November 8, 1866
Herbert Austin, the founder of the Austin Motor Company, was born the son of a farmer in Little Missenden, Buckinghamshire, England, on this day. At the age of 22, Austin moved to Melbourne, Australia, where he served as an apprentice engineer at a foundry, before becoming the manager of the Wolseley Sheep Shearing Company. Long journeys into the wide-open spaces of Australia gave him insight into the benefits of gasoline-driven vehicles, and Austin decided to try his luck in the burgeoning automobile industry. In 1893, Austin returned to England with the Wolseley Company and began work on his first automobile. Like his American counterpart, Henry Ford, Austin hoped to produce an affordable motor car for the masses, and by 1895 the Wolseley Company completed its first vehicle, a three-wheeled automobile, followed by the first four-wheeled Wolseley vehicle in 1900. In 1905, Herbert Austin founded the Austin Motor Company in Birmingham, England, and by 1914, the company was producing over 1,000 automobiles a year. During World War II, Austin and his factories joined in the British war effort, a service for which he was knighted in 1917. In 1922, with the introduction of the Austin 7 Tourer, Sir Herbert Austin finally fulfilled his ambition to produce a mass-produced automobile. The diminutive vehicle, boasting four-wheel brakes and a maximum speed of 50mph, was an instant success in England. In 1930, the Austin 7 was introduced to America, and enjoyed five years of modest U.S. sales before falling prey to the hard times of the Depression in 1935.
November 8, 1895
Diamler returned to his own company as chief engineer. He received shares worth 30,000 marks that he was entitled to through 1882 contract with Daimler. In mid 1893 - Daimler was forced to sell his stake in company, rights to his inventions for 66,666 marks to avoid bankruptcy. In 1895 - group of British industrialists, fronted by Frederick R. Simms, looked to acquire license rights to Maybach-designed Phoenix engine for Britain for 350,000 marks only if Daimler and Maybach returned to company. Daimler returned as expert advisor, general inspector. His stake in company returned (worth 200,000 marks) additional 100,000 mark bonus was also paid.
November 8, 1918
McLaughlin Carriage and Motor Company Limited and Chevrolet Motor Company of Canada Limited merged and formed General Motors of Canada Limited. R.S. "Sam" McLaughlin) became president but GM already owned 49% of company.
November 8, 1956
On this day, the Ford Motor Company decided on the name "Edsel" for a new model in development for the 1958 market year. The new addition to the Ford family of automobiles would be a tribute to Edsel Bryant Ford, who served as company president from 1919 until his death in 1943. Edsel Ford was also the oldest son of founder Henry Ford and father to current company President Henry Ford II. The designer of the Edsel, Roy Brown, was instructed to create an automobile that was highly recognizable, and from every angle different than anything else on the road. In the fall of 1957, with great fanfare, the 1958 Edsel was introduced to the public. With its horse collar grill in the front and its regressed side-panels in the rear, the Edsel indeed looked like nothing else on the road. However, despite its appearance, the Ford Edsel was a high-tech affair, featuring state-of-the-art innovations such as the "Tele-Touch" push-button automatic transmission. Nevertheless, buyer appeal was low, and the Ford Edsel earned just a 1.5 percent share of the market in 1958. After two more years, the Edsel marque was abandoned, and its name would forever be synonymous with business failure.
November 8, 1992
On this day, daredevil Jacky Vranken of Belgium set a record for the highest speed ever attained on the rear wheel of a motorcycle. At St. Truiden Military Airfield in Belgium, Vranken reached 157.87 while performing an extended "wheelie" with his Suzuki GSXR 1100 motorcycle. The year before, Yasuyuki Kudo of Japan had set the record for the longest wheelie when he covered 205.7 miles nonstop on the rear wheel of his Honda TLM 220 R motorcycle at the Japan Automobile Research Institute in Tsukuba, Japan.
Sir Hebert Austin
Wolseley with Sir Hebert Austin at the wheel.
Source:
The History Channel
Wikipedia
austinmemories.com