This Day In Automotive History

[SirAlec]

December 15, 1854
First practical street cleaning machine put into operation in Philadelphia; chain driven by turning of cart's wheels turned series of brooms attached to cylinder mounted on cart.

December 15, 1941
An AFL council adopted a no-strike policy in war industries, which included automotive plants being converted to military production (domestic automobile manufacturing stopped completely from 1941 to 1944). The U.S. was gearing up for the worst years of World War II.

December 15, 1967
On this day in 1967, the Silver Bridge across the Ohio River collapsed during rush hour. Dozens of cars fell into the icy water. Forty-six people lost their lives in the accident, and many others were injured. Today, better construction and safety rules make accidents like this one less common.

Silver Bridge collapse.

Source:
The History Channel
Wikipedia
Silver Bridge Collapse | The Long Day

[SirAlec]

December 16, 1949
A Swedish company by the name of Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget produced its first motorcar. In 1965, the concern changed its name to Saab Aktiebolag, and a few years later simply to Saab. The first Saab automobiles were engineered with the precision of fighter planes--the company's other main product. Today Saab is known for producing safe, reliable, high-performing vehicles. In 1990, General Motors bought Saab's car operations, excluding its bus, truck, and military jet businesses. Ten years later, GM acquired the rest of Saab's automotive operations.

December 16, 1979
Libya joined four other OPEC nations in raising the price of crude oil. Since the U.S. bought much of its oil from Libya, the price hike had an almost immediate effect on American gas prices. Gas became costly, and the cost of motoring rose. Heating-oil prices also jumped--a tough blow at the beginning of winter.

SAAB logo


SAAB 92 1949

Source:
The History Channel
Wikipedia

[SirAlec]

December 17, 1963
On this day in 1963, the U.S. Congress passed the Clean Air Act, a sweeping set of laws designed to protect the environment from air pollution. It was the first legislation to place pollution controls on the automobile industry.

December 17, 1979
Driver Stan Barrett became the first person in the world to travel faster than sound on land. He drove the Budweiser Rocket car at a top speed of 739.666 in a one-way run at Rogers Dry Lake, California. The ultrasonic speed set an unofficial record, but an official record requires trips in both directions, whose speeds are averaged.

Budweiser Rocket car

Source:
The History Channel
Wikipedia

[SirAlec]

December 18, 1898
Count Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat set the world's first official land-speed record in Acheres Park near Paris: 39.245mph in his Jeantaud automobile, powered by an electric motor and alkaline batteries. The Jeantaud is widely believed to be the first automobile steered by a modern steering wheel rather than a tiller. The tiller was quickly replaced by the steering wheel in the early 1900s.

December 18, 1984
The first Chevy Nova is introduced by New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc., a joint venture between Toyota and General Motors. This car later met with marketing trouble in South America, where its name read as "No Go" to Spanish speakers.

Laubat's Jeantaud automobile


Chevy Nova

Source:
The History Channel
Wikipedia

[14000rpm]

Originally Posted by SirAlec

December 17, 1963
On this day in 1963, the U.S. Congress passed the Clean Air Act, a sweeping set of laws designed to protect the environment from air pollution. It was the first legislation to place pollution controls on the automobile industry.

December 17, 1979
Driver Stan Barrett became the first person in the world to travel faster than sound on land. He drove the Budweiser Rocket car at a top speed of 739.666 in a one-way run at Rogers Dry Lake, California. The ultrasonic speed set an unofficial record, but an official record requires trips in both directions, whose speeds are averaged.

Budweiser Rocket car
Attachment 80085

Source:
The History Channel
Wikipedia

this pic is from the museum of speed in Alabama. Its next to Talladega speedway.I've been there.Awesome place it is. pics can be found in this link Picasa Web Albums - @v! - Talladega spe.... Check it out.

[SirAlec]

December 19, 1924
The last Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost manufactured in England was sold in London. The Silver Ghost, a custom touring car, was introduced in 1906, and was called by some the "Best Car in the World." The Silver Ghost was followed by the Twenty, the Phantom, the Silver Cloud, the Silver Shadow, and the Silver Wraith.

December 19, 1979
Senate approved Chrysler Loan Guarantee Act of 1979, a $1.5 billion loan for Chrysler Corporation.

December 19, 1994
Great Britain's prestigious Rolls-Royce, a luxury automobile maker, announced that its future cars would feature 12-cylinder motors manufactured by Germany's BMW. It was an ironic change; in earlier years, Rolls-Royce made a name for itself in automobile and aircraft engines.

Source:
The History Channel
Wikipedia

[SirAlec]

December 20, 1892
Alexander Brown and George Stillman of Syracuse, New York, patented an inflatable automobile tire. Before the pneumatic tire, wheels were often made of solid rubber. This made travel a bumpy experience. After all, the streets of 1892 were made of dirt or cobblestone. Some horse-drawn carriages had been made with inflatable tires, but Brown and Stillman got the first patent for pneumatic automobile tires.

December 20, 1945
Tire rationing in the U.S. ended on this day as World War II wound to a close, and widespread shortages in the States began to ease.

Source:
The History Channel
Wikipedia

[SirAlec]

December 21, 1926
General Motors Corporation registered "Pontiac" trademark.

December 21, 1937
The Lincoln Tunnel was officially opened to traffic, allowing motorists to drive between New Jersey and Manhattan beneath the Hudson River.

December 21, 1979
The U.S. Congress approved $1.5 billion in loans to the financially threatened Chrysler Corporation in an effort to save the battered automotive giant. President Jimmy Carter signed the bill on January 7, 1980. Under the stewardship of Lee Iacocca, Chysler rebounded quickly. By the late 1980s, the automaker was posting record profits.
Ironically, due to recent crisis not only Chrysler, other two automaker, Ford and GM, most famously known as if Big Three are in a similar situation. On December 19, George W. Bush announced that he had approved the bailout plan, which would give loans of $17.4 billion to U.S. automakers.

Lincoln Tunnel

Source:
The History Channel
Wikipedia
CBS News - Breaking News Headlines: Business, Entertainment & World News

[SirAlec]

December 22, 1900
A new 35hp car built by Daimler from a design by Emil Jellinke was completed. The car was named for Jellinek's daugher, Mercedes. As such the Mercedes was born on this very day.

December 22, 1952
On this day in 1952, the first Corvette, a production-ready prototype, is completed. The design of the sports car, which has since become an American classic, is said to have cost between $50,000 and $60,000 to build.
General Motors chief William Durant decided to produce a small sports car after a visit to Europe in 1951 during which he saw his European counterparts doing the same. In fact, the first Corvette is believed to have been modeled after a Jaguar. Legendary automobile stylist Harley Earl was tasked with the design project, which was originally codenamed “Opel.” The eventual name “Corvette” came from a type of small, lightly armed warship used by most Allied navies during World War II.
After completing production on December 22, the first Corvette was shipped to New York City, where it made its public debut at the GM Motorama show at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel on January 17. The first regular-production model was rolled out on June 30, 1953. Just over 300 Corvettes were assembled—-by hand—-in Flint, Michigan, that first year. Only about half of them sold; the rest were given away to company executives and VIPs.

Mercedes 35hp


Chevy Corvette

Source:
The History Channel
Wikipedia

[SirAlec]

December 23, 1923
Former President Woodrow Wilson receives a a Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost Pall Mall touring car for his birthday. It's a gift from friends.

December 23, 1969
Gregory Jack Biffle was born Vancouver, Washington. He is a very sucessfull NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver who drives the #16 3M Ford Fusion for Roush Fenway Racing. He now lives in Mooresville, North Carolina. He has 34 combine win is various Nextel/WInston/Busch series Cup under his belt

Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost at The Woodrow Wilson House, Wasington DC.


Gregory Jack Biffle

Source:
The History Channel
Wikipedia

[SirAlec]

December 24, 1801
Richard Trevithick drove three-wheeled steam-powered vehicle carrying seven passengers up a hill in Camborne, Cornwall, England; one of first automobiles in history; high-pressure steam engine was lighter, more powerful than low-pressure engine invented by James Watt; used to hoist loads in mines, drive locomotives and ships, run rolling mills. Trevithick sometimes called "Father of the Steam Locomotive."
December 24, 1893
Henry Ford completed his first useful gas motor; at the time Ford was chief steam engineer at the main Detroit Edison Company plant with responsibility for maintaining electric service in the city 24 hours a day.

December 24, 1898
Louis Renault, then just 21, drove his A-type Voiturette, with first direct-drive variable-ratio transmission (3-speed gearbox allowed more power in lower gears, more speed in higher gears vs. chain - drive system), up steep (13% slope) Rue Lepic in Montmartre, Paris. It resulted in first 12 orders.


December 24, 1903
England issued its first automobile license plate, number A1. The plate was issued to Earl Russel, the brother of the philosopher Bertrand Russell.

Source:
The History Channel
Wikipedia

[SirAlec]

December 25, 1878
Louis-Joseph Chevrolet was born on December 25, 1878 in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Canton of Neuchâtel, Switzerland.

December 25, 1909
Zora Arkus-Duntov, a Belgian-born U.S. automotive engineer was born in Brussels. His work on the Chevrolet Corvette earned him the nickname "Father of the Corvette".

December 25, 1985
On Christmas Day, David Turner and Tim Pickhard arrived in John o' Groat's, Scotland, the northernmost point in Great Britain. They had set out four days earlier from Land's End, the southernmost point in Britain, in a battery-powered Freight Rover Leyland Sherpa driven by a Lucas electric motor. They traveled 875 miles on a single battery charge, completing the longest battery-powered drive in history.

Louis Chevrolet in a Buick racer in Crown Point, Indiana, during the Cobe Cup Race in 1909


Zora Arkus-Duntov and 1957 Chevrolet Corvette SS


Zora Arkus-Duntov Corvette Stingray

Source:
The History Channel
Wikipedia
General Motors

[SirAlec]

December 26, 1926
The first overland journey across Africa from south to north was completed when the expedition of Major C. Court Treatt arrived in Cairo, Egypt. Major Treatt had set out from Capetown, South Africa, some 27 months earlier in two military-style Crossley automobiles. After the difficult trek across unmapped regions, the hero's safe arrival in Cairo was a major treat for everyone.

December 26, 1933
The Nissan Motor Company was organized in Tokyo under the name Dat Jidosha Seizo Co. (It received its present name the next year). Nissan began manufacturing cars and trucks under the name Datsun. During World War II, Nissan was converted to military production, and after Japan's defeat operated in a limited capacity under the occupation government until 1955. Since then, Nissan has grown into one of the world's premier car companies.

December 26, 1985
The Ford Motor Company had trouble in the early 1980s. Its trucks were selling well, but its line of cars were unpopular and had terrible reputations. The company lost $3.3 billion from 1980 through 1982. As the losses piled up, Ford's engineers were working feverishly to redesign their line of mid-size cars. Ford turned out a redesigned Thunderbird and Tempo and managed a profitable year. And on this day in 1985, Ford introduced the Taurus, the product of years of engineering. The distinctively streamlined car became enormously popular, lifting Ford to record profits in the late 1980s. The rounded "jellybean" shape of the Taurus had a strong influence on the designs of other automakers in the next few years.

Source:
The History Channel
Wikipedia

[SirAlec]

December 27, 1943
Curtis Veeder, the engineer who invented the modern automotive tachometer and odometer, died on this day.

December 27, 1951
The Crosley car was put into use by the U.S. Postal Service in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was the first right-hand-drive car designed specifically for mail delivery. The Crosley put the driver on the mailbox-side of the car, and changed mail delivery forever.

Source:
The History Channel
Wikipedia
Veeder-Root - Home

[SirAlec]

December 28, 1954
During the early 1950s, the fastest stock car in the U.S. was the Hudson Hornet, the pride of the Hudson Motor Car Company. Drivers in Hudson Hornets took virtually every major NASCAR event, and the wins paid off in sales. That got the attention of the Big Three: Ford, Chrysler, and General Motors. They began supporting stock-car racers the way Hudson did, and soon began to win. In an effort to stay ahead, Hudson merged with the Nash-Kelvinator Corporation, which let Hudson replace the Hornet's old flat-six engine with the big Nash V-8, providing more power. The first Hudson Hornet with a Nash engine was offered on this day in 1954. But the new Hornet didn't handle as well, and the Big Three kept improving. After 1954 the Hudson Hornet's fortunes declined quickly.

December 28, 1957
The 2,000,000th Volkswagen was finished on this day in 1957. Begun 30 years earlier by the Nazi regime, the German automaker and its economical Beetle overcame their unpleasant pasts and began selling in the United States.

1954 Hudson Hornet

Source:
The History Channel
Wikipedia