This Day in Automotive History

[Landrover]

November 9, 1960
On this day in 1960, Robert McNamara becomes the president of the Ford Motor Company. He would hold the job for less than a month, heading to Washington in December to join President John F. Kennedy's cabinet. McNamara served as the secretary of defense under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson until he resigned in 1968. That year, he became the president of the World Bank, a job he held until 1981.
At the end of World War II, Ford was in tatters. Henry Ford was still in charge, but he was getting old and increasingly senile; furthermore, since he had made no secret of his pacifist, anti-Semitic and anti-union convictions, many people were reluctant to do business with him or to buy one of his cars. The company had been steadily losing money since the stock market crash of 1929, and by 1945 it was losing about $9 million every month.
At GM and Chrysler, by contrast, business was booming. In order to catch up, in September 1945 Henry Ford's wife and daughter-in-law presented the elderly man with an ultimatum: make 28-year-old Henry Ford II (the elder Ford's grandson) the company's president, or his mother would sell her controlling stake in the company to the highest bidder.
Left without much choice, the elder Ford gave in and put his grandson in charge. Right away, Ford II hired 10 "Whiz Kids," including McNamara, all straight out of the Army Air Corps and all with training in economics and statistics from places like Harvard, Stanford, Berkeley and Princeton. These "Whiz Kids" managed to streamline the company and make it profitable again, in part by creating a sleek new look for Ford cars. The company's '49 coupe, with its "spinner" grille, slab sides and integrated fenders, was an immediate hit.
In all, McNamara spent 14 years at Ford, before heading to Washington, D.C., where he served under both Kennedy and President Lyndon Johnson. McNamara was a key advisor to Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crisis and is credited with using his management skills to help the Pentagon function more efficiently. He is also known as an engineer of America's Vietnam War policy under both Kennedy and Nixon, an often-criticized role that he later discussed in the 2003 documentary The Fog of War.
McNamara left the Pentagon in early 1968, and then spent 12 years as head of the World Bank.

He died on July 6, 2009 at 93 years old.
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November 9, 1989
East German citizens were allowed to buy western cars.

Source:
The History Channel
Wikipedia​

 

[Landrover]

November 10, 1885
Paul Daimler, son of German engineer Gottlieb Daimler, became first motorcyclist when he rode his father's new invention for six miles; frame and wheels made of wood; leather belt transferred power from engine to large brass gears mounted to rear wheel; no suspension (front or rear); single cylinder engine had bore of 58mm, stroke of 100mm giving a displacement of 264cc's, gave 0.5hp at 700 rpm, top speed was 12 km/h.

November 10, 1965
On this day, Formula One racer Eddie Irvine was born in Newtownards, Northern Ireland. In 1996, Irvine won a coveted place on the Ferrari team, racing alongside the likes of World Champion Michael Schumacher, but Irvine is also famous as one of the last of Formula One's most endangered species--the playboy racing driver. The popular bachelor, who maintains an impressive neutrality in regard to his British or Irish nationality, has not won a grand prix as of 1998, yet enjoyed seven career-podium finishes and reached a Formula One ranking of fourth in the world in 1998. Irvine got his start in racing at the young age of 17, competing in his father's Crossle FF 1600 Chassis, and by 1988 had worked his way up to British Formula Three series. 1990 saw him driving for the Jordan F3000 team, and he won his first race at Hockinheim that year, finishing third overall in the series. In the fall of 1993, Irvine made his Formula One debut driving for Sasol Jordan, and at the Suzuki racetrack in Japan he placed sixth, becoming the first driver since Jean Alesi to score points on a Formula One debut. In his first few years of Formula One racing, Irvine, a notoriously fearless and reckless driver, earned the nickname "Irv the Swerve." However, he also demonstrated enough driving potential to be offered the number-two position on the championship Ferrari team in 1996.

Source:
The History Channel
Wikipedia​

 

[Landrover]

November 11, 1926
Official numerical designation 66 (Will Rogers Highway) assigned to the Chicago-to-Los Angeles Route (2,448 miles). It is one of nation's principal east-west arteries; diagonal course linked hundreds of predominately rural communities in Illinois, Missouri, Kansas to Chicago; enabled farmers to transport grain, produce for redistribution; diagonal configuration of Route 66 particularly significant to trucking industry (rivaled railroad for preeminence in American shipping) traversed essentially flat prairie lands, enjoyed more temperate climate than northern highways.

November 11, 1949
Rex Mays, a 1993 inductee into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame, earned his place among the all-time greats of motor racing as much for his willingness to put the welfare of others before his own as for his actual racing ability. Mays got his start on the West Coast midget racing circuit in the 1930s, winning numerous races before entering national competition where he added sprint and champ-car racing to his repertoire. In 1934, he entered the racing big leagues when he placed ninth in his first Indianapolis 500. Mays never managed to win the esteemed event, but he placed second in 1940 and 1941, the same two years that he won the national titles for champ-car racing. In 1941, Mays gave up the fame and fortune of motor racing to serve his country as an Air Force pilot during World War II. After the war, Mays returned to racing. Although he was not as winning a racer as before the war, two separate incidents demonstrated the distinction of his character, and guaranteed his venerable place in the racing history books. In June of 1948, while competing in a champ-car race at the Milwaukee Mile in Wisconsin, Mays deliberately crashed into a wall, nearly ending his life, in order to avoid hitting racer Duke Dinsmore, who was thrown from his car a moment before. And in the fall of 1949, at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse, New York, May prevented a possible fan riot when he silently took to the racetrack alone after other racers refused to compete because of a dispute over prize money. One by one the other racers joined him and violence was prevented. A few months later, on November 11, 1949, Rex Mays was killed during a race held at Del Mar, California, when he was run over by another car after being thrown from his vehicle in a mishap. In addition to his place in the Motorsports Hall of Fame, Rex is honored with a special plaque at the Milwaukee Mile, at the exact spot on the Turn One wall where he nearly gave up his life to save another.

November 11, 1978
On this day in 1978, a stuntman on the Georgia set of "The Dukes of Hazzard" launches the show's iconic automobile, a 1969 Dodge Charger named the General Lee, off a makeshift dirt ramp and over a police car. That jump, 16 feet high and 82 feet long (its landing totaled the car), made TV history. Although more than 300 different General Lees appeared in the series, which ran on CBS from 1979 until 1985, this first one was the only one to play a part in every episode: That jump over the squad car ran every week at the end of the show's opening credits.
The General Lee was a neon-orange Charger with "01" painted on the doors, a Confederate flag on the roof, and a horn that played the first 12 notes of the song "Dixie." It belonged to the Dukes of Hazzard themselves, the cousins Bo (played by actor John Schneider) and Luke Duke (actor Tom Wopat), who used it to get out of dangerous scrapes and away from the corrupt county commissioner Boss Hogg. Scenes featuring the General Lee are some of the show's most memorable: Luke Duke sliding sideways across the car's hood; the boys hopping feet-first through the windows (the Charger's doors were welded shut, so the windows were the only way to get in and out); the General flying over ditches, half-open drawbridges and police cruisers.
Because practically every one of the General Lee's stunts ended up wrecking the car, the show's prop masters bought every 1969 Dodge Charger they could find (and there were plenty: the Chrysler Corporation sold about 85,000 in all). Then they outfitted each one for action, adding a roll cage to the inside, a protective push bar to the nose and heavy-duty shock absorbers and springs to the suspension. The prop masters also tampered with the brakes to make it easier to do the 180-degree "Bootleggers' Turn" that so often helped the Duke boys evade Boss Hogg. Cars used for jumps also got trunks full of concrete or lead ballast to keep them from flipping over in midair.
While "The Dukes of Hazzard" was on the air, the General Lee got about 35,000 fan letters each month. Fans bought millions of remote-controlled and toy versions of the car, and some even modified their real cars to look like the Dukes' Charger. Indianapolis DJ Travis Bell restored the original General Lee in 2006.


November 11, 1989
In 1935, British car designer William Lyons introduced the SS Jaguar 100 as a new marque for his Swallow Sidecar Company. Swallow Sidecar had been manufacturing complete luxury cars for four years, but the SS Jaguar 100 was Lyons' first true sports car. During World War II, Lyons dropped the Swallow Sidecar name, and the politically incorrect SS initials, and Jaguar Cars Ltd. was formally established. The first significant postwar Jaguar, the XK 120, was introduced in 1948 at the London Motor Show to great acclaim. Capable of speeds in excess of 120mph, the XK 120 was the fastest production car in the world, and is considered by many to be one of the finest sports cars ever made. Over the next three decades, Jaguar became the epitome of speed coupled with elegance, and the company flourished as its racing division racked up countless trophies. On this day in 1989, Jaguar entered a new era when the company became a subsidiary of the Ford Motor Company. The integrity of the Jaguar marque was recognized and maintained, and throughout the 1990s the company continued to produce distinguished automobiles such as the Jaguar XK8 and the luxurious Vanden Plas.

Rex Mays


1969 Charger, The General Lee

Source:
The History Channel
Wikipedia​

 

[jalex]

Wow I love the Charger in the General Lee colours. Its a car with an attitude.

I saw a video of it in action on YouTube. Was sideways most of the time. But it sure is fun.

 

[Landrover]

November 12, 1927
The Holland Tunnel between New York City and Jersey City, New Jersey, was officially opened on this day when President Calvin Coolidge telegraphed a signal from the presidential yacht, Mayflower, anchored in the Potomac River. Within an hour, over 20,000 people had walked the 9,250-foot distance between New York and New Jersey under the Hudson River, and the next day the tunnel opened for automobile service. The double-tubed underwater tunnel, the first of its kind in the United States, was built to accommodate nearly 2,000 vehicles per hour. Chief engineer Clifford Milburn Holland resolved the problem of ventilation by creating a highly advanced ventilation system that changed the air over 30 times an hour at the rate of over 3,000,000 cubic feet per minute.

November 12, 1946
On this day, the Exchange National Bank of Chicago, Illinois, instituted the first drive-in banking service in America, and anticipated a cultural phenomenon that would sweep across America in the coming decade. In 1946, America's Big Three automobile companies were still engaged in the laborious process of retooling from war production to civilian automobile company. With the influx of returning soldiers, and economic signs pointing to a period of great American prosperity, market demand for automobiles was high. At first, U.S. carmakers responded by offering their old pre-war models, but beginning in 1949, the first completely redesigned postwar cars hit the market, and Americans embraced the automotive industry as never before. By the early 1950s, the U.S. was a nation on wheels. With a seemingly endless reserve of cheap gas available, drive-in culture--featuring everything from drive-in movie theaters to drive-in grocery stores--flourished alongside America's highways and main streets. In 1946, the Exchange National Bank of Chicago anticipated the rise of America's drive-in society by several years, featuring such drive-in banking innovations as tellers' windows protected by heavy bullet-proof glass, and sliding drawers that enabled drivers to conduct their business from the comfort of their vehicle.

November 12, 1965
On this day in 1965, brothers Bill and Bob Summers set a world land-speed record—409.277 miles per hour—on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. They did it in an amazing, hemi-powered hot rod they called the Goldenrod. The car got its name from the '57 Chevy gold paint the brothers used. Today, the Goldenrod is on display at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.
The Summers brothers—Bill was the levelheaded engineer and Bob was the daredevil driver—had been hot-rod racing near their home in Southern California and at the Bonneville Salt Flats for years. In 1963, they decided to get serious: if they could find the parts and equipment they needed to build the right car, they agreed, they would try to go faster than any man had ever gone. (The land-speed record at that time, 394.196 miles per hour, had been set by Briton John Cobb in 1947.) But the Summers brothers weren't the only people to have this idea: In July 1964, Englishman Donald Campbell broke Cobb's record (403.10 mph), and in 1964 and 1965, two American drivers used jet engines to go more than 600 miles per hour.
But the Summers brothers thought that using jet engines was cheating: They believed, wrote one reporter, "that real cars were driven by friction between tires and the ground." The brothers wanted their car to be as fast as possible by being as aerodynamic as possible, and it was: The finished Goldenrod was the sleekest, lowest, narrowest racer in history. It was 32 feet long, 48 inches wide and 42 inches tall, with a pointed nose and four 426 cubic-inch V8 hemi engines on loan from Chrysler. Firestone Tire and Rubber donated the specially-built low-profile tires, and Mobil Oil provided the fuel.
The Goldenrod's first six-mile run across the Bonneville Salt Flats broke Campbell's record easily, averaging 417 miles per hour. To set an official record, however, a car must make two record-breaking runs, one out and one back, within an hour. With five minutes to spare, the yellow car headed across the desert for a second time. When she screamed past the timers, her achievement was official: she'd hit an average speed of 409.277 miles per hour.
Because the Summers brothers had to return the Goldenrod's engines to Chrysler, they never tried to break their own record. It stood until Al Teague's supercharged Spirit of '76 broke it until 1991. In 2002, the Henry Ford bought the Goldenrod, paying for the car's restoration with a grant from the federal Save America's Treasure's Fund. The car is on display at the museum today.

November 12, 1998
Daimler-Benz completed merger with Chrysler to form Daimler-Chrysler.

The Holland Tunnel


Bill and Bob Summers with their Goldenrod

Source:
The History Channel
Wikipedia​

 

[Landrover]

November 13, 1916
Errett Lobban Cord, the genius behind the Auburn, Cord, and Duesenberg family of automobiles, first became involved with automobiles as a racing car mechanic and driver. On this day, the 20-year-old Cord won his first motor race in Arizona. Cord, driving a Paige vehicle designed by Harry Jewett, won the 275-mile race from Douglas, Arizona, to Phoenix, Arizona. From his racing beginnings, Cord moved into automobile sales, and in 1924 came to Auburn, Indiana, to save the faltering Auburn Automobile Company. Cord, a brilliant salesman, rapidly pulled the company out of debt by clearing out hundreds of stockpiled Auburn vehicles and excess parts, and was subsequently named the vice president and general manager at Auburn. Under Cord's guidance, the Auburn line was entirely refashioned, and the new Auburns were known as some of the most luxurious and fashionable cars on the road. In 1926, Cord acquired the expert design skills of Fred Duesenberg, and in 1928, the Duesenberg Model J, one of the finest automobiles ever made, was introduced to the public. To make the family complete, the Auburn plant introduced the Cord L-29 in 1929, which was America's first successful front-wheel drive car. The Auburn, Cord, and Duesenberg automobiles that sold so well in the roaring 1920s also proved surprisingly resilient during the early years of the Depression, but by 1937, America's hard times were too much even for E. L. Cord, and manufacturing ceased as his entire corporation was sold.

November 13, 1940
Willys-Overland completes original Jeep prototype. In 1939, the U.S. Army asked America's automobile manufacturers to submit designs for a simple and versatile military vehicle. It would be two full years before the official U.S. declaration of war, but military officials, who knew this declaration to be inevitable, recognized the need for an innovative troop-transport vehicle for the global battlefields of World War II. The American Bantam Car Company, a small car manufacturer, submitted the first design approved by the army, but the production contract was ultimately given to Willys-Overland, a company that had a larger production capability and offered a lower bid. The Willys Jeep, as it would become known during the war, was similar to the Bantam design, and featured four-wheel drive, an open-air cab, and a rifle rack mounted under the windshield. On this day, the first Willys-Overland Jeep prototype was completed, and submitted to the U.S. Army for approval. One year later, with the U.S. declaration of war, mass production of the Willys-Overland Jeep began. By the war's end in 1945, some 600,000 Jeeps had rolled off the assembly lines and onto the battlefields of Asia, Africa, and Europe. The efficient and sturdy four-wheel drive Jeep became a symbol of the American war effort--no obstacle could stop its advance. Somewhere along the line the vehicle acquired the name "Jeep," likely evolving from the initials G.P. for "general purchase" vehicle, and the nickname stuck. In 1945, Willys-Overland introduced the first civilian Jeep vehicle, the CJ-2A--the forefather of today's sport utility vehicles

Errett Lobban Cord on the cover of Time Magazine, January 18, 1932.

Source:
The History Channel
Wikipedia​

 

[Landrover]

November 14, 1899
August Horch founded A. Horch & Cie in Ehrenfeld, Cologne, Germany.

November 14, 1914
On this day, John and Horace Dodge completed their first Dodge vehicle, a car informally known as "Old Betsy." The same day, the Dodge brothers gave "Old Betsy" a quick test drive through the streets of Detroit, Michigan, and the vehicle was shipped to a buyer in Tennessee. John and Horace, who began their business career as bicycle manufacturers in 1897, first entered the automotive industry as auto parts manufacturers in 1901. They built engines for Ransom Olds and Henry Ford among others, and in 1910 the Dodge Brothers Company was the largest parts-manufacturing firm in the United States. In 1914, the intrepid brothers founded the new Dodge Brothers Motor Car Company, and began work on their first complete automobile at their Hamtramck factory. Dodge vehicles became known for their quality and sturdiness, and by 1919, the Dodge brothers were among the richest men in America. In early 1920, just as he was completing work on his 110-room mansion on the Grosse Point waterfront in Michigan, John fell ill from respiratory problems and died. Horace, who also suffered from chronic lung problems, died from pneumonia in December of the same year. The company was later sold to a New York bank, and in 1928, the Chrysler Corporation bought the Dodge name, its factories, and the large network of Dodge car dealers. Under Chrysler's direction Dodge became a successful producer of cars and trucks marketed for their ruggedness, and today Dodge sells a lineup of over a dozen cars and trucks.

November 14, 1945
Tony Hulman purchased the Indianapolis Motor Speedway from Edward Rickenbacher for $750,000 on this day. The speedway was in deplorable condition after four years of disuse during World War II, and before Hulman made his offer Rickenbacher was considering tearing the facilities down and selling the land. Hulman installed himself as chairman of the board of the raceway and named Wilbur Shaw as president. The two hastily renovated the racetrack for the return of Indy racing in the next year, but also launched a long-range program of improvements that included replacing all of the old wooden grandstands with structures of steel and concrete. In May of 1946, the American Automobile Association ran its first postwar 500-mile race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. George Robson, driving a pre-war Adams-Sparks automobile, won the event with an average speed of 114.82mph, and, thanks to the efforts of Tony Hulman and Wilbur Shaw, a great American racing tradition was reborn.

August Horch with his 853 in 1936


Dodge "Old Betsy"

Source:
The History Channel
Wikipedia​

 

[Landrover]

November 15, 1965
Craig Breedlove, driving his jet-powered Spirit of America--Sonic 1 vehicle, raced to 600.601 mph over the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, and set a new land-speed record. Breedlove, a four-time land-speed record holder, was also the first driver to break the 400 mph and 500 mph land-speed barriers, in 1963 and 1964 respectively. Five years later, Gary Gabelich, in his Blue Flame rocket-powered vehicle, would break Breedlove's record by reaching 622.407 mph over the Bonneville Salt Flats.

November 15, 1977
On this day, at the Mahwah plant in New York, workers completed the 100,000,000th Ford to be built in America: a 1978 Ford Fairmont four-door sedan. The Fairmont series was introduced at the beginning of the 1978 model year, to replace the discontinued Ford Maverick. Several Fairmont models were available in the first year of the series, and the available power ran from a 140 cubic-inch, four-cylinder engine to a 302 cubic-inch V-8. The most popular Ford Fairmont was the Sporty Coupe, which was introduced midway through the 1978 model year, and featured styling reminiscent of the Thunderbird. The vehicle was two inches longer than the other Fairmont models, and featured quad headlights and a unique roof design featuring a decorative wrap-over. In the 1979 model year, the Fairmont Sporty Coupe became the Fairmont Futura Sport, and, by 1980, was available as a four-door sedan in addition to the original two-door coupe. By 1981, the Fairmont Futura series was more of a high-trim automobile than its original manifestation as a sporty vehicle, and a Futura station wagon became available. At the end of the 1983 model year, the entire Fairmont line was discontinued.

Ford Fairmont, The production of the 100 millionth Ford car, a '78 Fairmont Futura coincided with the company's 75th anniversary.

Source:
The History Channel
Wikipedia​

 

[Landrover]

November 16, 1901
On November 16, 1901, a spare, low-slung car called the "Torpedo Racer"—basically a square platform on bicycle wheels—breaks the world speed record for electric cars in Coney Island, New York. The car's builder and pilot, an engineer named Andrew Riker, managed to coax his machine one mile down the straight dirt track in just 63 seconds, that's about 57 mph; today, by contrast, the world speed record for an electric vehicle is about 245 mph). The battery-powered Torpedo Racer held onto its record for ten years.
Riker's Torpedo Racer was the fastest, but not the first, working electric car in the U.S. The first one was built in 1891 by an Iowan named William Morrison. It had a 4-horsepower motor, a 24-cell battery that weighed almost 800 pounds (the whole car weighed about twice that), and could go about 14 miles per hour at top speed. The Morrison car was an amazing innovation, but not many people were ready to buy one. A few years later, however, the Pope Manufacturing Company of Connecticut sold quite a few of its Columbia Electric Phaetons, which were heavier than Morrison's machines but could still travel at a whopping 15 miles per hour.
Unlike Morrison and the engineers at the Pope Company, Riker concentrated on building electric racecars. In September 1896, one of his machines won the country's first-ever automobile race, five laps around a one-mile dirt horse-racing track in Cranston, Rhode Island. The Riker electric finished the race in a little more than 15 minutes. Riker cars could maintain reasonably fast speeds over long distances, too: In April 1900, a relative of the Torpedo Racer won a 50-mile cross-country race on Long Island. It was the only battery-powered car in the field of racers.
Likewise, Riker's was the only electric car in the 1901 Long-Island-Automobile-Club-sponsored race at Coney Island. Against eight gas-powered cars and six steam-powered ones, all stripped down to frames and wheels to eliminate unnecessary weight (Riker's navigator didn't even have a seat; he just sat on the back of the car, clinging to its side as it whisked down the track), the Torpedo Racer finished the race in third place.

November 16, 1916
On this day, Dario Resta, driving a Peugeot, won the last Vanderbilt Cup race, held in Santa Monica, California. In the same year, Resta also won the sixth Indianapolis 500 race. The Vanderbilt Cup, an early example of world-class motor racing in America, was organized in 1904 to introduce Europe's best automotive drivers and manufacturers to the U.S. Named after the event's founder, William K. Vanderbilt Jr., the grand prize of the race was the elegant Vanderbilt cup, crafted by Tiffany & Company, the famous American jewelers. Dozens of automotive pioneers traveled across the Atlantic to participate in the first major international racing competition held in the United States. The race, a 10-mile lap course over a 30-mile circuit, was held in Hicksville, New York, and had 18 entries. George Heath, a Frenchman, won the first Vanderbilt Cup in a Panhard automobile, edging out his competition with a brisk average speed of 52.2mph. French-built cars continued to dominate the Vanderbilt Cup until 1908, when daredevil George Robertson drove a 90hp Locomobile, known as "Old 16," to victory in the fourth Vanderbilt Cup. It was the first major international racing victory for an American car, and served notice that the U.S. could compete in motor racing and automobile production. The original Vanderbilt Cup event was held a total of 11 times between 1904 and 1916, at which point the demands of World War I brought an end to the tradition.

November 16, 1929
Enzo Anselmo Ferrari founded Scuderia Ferrari, an organization that began as a racing club but that by 1933 had absorbed the entire race-engineering division at Alpha Romeo.

Riker Electric Torpedo 1901 - Owls Head Museum


Dario Resta

Source:
The History Channel
Wikipedia​

-----------Next Post-----------
November 17, 1906
On this day, Honda Motor Company founder Soichiro Honda was born the son of a blacksmith in Hamamatsu, Japan, about 150 miles southwest of Tokyo. Honda, who displayed remarkable mechanical intuition even at a young age, began working in an auto repair shop in Tokyo at age 15. In 1928, Honda returned to Hamamatsu to set up another branch of the repair shop, and also began pursuing his youthful passion for motor car racing. In 1936, Honda won his first racing trophy at the All-Japan Speed Rally, but nearly died when his car crashed shortly after setting a speed record. After a prolonged recovery, Honda left racing, and during World War II constructed airplane propellers for his country. When the war was over, Japan's industry was in shambles, and Honda saw an opportunity to beat swords into plowshares by starting an automotive company of his own. He bought a surplus of small generator engines from the military at a bargain price and began attaching them to bicycle frames. Honda's fuel-efficient vehicles were popular in a time when fuel was scarce, and in September of 1948, with only $1,500, Honda formed the Honda Motor Company in Hamamatsu. The company began building a full line of powerful and well-made motorcycles that by 1955 led motorcycle production in Japan. Honda proved as effective a company manager as he was a talented engineer, and by the early 1960s, Honda was the world's largest manufacturer of motorcycles. From this immense success, Honda was inspired to begin automobile production in 1962. Honda's first vehicle, the pint-size S-360, failed to make a dent in the American market, and it was not until 1972, and the introduction of the Civic 1200, that Honda became a serious contender in the industry. The fuel crisis of 1973 was the catalyst that thrust Honda and other Japanese auto manufacturers into the forefront of the international market. Cars like the Honda Civic proved far more durable and fuel efficient than anything being produced in Detroit at the time, and American consumers embraced Japanese-made automobiles. In 1973, Soichiro Honda retired from the top position at Honda, but the company he founded went on to become an industry leader, establishing such successful marques as the Accord, which by 1989 was the best-selling car in America.

November 17, 1970
First wheeled-vehicle on the moon. An unmanned Soviet lunar probe, Luna 17, soft-landed in the Sea of Rains on the surface of the moon on this day. Hours later, Lunokhod 1, a self-propelled vehicle controlled by Soviet mission control on earth, rolled out of the Luna landing probe, and became the first wheeled vehicle to travel on the surface of the moon. Lunokhod, which explored the Mare Imbrium region of the Sea of Rains, sent back television images and took soil samples. Despite this notable space first, the Soviet space program was trailing considerably behind the U.S. program which, in 1969, had succeeded in putting an American on the moon with the Apollo 11 lunar mission. In August of 1971, during the fourth manned lunar landing, the United States achieved another first: astronauts David R. Scott and James B. Irwin drove the Lunar Rover--the first manned lunar automobile--on the surface of the moon.

November 17, 1998
On this day in 1998, the brand-new Daimler Chrysler began trading its shares on the New York Stock Exchange. The company had formed five days earlier, when the American Chrysler Corporation merged with the German conglomerate Daimler-Benz AG. As a result of the merger, DaimlerChrysler became the world's fifth-largest automaker behind General Motors, Ford, Toyota and Volkswagen.
The Daimler-Chrysler merger, for which Daimler-Benz AG paid $36 billion, was supposed to create a single powerhouse car company that could compete in all markets, all over the world. Daimler-Benz was known for its high-quality luxury cars and sturdy trucks, while Chrysler's minivans and Jeeps had a big chunk of the growing sport- utility vehicle market; meanwhile, the American company seemed to have mastered the art of high-volume, low-cost manufacturing. However, things did not quite work out that way. Chrysler actually lost so much money—$1.5 billion in 2006 alone—that in 2007 Daimler paid a private equity firm to take the company off its hands.
In 2009, Chrysler filed for bankruptcy again. In order to stay afloat, it merged with the Italian company Fiat.

Soichiro Honda

Source:
The History Channel
Wikipedia​

 

[Landrover]

November 18, 1960
Chrysler limits DeSoto production. The Chrysler DeSoto was a hit even before the first model was built in the summer of 1928. When Walter P. Chrysler announced that his Chrysler Corporation intended to build a mid-priced vehicle boasting six-cylinders, dealerships signed on immediately, and in the first 12 months of production the DeSoto set a sales record that stood for 30 years. The automobile, named after Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto, was a large and powerful vehicle marketed to the average American car buyer. The innovative designs of the DeSotos of the 1930s were as daring as their namesake--1934 saw the introduction of America's first affordable automobile with aerodynamic styling, and the 1937 DeSoto was hailed for its safety innovations. In the late 1930s, lackluster U.S. sales prompted Chrysler to introduce a more conservative line of DeSotos. The large and gracious 1940 DeSoto was advertised as "America's Family Car," and the American family agreed, giving DeSoto its best sales in the first few years after World War II. During the 1950s, the DeSoto became adventurous again, and the 1955 DeSoto featured power styling to match its powerful engine. By 1956, DeSoto was 11th in the industry, but the dynamics of its demise were already in motion at Chrysler. Disorganization in the management of the Chrysler Corporation, along with general quality issues in Detroit in the late 1950s, led to several years of popular but flawed DeSotos. In 1958, DeSoto's designers introduced their most flamboyant cars ever, the Firesweeps, Firedomes, and Fireflites, but the public failed to embrace these new models, and all but the Fireflite was dropped in 1959. In 1960, William C. Newberg, the new president at Chrysler, decided to limit the DeSoto program, and the uninspired 1961 DeSoto was doomed for failure. On this day, just two weeks after the 1961 DeSoto was introduced to an uninterested market, Chrysler announced the termination of the DeSoto marque.


November 18, 1987
On this day, a special edition 1963 Ferrari 250 GTO hardtop was sold for $1,600,000 at an automobile auction in Italy, setting a new public auction record. Enzo Ferrari first introduced the GTO in 1954, and public demand for the series was so great that Ferrari was motivated to build its first assembly line. The 250 series, the most popular of which were the Testa Rossa and the GT Spyder, made Ferrari a legend. The 1963 Ferrari 250 GTO was a limited edition variant on the 1962 GTO. The engine featured a 12-cylinder engine with a maximum power output of 290bhp at 7,400rpm. The 1963 GTO variant featured larger tires and the hardtop design, and was significant because of its release during the 250 GTO's last major year of production.

1963 Ferrari 250 GTO

Source:
The History Channel
Wikipedia​

 

[Landrover]

November 19, 1954
The first automatic toll collection machine was placed in service at the Union Toll Plaza on New Jersey's Garden State Parkway on this day. In order to pass through the toll area, motorists dropped 25¢ into a wire mesh hopper and then a green light would flash permitting passage through the toll. The automatic toll collection machine was an important innovation for America's modern toll highway, which first appeared in 1940 with the opening of the Pennsylvania Turnpike. For a three-hour reduction of travel time between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg, the turnpike asked travelers to pay tolls, creating revenues that helped cover the roadway's high construction and maintenance costs. The Pennsylvania Turnpike was a tremendous success, leading to the construction of toll highways across the country, including the Garden State Parkway, which opened its first toll section in early 1954, and was completed in 1955. However, a non-automotive toll road first appeared in the United States in 1795, when people traveling through the Blue Ridge Mountains along the Little River Turnpike found their way blocked by toll gates at Snicker's Gap, where they were asked to pay a toll.

November 19, 1993
On this day, Toyota and General Motors signed an historic agreement to sell the Chevy Cavalier in Japan as the Toyota Cavalier. In a sense, the U.S.-built but Japanese-inspired Cavalier was returning home. The popular Cavalier, which was first introduced in 1981, was Detroit's answer to Japan's fuel-efficient and well-made compacts. Japanese automakers had taken the U.S. automobile market by storm during the 1970s, largely due to consumer demand for fuel efficiency and durability during a time of oil crises and recession. It took a decade for the Big Three to bounce back from the blow, finally gaining ground in the early 1980s with Japanese-inspired compacts like the Chevy Cavalier. The Cavalier was the best-selling Chevy model in modern history, and the top-selling U.S. car in 1984. By the late 1980s, Detroit's relationship with Japanese automakers had stabilized--major Japanese plants opened across the United States and the Japanese government relaxed its tariff laws to allow free competition from American automakers. During the 1990s, cooperation became the rule of thumb, and cars can no longer be considered strictly "Japanese" or "American," as most automobiles today are constructed in any number of countries from parts made all around the world.

Source:
The History Channel
Wikipedia​

 

[Landrover]

November 20, 1907
McLaughlin Motor Car Company Limited formed in Ontario with capital of 5,000 shares valued at C$100 each with R.S. "Sam" McLaughlin as President and signed manufacturing agreement with Billy Durant, a partner in Buick Motor Company.

November 20, 1923
African-American Garrett A. Morgan, of Cleveland, OH, received patent for a "Traffic Signal"; automatic traffic signal to make streets safer for motorists and pedestrians (had seen an automobile crash into a horse-drawn carriage); sold technology to General Electric Corporation for
$40,000.

November 20, 1959
British Anglia comes to America. In 1911, the Ford Motor Company, which had been importing Ford Model Ts for several years, opened its first overseas plant at Trafford Park in Manchester, England. In 1920, after a decade of brisk sales in Britain and all over Europe, Ford was faced with a crisis--a new British law established higher tax penalties for larger-engine cars, and Ford's market share was suffering. Ford of England responded by developing several prototypes for a Ford automobile small enough to avoid British tax penalties. Designers also predicted that the citizens of dense European cities would prefer a car smaller than the standard American Ford. The resulting Model Y Ford "8" went into production in 1932, and after a strong first year Ford's British market share began to rapidly expand. In 1938, the Ford E93A Prefect was introduced, the first marque in the United States--the first British Ford to be marketed to Americans on a large scale. Internally, the compact 105E Anglia had a brand new overhead-valve engine and a four-speed gearbox, and externally, it was like nothing else on the road with it distinctive rear-sloping back window, frog-like headlights, and stylish colors: light green and primrose yellow. Despite appreciation for the well-designed car by a few automobile enthusiasts in America, the Anglia, which was a best-seller on the world's markets, failed to make a noticeable impact in the general U.S. market.

1920 McLaughlin Motor Car Company ad. Featuring the Master Six K-45 Extra Special.


Ford Anglia

Source:
The History Channel
Wikipedia​

 

[Landrover]

November 21, 1937
On this day, Howard E. Coffin, who founded the Hudson Motor Company along with Joseph L. Hudson in 1909, died from an accidental gunshot wound at Sea Island Beach in Georgia at the age of 64. Coffin served as vice president and chief engineer of Hudson from 1909 to 1930, and was responsible for a number of Hudson's important automotive innovations, including the placement of the steering wheel on the left side, the self-starter, and dual brakes. Under Coffin's influence the Hudson Essex was introduced in 1919, a sturdy automobile built on an all-steel body that sold for pennies more than Ford's Model T. Coffin's last production year with Hudson was also the company's most prosperous--Hudson production peaked in 1929 with over 300,000 units.

November 21, 1970
On this day, the rarest of Ford Mustangs--the Boss 351--debuted at the Detroit Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan. Ford first introduced the Mustang marque in 1964 and the car was an instant success, appearing on the covers of both Time and Newsweek. The car, known as a "pony car" for its small size, had the appearance of a sports car. However, the Mustang was far more reasonably prized than the average sports car, and it possessed a rare popular appeal that made it one of the greatest automotive success stories of the 1960s. By 1970, the Ford Mustang had grown considerably in size, and the Boss 351 could better be described as a "muscle car" than a "pony car." The car featured a powerful 8-cyclinder engine built on Ford's new "Cleveland" block, and was factory rated at 300bhp. The Boss 351 was also unquestionably the rarest Mustang ever released--it was manufactured for just a single production year, 1971, and only 1,806 units were made--compared with the 500,000 Mustangs manufactured and sold by Ford in 1965 alone.

November 21, 2005
General Motors Corp. announced it would close 12 facilities, lay off 30,000 workers in North America.

Ford Mustang Boss 351

Source:
The History Channel
Wikipedia
Education and Early Childhood Development: Department of Education and Early Childhood​

 

[Landrover]

November 22, 1985
On this day, Lee Iacocca, the chief executive officer of the Chrysler Corporation, presided over the largest swearing-in ceremony for new U.S. citizens in American history. At the end of six days of rallies around the country, Iacocca, the son of Italian immigrants himself, lead 38,648 people in a swearing of allegiance to the United States. Iacocca served as president of the Ford Motor Company during the 1970s, and was largely responsible for the extremely profitable Mustang marque. After a falling out with Henry Ford II in 1978, Iacocca moved to the struggling Chrysler Corporation, and steered the company back to profitability as president and later as CEO. Iacocca was also one of the most charismatic and influential men Detroit had ever known. After making massive but necessary cuts to Chrysler's workforce, Iacocca elected to pay himself only $1 for his first year as CEO, explaining that everyone had to make sacrifices in order for Chrysler to survive. He also appeared in Chrysler's commercials as himself, wrote a best-selling autobiography, and entertained the possibility of running for president of the United States. A self-made son of immigrants, America's immigration and ethnic heritage was always important to Iacocca. Three years before presiding over the record-breaking swearing-in ceremony, Iacocca helped form the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, a non-profit organization founded in 1982 to raise funds for the restoration and preservation of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Iacocca later became chairman emeritus of this organization.

November 22, 1927
Carl Eliason of Sayner, Wisconsin, was granted the first patent ever given for a snowmobile design on this day. Eliason had actually completed his first working prototype three years before--a small vehicle with a front-mounted liquid-cooled 2.5 HP Johnson outboard engine, slide rail track guides, wooden cleats, rope-controlled steering skis, and running boards made out of two downhill skis. Eliason built his first snowmobile in a small garage behind his general store over a two-year period, and used everything from bicycle parks to a radiator from a used Model T Ford. During the 1930s, Eliason founded Eliason Motor Toboggan, continued improving on his snowmobiles, and the company was soon known around the world. A major purchaser of Eliason snowmobiles in the early years of the company was the U.S. Army, which ordered 150 all-white Eliason Motor Toboggans for use in the defense of Alaska during World War II.

Source:
The History Channel
Wikipedia​

 

[Landrover]

November 23, 1897
On this day, Ransom Eli Olds of Lansing, Michigan, is issued a U.S. patent for his "motor carriage," a gasoline-powered vehicle that he constructed the year before. In 1887, when he was only 18, Olds built his first automobile, a steam-propelled three-wheeled vehicle. However, Olds soon recognized the advantages of an engine powered by gasoline, an abundant fuel source that was safer and more reliable than steam. Two months before receiving his patent, Olds had formed the Olds Motor Vehicle Company, a company that grew into the Olds Motors Works, in 1899, with the assistance of private investor Samuel L. Smith. After designing a number of prototypes, Olds and his company finally settled on the Olds Runabout in 1901. The Runabout was a small, motorized buggy with a curved dashboard and lightweight wheels, and was powered by a one-cylinder engine capable of reaching 20mph. Perhaps out of financial necessity, Olds contracted with other companies to construct various parts for the Runabout, a production technique that differed from the current industry practice of individually handcrafting each vehicle. Olds' new production method, a prototype of assembly line production, proved a great success, and Olds Motor Works sold 425 Oldsmobile Runabouts in the first year of business, 2,500 in the next, and peaked in 1904 with sales in excess of 5,000 vehicles.


November 23, 1900
On this day in 1900, the first car to be produced under the Mercedes name is taken for its inaugural drive in Cannstatt, Germany. The car was specially built for its buyer, Emil Jellinek, an entrepreneur with a passion for fast, flashy cars. Jellinek had commissioned the Mercedes car from the German company Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft: it was lighter and sleeker than any car the company had made before, and Jellinek was confident that it would win races so handily that besotted buyers would snap it up. He was so confident that he bought 36 of them. In exchange for this extraordinary patronage, the company agreed to name its new machine after Jellinek's 11-year-old daughter, Mercedes.
In 1886, the German engineers Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach had built one of the world's first "horseless carriages," a four-wheeled carriage with an engine bolted to it. In 1889, the two men built the world's first four-wheeled automobile to be powered by a four-stroke engine. They formed Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft the next year.
In 1896, Emil Jellinek saw an ad for the D-M-G auto in a German magazine. Then, as the story goes, he traveled to D-M-G's Cannstatt factory, charged onto the factory floor wearing a pith helmet, pince-nez and mutton-chop sideburns and demanded that the company sell him the most spectacular car it had.
That car was sturdy, but it could only go 15 miles per hour--not even close to fast enough for Jellinek. In 1898, he ordered two more cars, stipulating that they be able to go at least 10 miles per hour faster than the first one could. Daimler complied; the result was the 8-horsepower Phoenix. Jellinek was impressed enough with the Phoenix that he began to sell them to his friends: 10 in 1899, 29 in 1900.
At the same time, he needed a racing car that could go even faster. Jellinek went back to D-M-G with a business proposition: if it would build him the world's best speedster (and name it the Mercedes), he would buy 36 of them.
The new Mercedes car was fast. It also introduced the aluminum crankcase, magnalium bearings, the pressed-steel frame, a new kind of coil-spring clutch and the honeycomb radiator (essentially the same one that today's Mercedes use). It was longer, wider, and lower than the Phoenix and had better brakes. Also, a mechanic could convert the new Mercedes from a two-seat racer to a four-seat family car in just a few minutes.
In 1902, the company legally registered the Mercedes brand name.

Source:
The History Channel
Wikipedia​