mr. Arnold […]
On January 27, 1965, Carroll Shelby, the legendary racer and designer, launched the first Shelby GT350 based off of 1965 Ford Mustang fastbacks, and named after the designer and World War II aircraft. Shelby had […]
On January 26, 1979, American television audiences were introduced to the fictional Hazzard County, Georgia, marking the debut of “The Dukes of Hazzard” on CBS. The show centered on the adventures of cousins Bo and […]
January 24 is a significant date in Formula 1 history, marked by the birth of some of the famous F1 champions, one of them is the American Scott Speed. Born in Manteca, California, in 1983, […]
15 nostalgic (& ugly) ’70s cars The 1970s brought us disco, bell-bottoms, and automotive abominations. Between fuel crises and emissions regulations, automakers unleashed vehicles that were equal parts nostalgic charm and aesthetic disaster. AMC Gremlin […]
On January 21, 1899, the German company Opel produced its first automobile, marking a turning point for a family business that had previously been known for sewing machines and bicycles. The step into motorized vehicles […]
On January 20, 2009, Italian automaker Fiat and the struggling American manufacturer Chrysler announced a nonbinding global alliance that would reshape both companies at the height of the worldwide financial crisis. The agreement gave Fiat […]
15 nostalgic (& ugly) ’60s cars If you watched these automotive disasters roll off dealership lots, you witnessed questionable design choices that became rolling time capsules of automotive ambition gone awry, yet somehow earned nostalgic […]
On January 19, 1903, a bold announcement appeared in the French sports newspaper L’Auto that would forever change the world of athletics and sports journalism. Facing declining readership and fierce competition, the paper revealed plans […]
On January 18, 1919, engineer and entrepreneur Walter Owen “W.O.” Bentley founded Bentley Motors Ltd. in London with a straightforward ambition: to build “a good car, a fast car, the best in its class.” The […]
Muscle cars collectors obsess over that most people have never heard of Everyone knows about GTOs, Mustangs, and Camaros. Serious collectors hunt down entirely different machines that rewrote performance history before vanishing into obscurity. AMC […]
The Chevrolet Corvette made its public debut on January 17, 1953, when General Motors pulled the cover off a sleek concept car at the company’s annual Motorama show inside New York City’s Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. The […]
Car safety features that sounded smart but turned out to be disasters Car designers have always promised that the next big innovation would make driving safer, smarter, and nearly foolproof. From buzzers that scolded distracted […]
January 15th celebrates the birthday of Jean Bugatti, the eldest son of Ettore Bugatti, the founder of Automobiles E. Bugatti. Jean Bugatti was born in Cologne, Germany. Jean played a very influential role in the […]
Cars that were legal for years before anyone realized how unsafe they were Automotive history contains numerous vehicles sold legally for years despite serious safety defects. Manufacturers knew about dangerous flaws but calculated that fixing […]
On January 13th, 1942, Henry Ford received a patent for the construction of the first plastic car. Ford, a renowned American innovator, created the Soybean or Hemp Body car, as he aspired to build a […]
January 14, 1954, marks the anniversary of the merger of the Nash-Kelvinator Corporation and the Hudson Motor Car Company. The merger challenged the Big Three in the automotive industry: General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler to […]
Automotive trends from the ’60s and ’70s that would never pass inspection today Driving in the 1960s and 1970s meant navigating vehicles specifically designed for style over survival. These nine trends illustrate how far safety […]