This day in History

[Shermatt]

On this day, February 22, 1923
The 1,000,000th Chevy was produced. Chevrolet began when William Durant hired Louis Chevrolet, a Swiss race-car driver and star of the Buick Racing Team, to design a new car. Durant hoped to challenge the success of the Ford Model T with an affordable, reliable car. Chevrolet wanted to design a finer sort of automobile, however. Their product, the Classic Six, was an elegant car with a large price tag. But Durant built two more models, sturdier and cheaper, and Chevy was on its way. Durant eventually made over a million dollars in profits on his Chevrolet marque, money that allowed him to reacquire a majority interest in General Motors stock. Durant eventually merged the two companies and created GM's current configuration. Louis Chevrolet left the company before the merger, leaving only his name to benefit from the company's success.
PICTURED: Sheepshead Bay 'Harkness Handicap' 1/6/18. A 2 mile lap consisting of 50 laps. Louis Chevrolet & Frontenac rolled 7th with a time of 50 laps @ 1:03:48

February 22, 1949
Stylish Austrian race-car driver Niki Lauda was born in Vienna, Austria. Lauda is also the founder of Air Lauda, a continental European airline that features flight attendants in denim jeans and Team Lauda baseball caps.

February 22, 1959
It's difficult to talk about NASCAR without talking about the Daytona 500, and it's difficult to talk about the Daytona 500 without mentioning the Petty family. On this day in 1959, Lee Petty won the first Daytona 500 at the brand-new Daytona International Speedway, driving a new hardtop Olds 88 to a photo finish with Johnny Beauchamp. The Petty family would switch to Plymouths midway through the season that year. Richard and Lee Petty drove Plymouths, Chryslers, and Dodges for most of their remaining careers. Together the father and son team combined for 254 wins, including eight Daytona 500s. The Daytona 500 would become the premier event in NASCAR racing.

[Shermatt]

On this day, February 23, 1958
In a bizarre twist, Argentine racing champion Juan Manuel Fangio was kidnapped by Communist guerrillas in Havana, Cuba, one day before the second Havana Grand Prix. Members of the July 26 Movement (M-26-7) and followers of Fidel Castro and Che Guevara, the kidnappers hoped to make a political statement by kidnapping the world-famous Fangio before he could defend his title at the Havana Grand Prix. "We wanted to show that Cuba was living in a situation of war against the Batista tyranny," explained Arnol Rodriguez, a member of the kidnapping team. Revolutionary Manuel Uziel, holding a revolver, approached Fangio in the lobby of his hotel and ordered the race-car driver to identify himself. Fangio reportedly thought it was a joke until Uziel was joined by a group of men carrying submachine guns. Fangio reacted calmly as the kidnappers explained to him their intention to keep him only until the race was over. After his release to the Argentine Embassy, Fangio revealed a fondness for his kidnappers, refusing to help identify them and relaying their explanation that the kidnapping was a political statement. In the meantime, the Havana Grand Prix had been marred by a terrible accident, leading Fangio to believe that he had been spared for a reason. Years later, Fangio would return to Havana on a work mission. He was received as a guest of the state, and he expressed his gratitude with quiet eloquence, "Two big dreams have come true for me: returning to Cuba and meeting Fidel Castro." Fangio was famous for winning races; he became legendary by missing one.

February 23, 1893
Rudolf Diesel received a German patent for the diesel engine. The diesel engine burns fuel oil rather than gasoline and differs from the gasoline engine in that it uses compressed air in the cylinder rather than a spark to ignite the fuel. Diesel engines were used widely in Europe for their efficiency and power, and are still used today in most heavy industrial machinery. In 1977, General Motors became the first American car company to introduce diesel-powered automobiles. The diesel-powered Olds 88 and 98 models were 40 percent more fuel-efficient than their gas-powered counterparts. The idling and reduced power efficiency of the diesel engine is much greater than that of the spark engine. Diesel cars never caught on in the U.S., partly because the diesel engine's greater efficiency is counter-balanced by its higher emissions of soot, odor, and air pollutants. Today, the argument over which engine is more environmentally friendly is still alive; some environmentalists argue that in spite of the diesel engine's exhaust pollution, its fuel efficiency may make it more environmentally sound than the gasoline engine in the long run.

[boss69hogg]

 :flag:I was born!

[Shermatt]

February 24, 1909
The Hudson Motor Car Company, founded by Joseph Hudson, in Detroit, Michigan, was incorporated. Hudson is perhaps most famous for its impact on NASCAR racing, which it accomplished thanks to a revolutionary design innovation. In 1948, Hudson introduced the Monobuilt design. The Monobuilt consisted of a chassis and frame that were combined in a unified passenger compartment, producing a strong, lightweight design with a beneficial lower center of gravity that did not affect road clearance. Hudson called the innovation the "step-down design" because, for the first time, drivers had to step down to get into their cars. In 1951, Hudson introduced the Hornet. Fitted with a bigger engine than previous Hudson models, the Hudson Hornet became a dominant force on the NASCAR circuit. Because of its lower center of gravity, the Hornet glided around corners with relative ease, leaving its unstable competitors in the dust. For the first time a car not manufactured by the Big Three was winning big. In 1952, Hudson won 29 of 34 events. Excited by their success on the track, Hudson executives began directly backing their racing teams, providing the team cars with everything they needed to increase success. The Big Three responded, and in doing so brought about the system of industry-backed racing that has become such a prominent marketing tool today. The Hudson Hornet would dominate NASCAR racing until 1955 when rule changes led to an emphasis on horsepower over handling.

February 24, 1955
Formula 1 all-time victory leader Alain Prost was born in Saint-Chamond, France. Affectionately called "The Professor" by his fans for his cool, calculated driving style, Prost won 51 Grand Prix races during his F1 career. The French adore Prost for, among other things, his ability to uphold the country's national sporting tradition of winning on home soil. Prost won six French Grand Prix's, a record of national success second to none. Prost is perhaps best remembered for his late 1980s battles with British bulldog Nigel Mansel, and the late Brasilian superhero Ayrton Senna.

[Shermatt]

:flag:I was born!

happy Birthday Dave

[Shermatt]

On this day, 25 February 2008
Ashley Alan Cooper, an Australian race car driver died from severe head and internal injuries after a high speed racing accident. Preliminary investigation suggests that his car may have clipped a guard rail at over 200 km/h at the Clipsal 500 meeting in Adelaide.
Cooper began his racing career in 1998 driving Holden HQ sedans. Leading the 2005 Commodore Cup championship for most of the year, Cooper finished fourth at the final round at Eastern Creek Raceway. In 2006, Cooper was crowned V8 Utes Rookie of the Year. He competed in three rounds of the 2007 Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series, with a top 15 finish at Queensland Raceway.

February 25, 1837
Thomas Davenport, of Brandon, VT, received a patent for an "Electric Motor" ("Improvement in Propelling Machinery by Magnetism and Electro-Magnetism"); probably the first commercially successful electric motor; first to secure a US patent for his direct current motor.

February 25, 1919
Oregon, USA became first state to impose 1% tax on gasoline. Collected funds used for road construction, maintenance.

25 February 1932
Charles Anthony Standish Brooks aka Tony Brooks, a British former racing driver was born in Dukinfield, Cheshire. He was also known as the "racing dentist". He participated in 39 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 14 July 1956, and scored the first win by a British driver in a British car in a Grand Prix since 1923, in 1955 driving a Connaught at Syracuse in a non World Championship race. He won 6 races for Vanwall and Ferrari, secured 4 pole positions, achieved 10 podiums, and scored a total of 74 championship points. He drove for BRM but retired from the team at the end of 1961, just before their most successful season.

February 25, 1961
David Carl "Davey" Allison, a NASCAR race car driver was born in Hollywood, Florida. He was best known as the driver of the Robert Yates Racing #28 Texaco-Havoline Ford. He was the eldest of four children born to NASCAR driver Bobby Allison and wife Judy. The family moved to Hueytown, Alabama and along with Bobby's brother Donnie Allison, family friend Red Farmer, and Neil Bonnett, became known in racing circles as the Alabama Gang. He died in his newly acquired Hughes 369HS helicopter crash while flying to Talladega Superspeedway.

[Shermatt]

On this day, February 26, 1903
Alexander Winton, driving his Winton Bullet, set the first speed record ever achieved at Daytona Beach, Florida. Built in 1902 the "Bullet Number 1" drove a measured mile at over 65mph. The first automobile race at Daytona was held a year earlier when Winton and his Bullet took on Ransom Olds. The race was declared a tie as both cars reached a top speed of 57mph. For hardware lovers, the "Bullet 1" carried a massive water-cooled four-cylinder engine with a displacement of 792 cubic inches. It had automatic intake valves, operated by compressed air, and an overhead cam. Winton's "Bullet 2" carried two four-cylinder engines bolted together, creating a straight eight. Winton's cars were driven by legendary speed demon Barney Oldfield, whose celebrated competitions with Ralph DePalma carried car racing through its first decade. Oldfield was America's first racing icon. Fans loved to watch him speed to victory with an unsmoked cigar clamped in his teeth.

February 26, 1935
The Pontiac "Indian Maiden" mascot was patented by its designers Chris Klein and C. Karnstadt. Pontiac, the namesake of the General Motors manufacturing division, was a male war chief of the Ottawa tribe, who distinguished himself through his bravery in fighting the English during the French and Indian Wars. The "Indian Maiden" mascot, therefore, is either a cross-dressed representation of Pontiac or a thoughtful attempt by its designers to find him a compatible hood ornament.

February 26, 1936
Hitler introduced Ferdinand Porsche's "Volkswagen" a.k.a. Kdf-Wagen.

February 26, 1945
Australian race car legend Peter Brock was born

[Shermatt]

February 27, 2008
Boyd Leon Coddington of American Hot Rod, TV series fame died due to diabetic complications. Coddington had been hospitalized in January 2008, shortly after New Year's Eve. He was discharged, but was readmitted just a few days later to Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital in suburban California. After being readmitted, doctors performed surgery and Boyd was expected to make a complete recovery but died on February 27, 2008 due to complications that were brought on from a recent surgery along with liver and kidney complications.
Many of the next generation of customizers started their career with Coddington. Larry Erickson, later the Chief Designer of the Mustang and Thunderbird for Ford Motor Co. worked with Coddington early on, and specifically credits the CadZZilla collaboration for jump-starting his career. Legendary designer Chip Foose, and fabricator Jesse James both started their careers in his shop. Foose rose to become the president of Coddington's company Hot Rods by Boyd, but later departed to start his own firm. The two became fierce competitors, to the point that their personal relationship split. Coddington hosted the Discovery Channel show “American Hot Rod", where he competed fiercely as well with his former protegé.
Coddington's creations have won the Grand National Roadster Show's "America's Most Beautiful Roadster (AMBR)" award seven times, the Daimler-Chrysler Design Excellence award twice, and entry into both the Grand National Roadster Show Hall of Fame and the National Rod & Custom Museum Hall of Fame . In 1997, Coddington (along with Foose), was inducted into the Hot Rod Hall of Fame.
PICTURED: Brad Fanshaw and Boyd Coddington with the just finished "Smoothster" in 1995. Boyd and Brad were business partners in Boyds Wheels and Hot Rods by Boyd. Chip Foose standing on far left

February 27, 1914
In the first decade of automobile racing, one rivalry stood out above the others: the brash Barney Oldfield vs. the gentlemanly Ralph DePalma. It was DePalma who got the better of Oldfield in the 9th Vanderbilt Cup in Santa Monica, California. The Vanderbilt Cup was American racing's first tradition. The event was founded in 1904 to introduce Europe's best racers and manufacturers to the U.S. Named after the event's sponsor, William K. Vanderbilt Jr., the Vanderbilt Cup ran every year from 1904 to 1915, when race fatalities finally led Vanderbilt to shut down the event. With the amazing safety technology available in car racing today, it is hard for us to imagine just how dangerous racing was for men like Barney Oldfield and Ralph DePalma. Racers of their generation had more in common with Chuck Yeager and John Glenn than with the racers of today. Equipped with enormous engines and almost no suspension or steering technology, the pre-World War I race car was a hunk of metal on wheels capable of propelling itself over 60mph on dirt tracks. Guiding the cars through turns was as much a test of brute strength and raw courage as it was a test of skill. With death as a silent participant in every race, it is clear why a race between Barney Oldfield and Ralph DePalma was as fascinating to spectators. Oldfield, hard-nosed and streetwise would race anyone, anywhere, anytime. DePalma was a product of the system; deferential and quiet, but he was no less courageous. The rivalry would come to a head during the 1917 match races between the two men. Large-scale racing had been halted due to World War I, but head-to-head match races commanded considerable crowds. Oldfield, driving the Harry Miller designed "Golden Submarine," an aluminum-framed technological wonder, defeated DePalma and his more traditional Packard, powered by a 12-cylinder aircraft engine.

February 27, 1934
Ralph Nader was in Winsted, Connecticut. Nader would revolutionize consumer advocacy with his 1965 book, Unsafe at Any Speed: The Designed-In Dangers of the American Automobile, in which he lambasted the safety standards of the Big Three automotive manufacturers.

February 27, 1948
The Federal Trade Commission issued a restraining order, preventing the Willys-Overland Company from representing that it had developed the Jeep. Willys-Overland did, in fact, end up producing the Army vehicle that would come to be known as the Jeep; but it was the Bantam Motor Company that first presented the innovative design to the Army.

February 27, 1813 - Congress authorizes use of steamboats to transport mail

February 27, 1981 - Greatest passenger load on a commercial airliner-610 on Boeing 747

February 27, 1988 - Gulfstream G-IV goes around the world 36:08:34

[Shermatt]

On this day, February 28, 1960
Richard Petty, the king of stock car racing, recorded his first Grand National victory at the old Charlotte, North Carolina, fairgrounds. Eight months earlier Richard had edged out his father, Lee, at the Grand National race in Lakewood, Georgia, only to watch his victory reviewed on the grounds of his own father's protest. The protest was upheld, and Lee Petty was awarded the win. It's not hard to tell how Richard developed the competitive instinct that would make him the winningest NASCAR race of all time.
PICTURE: Daytona 500 in 1960

February 28, 1903
Henry Ford hired John F. and Horace E. Dodge to supply the chassis and running gear for his 650 Ford automobiles. John and Horace, who began their business careers as bicycle manufacturers in 1897, first entered the automobile industry as manufacturers of auto parts in 1901. Manufacturing car bodies for Henry Ford and Ransom Olds, the Dodge Brothers had become the largest parts-manufacturing firm in the U.S. by 1910. In 1914, the brothers founded the Dodge Brothers Motor Car Company, and began work on their first automobiles. Dodge vehicles were known for their quality and sturdiness, and by 1919 the Dodge Brothers were among the richest men in America. Their good fortune didn't hold, however. Both brothers died of influenza in 1920. Their company was sold to a New York bank, before eventually being purchased by Chrysler in 1928. Under Chrysler's direction, Dodge became a successful producer of cars and trucks marketed for their ruggedness.

February 28, 1932
The last Ford Model A was produced, ending an era for the Ford Motor Company. The successor to the Model T, the Model A was an attempt to escape the image of bare bones transportation that had driven both the Model T's success and its ultimate failure in the market. The vastly improved Model A boasted elegant Lincoln-like styling, a peppy 40 horsepower four-cylinder engine, and, of course, a self-starting mechanism. The Model A was as affordable as its predecessor, however, and with a base price at $460, five million Model A's would roll onto American highways between 1927 and 1932.

[Shermatt]

On this day, February 29, 1908 (leap year)
At the Brooklands track in Weybridge, England, a standardization test of three random Cadillacs (famous 1908 parts interchangeability test) took place under the watchful eye of the Royal Automobile Club. This test was the first step towards a heightened reputation for American motor cars overall. Proving the concept of interchangeable parts to be a valid one was a leap towards mass-production and more ease in car repair. Three 1907 Model Ks were used in this test, more famously known as Dewar Trophy test of the Royal Automobile Club in England. They were disassembled, the parts mixed, and then reassembled without problems. This test cemented the Cadillac's reputation for precision and quality and brought fame to the marque.


February 29, 1964
William S. James, who designed cars for Hupmobile, Studebaker, and Ford, and who served as vice president for Research and Engineering with the Fram Corporation, died at the age of 71.

February 29, 1992
Earl Scheib, founder of a company that specializes in repainting and collision repair of automobiles died on this day.
He founded the company in Los Angeles in 1937, the company grew quickly following World War II and by 1975 had branches in Germany and England, all company owned, with Scheib manufacturing his own paint. Scheib's policy of one-day service and production line techniques flew directly into the face of state-of-the-art professional auto body standards.
After Scheib's death, the company was sold to a group of investors led by former college basketball champions Chris Bement and Dan Siegal, who made his fortune in Las Vegas winnings. The company was restructured, and improvements were made in the quality of paint.

[Shermatt]

On this day, March 1, 1897
The Winton Motor Carriage Company was organized in Cleveland, Ohio, with Alexander Winton as president. After 12 years in the bicycle manufacturing business, Winton began producing cars with his name on them in 1896. A fiery Scotsman, Winton took the challenge to build the world's fastest automobile personally. Like Ransom Olds, he raced his own cars. Racing at Daytona Beach is said to have begun with a match race between Winton and Olds in 1902, which the two men declared a draw. A year later, Winton won a multi-car race at Daytona, driving his Winton Bullet to an average speed of 68mph and becoming the first person to break the mile-per-minute barrier. Alexander Winton's personal rivalries did not stop with Ransom Olds. In 1901, Henry Ford, after being passed over for a mechanic's job with Winton's company, defeated Winton in his first and last car race. Ford's future notoriety would depend heavily on the publicity won in his encounter with his one-time potential employer. James Ward Packard also maintained a personal rivalry with Winton. After having purchased a Winton, Packard complained about the car's reliability. Winton reportedly politely urged Packard to build his own car. Packard responded by starting his own company. In the first decade of American car racing Wintons and Packards, driven by Barney Oldfield and Ralph DePalma, respectively, would fuel the sport's greatest rivalry. In 1903, Winton drove his car from San Francisco to New York to prove the reliability of his vehicles. It was the automotive industry's most dramatic achievement up to that point as such a long trip by an automobile was unheard of in 1897 but Mr. Winton believed he could do it.

A popular anecdote sums up Winton's involvment in the early automotive industry. Faced with mechanical problems in an early Winton, a Cleveland area resident reportedly towed his Winton through the streets of Cleveland with a team of mules exhibiting a sign reading, "This is the only way you can drive a Winton." In response, Winton hired a farm wagon carrying a jackass to follow his detractor, exhibiting a sign that read, "This is the only animal unable to drive a Winton."
A must read book on Winton and his acheivement is rightfully named 'Famous but forgotten' authored by Thomas Saal and Bernard Golias This 192-page book includes numerous photographs of vintage Winton automobiles and their accomplishments in performance races. Winton's career, from bicycle manufacturer to automotive innovator to diesel-engine developer for trains, illustrates the versatility which his prodigious creativity required.


March 1, 1973
The Honda Civic was introduced to the United States market. Luckily for Honda, the introduction of the small, fuel-efficient car coincided with the oil crisis of the early 1970s. This made car owners aware of the advantages of fuel economy and the Civic became a popular alternative to the inefficient cars offered by American car companies.
Civic is the second-longest continuously-running nameplate from a Japanese manufacturer, with Toyota Corolla, introduced in 1968, taking the first spot.

March 1, 1941
The first Ford general-purpose vehicles (jeeps) rolled off the assembly line in Dearborn, Michigan to support the Allied effort in World War II. Ford employees built more than 277,000 of these off-road military vehicles.

[Shermatt]

On this day, March 2, 1947
Enzo Ferrari drove his first 125S vehicle out of the factory gates.

March 2, 1918
Hans Ledwinka, the engineer who created the Tatra marquee, died in Munich, Germany, at the age of 89. Early in his career, Ledwinka took over engineering for Nesseldorf Wagenbau of Austria-Hungary when the founder of the company, Hugo von Roslerstamm, decided the company should enter racing. Under Ledwinka's leadership, the Rennzweier and the Type A racers were produced. The cars demonstrated modest racing success, and wide-scale production of the Type S began in 1909. Nesseldorf Wagenbau continued to grow until 1914, when, coinciding with the outbreak of WWI, it shifted to railroad production. On October 28, 1918, two weeks before the end of the war on the Western Front, the Moravian town of Nesseldorf of Austria-Hungary became the city of Koprivnicka in the newly created country of Czechoslovakia. Just after the war, Hans Ledwinka began construction of a new automobile to be marketed under the marquee Tatra, a division of the newly named Koprivnicka Wagenbau. The Tatra High Mountains are among the highest mountains in the Carpathian Mountain Range, the legendary home of Bram Stoker's Dracula. Ledwinka settled on the name Tatra in 1919 when an experimental model of his car with four-wheel brakes passed a sleigh on an icy mountain road, prompting the sleigh riders to exclaim, "This is a car for the Tatras." In 1923, the first official Tatra automobile, the Tatra T11, was completed, and Ledwinka's hope for an affordable "people's car" was realized. The reliable, rugged T11, like Ford's Model T, gave many Czechoslovakians their first opportunity to own an automobile. In 1934, Tatra achieved automotive notoriety with the introduction of the Tatra 77, the world's first aerodynamically styled automobile powered by a rear-mounted air-cooled engine.

March 2, 1925
The first nationwide highway numbering system was instituted by the joint board of state and federal highway officials appointed by the secretary of agriculture. In order to minimize confusion caused by the array of multiform state-appointed highway signs, the board created the shield-shaped highway number markers that have become a comforting sight to lost travelers in times since. Later, interstate highway numbering would be improved by colored signs and the odd-even demarcation that distinguishes between north-south and east-west travel respectively. As America got its kicks on Route 66, it did so under the aegis of the trusty shield.

March 2, 1949
The first automatic streetlight system in which the streetlights turned themselves on at dark was installed in New Milford, Connecticut, by the Connecticut Light and Power Company. Each streetlight contained an electronic device that contained a photoelectric cell capable of measuring outside light. By November of 1949, seven miles of New Milford's roads were automatically lit at dusk by a total of 190 photoelectric streetlights. No longer would the proud men of New Milford be forced to put on stilts in order to light their street lamps.



March 2, 1966
The millionth Ford Mustang rolled off Ford's assembly line
March 2, 2015
Australian racing legend, Leo Geoghegan passes away after a lengthy battle with prostate cancer. The motor racing champion, whose career began in 1956 in an early model Holden and captured an extensive range of titles including the Australian Drivers’ Championship 1970, the Australian GT Championship in 1960, the Australian Formula Junior Championship in 1963 and the Australian F2 Championship from 1973-74, also shared second place in the 1967 Gallaher 500 with his famous brother, ‘Pete’.
He capped an outstanding career with victory in the international Japan Grand Prix of 1969, driving the Lotus 39-Repco V8. Geoghegan and Lotus enjoyed a close association for many years and were renowned for the superb presentation of the team.

[Shermatt]

On this day, March 3, 1949
The postwar car market was so strong in the United States that a number of bold entrepreneurs formed independent car companies to challenge the established Big Three. Arguably the most remarkable such independent was the Tucker Corporation, founded by Preston "P.T." Tucker. Tucker, a gifted marketeer and innovator, created a phenomenon felt through the automotive industry when he released his car, the Tucker. Along with the cars, Preston Tucker sent a magazine called "Tucker Topics" along to dealers, hoping to increase the salesmen's enthusiasm for his automobile. The Tucker was equipped with a number of novel features. It had six exhaust pipes, a third headlight that rotated with the axle, and a "bomb shelter" in the backseat. Beyond the frills though, the Tucker packed a powerful punch, making 0-60mph in 10 seconds and reaching a top speed of 120mph. Great anticipation surrounded the awaited release of the Tucker, but in 1949, before his cars could reach their market, the Securities and Exchange Commission indicted Preston Tucker on 31 counts of investment fraud. Tucker had only produced 51 cars. On this day in 1949, the Tucker Corporation went into receivership, and the Tucker automobile became merely a historical footnote.
PICTURED: After the verdict : Preston Tucker, auto magnate, and wife, freed of fraud charges, 10.23 AM, 23rd Jan 1950

March 3, 1931 
"Star Spangled Banner" officially becomes US national anthem

March 3, 1932
Alfieri Maserati died at the age of 44 from complications resulting form injuries incurred in a 1927 racing accident.

March 3, 1937
Australia snatch series against England 3-2 after being 2-0 down

March 3, 1972
Sir William Lyons, founder of Jaguar Motors, retired as Chairman of Jaguar Cars Ltd. Lyons got his start making motorcycle sidecars in Blackpool, England. In 1926, he co-founded the Swallow Sidecar and Coachbuilding Company with William Walmsley. Recognizing the demand for automobiles, Lyons eventually built wooden frames for the Austin Seven Car, calling his creation the Austin Swallow. Spurred on by the warm reception of his Austin Swallows, Lyons began building his own cars, which he called Standard Swallows. In 1934, his company, now SS Cars Ltd., released a line of cars called Jaguars. After WWII, Lyons dropped the "SS" initials that reminded people of the Nazi SS soldiers. Jaguar Cars Ltd. went on to produce a number of exquisite sports cars and roadsters, among them the XK 120, the D Type, and the XK-E or E Type. Perhaps Lyons' most monumental achievement, the E Type was the fastest sports car in the world when it was released in 1961. With a top speed of 150mph and a 0-60mph of 6.5 seconds, the Jaguar made a remarkable 17 miles to the gallon and suffered nothing in its looks. In spite of Jaguar's distinguished record on the race track, the company is associated most with the beautiful lines of its car bodies appropriate considering Lyons's first offering to the automobile industry was a wooden frame bolted to another man's car. After a series of bouyouts by various auto companies, now its owned by Indian Conglomerate 'TATA'.

1943 - Battle of the Bismarck Sea during WWII: Australian and American airforces devastate Japanese navy convoy

1955 - Elvis Presley made his 1st TV appearance

1969 - Apollo 9 launched for 151 Earth orbits (10 days)

1991 - Boon completes 10th Test Cricket century, 109* v WI at Kingston

1991 - LA Police severly beat motorist Rodney King, captured on amateur video

1997 - The tallest free-standing structure in the Southern Hemisphere, Sky Tower in downtown Auckland, New Zealand, opens after two-and-a-half years of construction.

2005 - Steve Fossett becomes the first person to fly an airplane around the world solo without any stops without refueling - a journey of 40,234 km/25,000 mi completed in 67 hours and 2 minutes.

2013 - A 2 year old US girl becomes the first child born with HIV to be cured

[Shermatt]

On this day, March 4, 1888
Knute Kenneth Rockne, football coach at the University of Notre Dame and namesake of the Studebaker's Rockne brand, was born in Voss, Norway. Studebaker, based along with Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, named the Rockne brand after the winningest coach in college football history and arguably the most important man in town and was once a salesman for Studebaker. The low-priced Rockne was produced between 1932 to 1933. However, unlike Coach Rockne, the Rockne never enjoyed success as the Great Depression put the squeeze on all U.S. markets.
March 4, 1887
PICTURED: The 1932 Studebaker Rockne

The Daimler "benzin motor carriage" made its first test run in Esslingen and Cannstatt, Germany. It was Gottlieb Daimler's first four-wheel motor vehicle. The "benzin" has nothing to do with Carl Benz; at that time Gottlieb Daimler was Carl Benz's major competitor. Daimler, an engineer whose passion was the engine itself, had created and patented the first gasoline-powered, water-cooled, internal combustion engine in 1885. In Daimler's engine, water circulated around the engine block, preventing the engine from overheating. The same system is used in most of today's automobiles. Daimler's first four-wheel motor vehicle had a one-cylinder engine and a top speed of 10 miles per hour. By 1899, Daimler's German competitor, Benz and Company, had become the world's largest car manufacturer. In the same year, a wealthy Austrian businessman named Emile Jellinek saw a Daimler Phoenix win a race in Nice, France. So impressed was he with Daimler's car that he offered to buy 36 vehicles from Daimler should he create a more powerful model, but requested that the car be named after his daughter, Mercedes. Gottlieb Daimler would never see the result of his business deal with Jellinek, but his corporation would climb to great heights without him. The Mercedes began a revolution in the car manufacturing industry. The new car was lower to the ground than other vehicles of its time, and it possessed a wider wheelbase for improved cornering. It had four speeds, including reverse, and it reached a top speed of 47mph. The first Mercedes had a four-cylinder engine and is generally considered the first modern car. In the year of its birth, the Mercedes set a world speed record of 49.4mph in Nice, France--the very course that was responsible for its marque's conception. By 1905, Mercedes cars had reached speeds of 109mph. Forever reluctant to enter car racing, Carl Benz realized he must compete with Daimler's Mercedes to preserve his company's standing in the automotive industry. For 20 years, Mercedes and Benz competed on racetracks around the world. In 1926, the Daimler and Benz corporations merged. The two founders never met.

March 4, 1902
The American Automobile Association (AAA) was organized. The American Motor League (AML) had been the first organization to address the problems that commonly plague motorists, but it fell apart due to a diverse membership that featured powerful car makers who wanted to limit the AML only to issues that affected car manufacturing and engineering. However, soon trade groups such as the Association of Automotive Engineers took its place, paving the way for more specialized automobile organizations. AAA was formed to deal with the concerns of the motorists themselves, and has been America's largest organization of motorists since.

[Shermatt]

On this day, March 5, 1875
The Wisconsin state legislature offered a $10,000 reward to any man who could supply "a cheap and practical substitute for the use of horse and other animals on highway and farm," documenting that the search for a motorized wagon was officially under way by 1875. By 1879, George Selden had already sought a patent for his self-propelled gas-burning vehicle. Ransom Eli Olds, founder of Oldsmobile, created his first steam-propelled automobile in 1887. Frank and Charles Duryea drove their first motorized wagon in 1893. The Duryea brothers would eventually be credited with operating the first auto production line when they produced and sold 13 cars in 1896. Elwood Haynes of Kokomo, Indiana, claimed to have produced the first "real" car in 1894. Haynes contended that the Duryeas had only managed to attach an engine to a wagon. In short, the historical bounty for the creation of the automobile was a cup to be shared by all. Legally, however, and later financially, George Selden won the first prize. In 1895, Selden received U.S. Patent No. 549,160 for his "road engine." With the granting of the patent, Selden, whose designs were generally inferior to those of his contemporary automotive pioneers, won a monopoly on the concept of combining an internal combustion engine with a carriage. Although Selden never became an auto manufacturer, every automaker would have to pay him a percentage of their profits for the right to construct a motor car. In 1903, Henry Ford refused to pay Selden the percentage, arguing that his design had nothing to do with Selden's. After a long drawn-out legal case that ended in 1911, the New York Court of Appeals upheld Selden's patent for all cars of the particular out-dated construction he originally described, and in doing so ended Selden's profitable reign as the father of the automobile. Ironically, it wasn't until Ford's Model T that the car became a significant substitute for "the horse and other animals" as stipulated in the aforementioned challenge issued by the Wisconsin legislature. By that time, Henry Ford didn't need the $10,000.
PICTURED: Henry Ford's first car

March 5, 1658
Antoine de la Mothe, Le Sieur de Cadillac, namesake of Cadillac cars, was born in Gascogny, France. Cadillac was the explorer responsible for mapping the Great Lakes region of North America for the French crown. He is credited as the founder of Detroit, Michigan, which today is affectionately known as the Motor City.

March 5, 1929
Fire destroyed the Los Angeles Automobile Show. Over 320 new cars, including the Auburn Motor Company's only Auburn Cabin Speedster, were lost in the flames.

March 5, 1929
Erik Carlsson, aka "Carlsson på taket" ("Carlsson on the roof"), was born in Trollhättan, Sweden and was a rally driver for Saab. Because of his public relations work for Saab, he is also known as Mr. Saab.

March 5, 1929
David Dunbar Buick, a Scottish-born American inventor best known for founding the Buick Motor Company died. He was 74. He was born in Arbroath, Angus, Scotland moving to Detroit, Michigan at the age of two when his parents emigrated to the United States.

5 March 1977
Tom Price, British Grand Prix racer died during the racing accident of 1977 South African Grand Prix at Kyalami.

March 5, 1995
Gregg Hansford, Australian motorcycle and touring car racer died while competing in a Supertouring race in 1995 at Phillip Island. Hansford's Ford Mondeo slid off the track and hit a tyre wall at high speed. The car bounced back onto the track where he was hit by Mark Adderton's Peugeot 405 at over 200 km/h. Hansford died moments after the impact.

[Shermatt]

On this day, March 6, 1915
Dario Resta, driving a Peugeot, won the 10th Vanderbilt Cup Race at the Pan-Pacific International Speedway in San Francisco, California. The Vanderbilt Cup, the first international car race in America, was organized in 1904 to introduce Europe's best drivers and manufacturers to the U.S. Named after its founder, millionaire racing enthusiast William K. Vanderbilt Jr., the Vanderbilt Cup became the world's premier racing event after laws in Europe, designed to protect spectators, restricted the level of competition at venues there. The first Vanderbilt Cup was won by George Heath, a Frenchman, in a Panhard automobile. Heath averaged 52.2mph over the course of three 10-mile laps in Hicksville, New York. French cars dominated the event until 1908 when George Robertson drove the 90-horsepower Locomobile, a.k.a Old 16, to victory in the fourth Vanderbilt Cup. It was the first victory in an international racing event by an American car. The Vanderbilt Cup moved to Savannah, Georgia, in 1910, and later out to California. The race was christened with a French victory, and it would be laid to rest with a French victory. Dario Resta won the final Vanderbilt Cup in 1916 driving his Peugeot. That year Resta also won the Indianapolis 500 and the 100-mile Chicago Cup Challenge--during which he became the first man to average over 100mph over a race of that distance.
PICTURED: Dario Resta in his Peugeot Indy car

March 6, 1896
Charles B. King tested his automobile on the streets of Detroit, Michigan, becoming the first man to drive a car in the Motor City. While driving up and down Woodward Avenue his Horseless Carriage broke down, speculators responded by telling him to "get a horse".

March 6, 1936
American industrailist and race car driver Bob Akin was born in North Tarrytown, New York.

[Shermatt]

On this day, March 7, 1916
The manufacturing firms of Karl Rapp and Gustav Otto merged to form the Bayerische Flugzeugwerke AG (Bavarian Aircraft Works). The company would later become the Bayerische Motor-Werke (Bavarian Motor Works or BMW). As the original name suggests, BMW began as a manufacturer of aircaft engines. In 1923, BMW built its first motorcycle. The BMW R12, a classic-looking BMW motorcycle, was the first motorcycle to have a telescopic hydraulic front fork, providing a smoother ride and better contact with the road. BMW is still the leader in motorcycle design and production in Europe. In 1929, BMW built its first car, the Dixi, in a factory in Eisenach, Germany. Prior to opening the factory in Eisenach, all BMW products had been manufactured in Munich. By 1938, BMW was racing in the biggest car races in Europe. The 328 won its class at the Mille Miglia Italian road race. The outbreak of World War II saw BMW, like its U.S. counterparts, switch production to war manufacturing. BMW facilities were destroyed by Allied bombing during World War II. After the peace, a three-year ban was imposed on BMW by the Allies for its part in the war. The BMW R24 motorcycle became, with its release in 1948, the company's first post-war product. BMW completed its first postwar car, the 501, in 1951. BMW is still one of the world's leading automobile manufacturers. The company is noted for its innovations in the field of ABS, Anti-Lock Breaking Systems.
PICRURED: Today's BMW on the track

March 7, 1903
C.S. Rolls, driving a Mors automobile on a private estate in Nottinghamshire, England, ran a record flying kilometer at 84.84mph. He himself disallowed the record, noting as an objection the favorable tailwind and gradual slope of the course.

March 7, 1932
The Communist Party of America organized the "March on Hunger"; the procession traveled from downtown Detroit to the Ford Motor Company's River Rouge Plant in order to protest the company's labor record. When police and firemen were unable to disperse the thousands gathered at River Rouge, Ford strongman Harry Bennet, notorious for his mob tactics of labor management, ordered his "servicemen" to quell the crowd with fire hoses. Defying the freezing temperatures and icy water, the crowd refused to give up its protest. Bennet, who ruled Ford's enterprise with nothing short of terrorist tactics, confronted the crowd, ordering them to disperse once and for all. The determined crowd, unaware that they were faced with their nemesis, began to shout, "We want Bennet. And he's in that building." Bennett corrected their mistake, and for his trouble he was showered with bricks and slag pieces. He was struck in the head during the barrage. Before he fell to the ground, the combat-ready Bennett pulled Joseph York, a Young Communist League organizer, to the ground on top of him. Seeing Bennett bleeding profusely from his head, the police opened fire on the unarmed protesters. York and three other protesters were killed. Ford's trouble with labor unions came to a head five years later when Roosevelt's New Deal guaranteed the workers the right to join a union. Again Bennett would be at the center of a violent confrontation at the River Rouge complex.

March 7, 1938
Janet Guthrie, the first woman race driver to qualify and compete in both the Indianapolis 500 and the Daytona 500. was born in Iowa.

7 March 1947
Walter Röhrl, German rally legend was born in Regensburg, Bavaria.

[Shermatt]

On this day, March 8, 1936
Daytona Beach, Florida, staged its first race strictly for stock cars on a combination beach and public roadway course. The race is remembered as the impetus for today's NASCAR. However, race or no race, NASCAR never would have come into being without the efforts of Bill France. Having moved to Daytona in 1934, Bill France opened a garage there. He fixed and raced cars, finishing fifth in Daytona's original race. The city claimed it lost money on the event and enthusiasm for city-sponsored racing waned. The next year the Daytona Elks persuaded the city to stage a Labor Day road race for stock cars. The city lost money again. At that point, Bill France and local club owner Charlie Reese took over the promotion for the Daytona race. With Reese's money and France's work, the race established itself as a successful enterprise. Racing halted during the war, but afterward France returned to Daytona Beach and persisted at race promotion. Reese died in 1945. France went on to promote races all over the South. In 1946, he staged a National Championship race at the Old Charlotte Speedway. A news editor objected to France's calling a race a National Championship without any organized sanctioning body. France responded by forming the National Championship Stock Car Circuit (NCSCC) in 1946. On December 14, 1947, France called a meeting to reorganize the growing NCSCC. Racing officials gathered at the Streamline Hotel in Daytona Beach to hear France call for major changes in the operation of the circuit. He demanded more professionalism and suggested that the organization provide insurance for drivers and strict rules for the race cars and tracks. A new organization to be incorporated later that year as the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) emerged from the meeting, with Bill France, former mechanic, as president.
PICTURED: 1959 Unfinished Daytona track - test - 2
Left [sitting] is Big Bill France and far right is Fireball Roberts with their two passengers [the gentleman in the suit appears to be Jim Stephens] who took a run in a 1959 Pontiac around the banks of the yet-to-be-paved Daytona Speedway.

March 8, 1969
The Pontiac Firebird Trans Am was introduced. The Firebird Trans Am was just one in a series of muscle cars released by Pontiac in the 1960s, including the Grand Prix and the GTO. It all began in 1959 when Pontiac hired a young car designer named John DeLorean. DeLorean's designs increased sales for Pontiac by 27 percent between 1962 and 1968. The Grand Prix and the Firebird accounted for half of the gain. On the basis of its muscle cars, Pontiac ruled the youth market of the late 1960s and early 1970s. The Trans Am, originally a limited model Firebird, would become a symbol in the muscle car niche of automobile manufacturing.

[Shermatt]

On this day, March 9, 1964
The first regular production Mustangs rolled off the Dearborn Assembly Plant line in Michigan.
PICTURED: The Mustang concept that never made production along with a 1965 Mustang convertible at the rear

March 9, 1901
A fire destroyed the Olds Motor Works factory in Detroit, Michigan. Legend holds that Olds employee James Brady pushed a Regular Runabout, affectionately called the Curved Dash, out of the building to safety. Over the course of the previous year, Olds had developed over 11 models for cars, all of which varied greatly in price and design. He had reportedly not decided which Olds models on which to focus the company's production capability, but, as the fire destroyed all but one prototype, fate decided that the Runabout would be the first major production Olds. The Runabout, a small buggy with lightweight wheels and a curved dashboard powered by a one-cylinder engine, not dissimilar from today's lawnmower engines, became the Olds Motor Company's primary automobile. The Runabout maxed out at 20mph. Olds later viewed the fire as a miracle, a sign that the Runabout would make his fortune. He expressed his enthusiasm for the little car, "My horseless carriage is no passing fad. It never kicks, never bites, never tires on long runs, never sweats in hot weather, and doesn't require care when not in use. It eats only when it's on the road. And no road is too tough for the Olds Runabout." In preparation for his success, Olds contracted other companies for parts to comprise his Runabout and, in doing so, he revolutionized the automobile industry. Previously, all cars had been built from start to finish on one site. Olds' methods allowed for an assembly line in which parts were produced outside his factory and systematically assembled in his own factories. Among Olds subcontracted partners were the Dodge Brothers; Henry Leland, who founded Lincoln and Cadillac; and Fred Fisher, whose family produced bodies for General Motors. The Olds Runabout sold for $650.

March 9, 1950
Racer Danny Sullivan was born in Louisville, Kentucky. Sullivan dominated Indy Car racing in the 1980s driving Penske cars. Danny Sullivan won the 1985 Indy 500 after a full-circle spin on the track.

[Shermatt]

On this day, March 10, 1927
Robert Kearns, inventor who won suits against auto giants is born in Gary, Indiana. He patented a design for a type of windshield wiper and later won multi-million dollar judgments against Chrysler and Ford for using his concept without permission. Kearns’ invention, the intermittent windshield wiper, enabled wipers to move at timed intervals, rather than constantly swiping back and forth. Intermittent wipers aided drivers in light rain or mist and today are a standard feature of most cars. Kearns’ real-life David versus Goliath story about taking on the auto giants was made into a movie titled “Flash of Genius” that opened in 2008 and starred Greg Kinnear.

March 10, 1972
Matthew Roy Kenseth, an American stock car driver was born in Cambridge, Wisconsin. Matt currently drives the #17 DeWalt Ford in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for Roush Fenway Racing. He is currently the defending Daytona 500 champion, having won a rain-shortened race in 2009, the first Daytona 500 win for the Roush Fenway Racing team. Kenseth followed that up with a win at California Speedway moving his win list up to 19 in Sprint Cup.

March 10, 1975
Lyne Bessette, a Canadian professional bicycle racer was born in Lac Brome, Quebec. A two-time member of the Canadian Olympic team (2000 and 2004), she has twice won the prestigious Tour de l'Aude Feminin (1999 and 2001) as well as the 2001 Women's Challenge.

March 10, 2003
Barry Sheene, a British former World Champion Grand Prix motorcycle road racer died of cancer of the stomach and esophagus.
Sheene is credited with the invention the motorcycle back protector, with a prototype model he made himself out of old helmet visors, arranged so they could curve in one direction, but not the other. Sheene gave the prototype along with all rights to the Italian company Dainese - they and other companies have manufactured back protectors since then.

[Shermatt]

On this day, March 11, 1885
Sir Malcolm Campbell, land-speed record holder, is born in Chiselhurst, Kent, England, on this day. Campbell's thirst for speed was evident early in his life. He won three gold medals in the London-Edinburgh motorcycle trials as a young man. However, Campbell gained his greatest fame by way of his quest to attain the landspeed record. Over the course of two decades, he battled with Major H. O. C. Segrave for sole possession of the land-speed title. He received worldwide attention when he flew his Bluebird to South Africa in search of a flat racing surface superior in safety to the beach at Daytona. He ended up at Verneuk Pan, a massive salt flat in South Africa's interior. Verneuk Pan, flat as it was, proved to be too rough a surface for Campbell's tires; but having already made the extraordinary trip, Campbell's people built a road on the flat and raced the car. Over the course of his career, Campbell set six land-speed records in various types of vehicles, all christened "Blue Bird." After eclipsing the 300mph barrier on land at the age of 50, Campbell turned his attention to boat racing and broke a number of water-speed records. For his lifetime of achievement in international speed events, Campbell was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. Campbell passed his thirst for speed on to his son, Donald, who was the first person to set both land and water speed records in the same year.
PICTURED: The Blue Bird driven by the young Donald Campbell accompanied his father (Sir Malcolm Campbell) at the Bonneville Salt Flats of Utah on 3 September 1935 where the 300mph barrier fell by a bare mile-per-hour, crowning Sir Malcolm Campbell's record-breaking career

March 11, 1927
The Flatheads Gang staged the first armored truck holdup in U.S. history on the Bethel Road, seven miles out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on the way to Coverdale. The armored truck, carrying $104,250 of payroll money for the Pittsburgh Terminal Coal Company, drove over a mine planted under the roadbed by the road bandits. The car blew up and five guards were badly injured. It was staged by their ring leader, Paul Jaworski.

March 11, 1968
Jerod O. Shelby, the founder of the American supercar automobile manufacturer Shelby SuperCars, was born in Richland, Washington. He is not related to car designer Carroll Shelby.

March 11, 2009
The Toyota Motor Company announces that it has sold over 1 million gas-electric hybrid vehicles in the U.S. under its six Toyota and Lexus brands. The sales were led by the Prius, the world’s first mass-market hybrid car, which was launched in Japan in October 1997 and introduced in America in July 2000.

[Shermatt]

On this day, March 12, 1952
Mercedes introduced the 300SL to the press. With a sleek rounded body, gull-wing doors and a detachable steering wheel, the 300SL created quite a buzz. As a race car, the 300SL enjoyed paramount success, capturing victories at Le Mans, the German Grand Prix, and the Carrera PanAmericana in Mexico. However, despite its racing success, the 300SL race car will forever be remembered for its role in car racing's greatest tragedy. Careering out of control in the 1955 race at Le Mans, the 300SL crashed into the gallery. Eighty spectators died and, in respect to the victims of the accident, Mercedes-Benz pulled its cars out of racing competition for nearly three decades. Two years after the introduction of the 300SL, Mercedes introduced the 300SL coupe to the public. A stylish sports car also characterized by its gull-wing doors, the coupe was a consumer version of the 300SL race car. With a six-cylinder engine and a top speed of 155mph, the two-door coupe created a sensation among wealthy car buyers who actually waited in line to buy it. However, because of the impracticality of the gull-wing doors, the company only manufactured 1,400 300SL coupes. Nevertheless, the 300SL coupe is widely considered one of the most impressive sports cars of the decade.

March 12, 1831
Clement Studebaker was born in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Clement and his brother, Henry Studebaker, founded H. & C. Studebaker, a blacksmith and wagon building business in South Bend, Indiana. The Studebaker brothers made their fortune manufacturing carriages for the Union army during the Civil War. By the end of the war, the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company had become the world's largest manufacturer of horse-drawn carriages. With the advent of the automobile, Studebaker converted its business to car manufacturing, becoming one of the larger independent automobile manufacturers. Another major war would affect the company's fortune almost a century after its founders had benefited from the demand caused by the Civil War. During World War II, Studebaker manufactured aircraft engines, trucks, and amphibious vehicles for the war effort and emphasized their patriotic role by releasing cars called "The President," "The Champion," and "The Commander." Like many of the independents, Studebaker fared well during the war by producing affordable family cars. As their advertisement claimed, "Studebaker is building an unlimited quantity of airplane engines, military trucks and other material for national defense... and a limited number of passenger cars which are the finest Studebaker has ever produced." However, after the war, the Big Three, bolstered by their new government-subsidized production facilities, were too much for many of the independents, and Studebaker was no exception. Post WWII competition drove Studebaker to its limits, and the company merged with the Packard Corporation in 1954. The merger did not help matters and production of Packards ended in 1958. After a brief respite with the introduction of the popular, compact Studebaker Lark in 1959, the company again suffered financial troubles. Finally, in late 1963, Studebaker was forced to close its South Bend, Indiana, plant. An Ontario plant remained open until 1966, when Studebaker produced its last car, a blue and white Cruiser.

March 12, 1921
Gianni Agnelli, Italian industrialist and grandson of FIAT founder Giovanni Agnelli was born in Villar Perosa, near Turin He was the principal shareholder of Fiat. As the head of Fiat, he controlled 4.4% of Italy's GNP, 3.1% of its industrial workforce, and 16.5% of its industrial investment in research.

March 12, 1755
1st steam engine in America installed, to pump water from a mine

March 12, 1904
1st main line electric train in UK (Liverpool to Southport)

March 12, 1913
Foundation stone of the Australian capital in Canberra was laid

March 12, 1935
England establishes 30 MPH speed limit for towns & villages

[Shermatt]

On this day, March 13, 1944
Charles Sorensen resigned as the vice president of the Ford Motor Company. Sorensen had been Henry Ford's longtime right-hand man. Tall and handsome, Sorensen became a darling of the national press corps during World War II. He was in charge of Ford's wartime production; and the Willow Run plant that produced B-24 Liberator bombers was Sorensen's project. Originally, Ford had been contracted to produce subassemblies for United Aircraft, but Sorensen demanded that Ford be able to produce entire planes. He promised the government 500 planes per month, a figure nearly three times as great as United Aircraft's production potential. In return, he was rewarded with a huge contract which included $200 million for the construction of the Willow Run facility. Willow Run, after a rocky beginning, became a heroic success story, a symbol of America's role as the "great arsenal of democracy." The plant eventually reached a production level of one bomber per hour. With Willow Run's success came attention for Sorensen. In 1940, he appeared in Time and Newsweek, and in 1942, Fortune Magazine ran a long adulatory article entitled "Sorensen of the Rouge." Sorensen himself admitted that his popularity may have caused his departure from Ford, "My ability to keep out of the public eye was one reason I stayed as long as I did at Ford while others left." In 1943, Henry Ford promoted Harry Bennet, his longtime labor enforcer, to a position above Sorensen. Realizing that he had fallen from favor, the graceful Sorensen resigned from Ford.

March 13, 1946
UAW and General Motors agreed to a settle a strike which had lasted from November 1945 until March of 1946; 175,00 strikers agreed to head back to work; walkout engineered by UAW chief Walter Reuther; agitated for higher pay for GM's 320,000 employees, looked to consolidate his power in auto union; in coming months leaders in various industries proved successful in drive for price increases, led to inflation, wiped out workers' wage gains.

March 13, 1969
The Walt Disney studio released The Love Bug. Directed by Robert Stevenson, the film starred "Herbie," a lovable Volkswagen bug with a personality. Abused by the evil race-car driver "Thorndyke" (David Thomlinson), Herbie is rescued by the young good-guy race-car driver "Jim" (Dean Jones). Grateful for his rescue, Herbie rewards the hapless Jim by winning one race after another on his driver's behalf. The excitement begins when the ruthless Thorndyke plots to get Herbie back by any means necessary. Based on a story by Gordon Buford, The Love Bug inspired several sequels, including Herbie Rides Again, Herbie Goes To Monte Carlo, Herbie Goes Bananas, and Herbie: Fully Loaded. By becoming one of the biggest grossing films of 1969, The Love Bug allayed any fears that the Disney Studio would collapse without the presence of the recently deceased Walt Disney. The movie became a children's film classic and enhanced the Volkswagen Beetle's image as a quirky car endowed with more than solid engineering.

March 13, 1980
Henry Ford II resigned as Chairman of the Ford Motor Company after naming Philip Caldwell his successor. With Ford's resignation, the era of the Ford family as an automotive dynasty temporarily ended. Henry II was, like his grandfather, a tough and formidable leader. He reorganized the company and instituted a modern bookkeeping system. His father, Edsel, had been considered a dreamer by Henry I. Edsel had spent much of his energy designing cars and improving Ford's labor relationships. He hadn't been a hard-edged businessman and often drew his father's criticism on those grounds. Like the archetypal ruling families of England, the Ford family followed its own generational legacy: Henry the Great, Edsel the Confessor, and Henry II. It sounds like Shakespeare.

[Shermatt]

On this day, March 14, 1924
John “Jack” Mack, who co-founded Mack trucks along with his brothers, what would become one of North America’s largest makers of heavy-duty trucks is killed when his car collides with a trolley in Pennsylvania.
In the early afternoon of March 14, Jack Mack was enroute to a business meeting in Weatherly, Pennsylvania in his Chandler coupe. His car became involved in an accident with a trolley car of the Lehigh Valley Transit Company, which was crossing the road diagonally. Jack was killed almost instantly when his light car, being pushed off the road ahead of the trolley, was caught against a heavy pole and crushed like an egg shell. His body was interred in Fairview Cemetery in Allentown, just above the former Mack plant on 10th Street.

March 14, 1914
Stock-car racer Lee Arnold Petty was born near Randleman, North Carolina, on this day. Now famous as the father of Richard Petty--the all-time "winningest" racer in NASCAR history--Lee Petty was no slouch in his own day. In 1959, Lee Petty won the first Daytona 500 at the brand new Daytona International Speedway driving a new hardtop Olds 88 to a photo finish with Johnny Beauchamp. The Pettys would switch to Plymouths midway through the season that year. Lee and Richard Petty drove Plymouths, Chryslers, and Dodges for most of their remaining careers. Together the father-and-son team combined for 254 wins, including eight Daytona 500s. However, Lee and Richard also took father and son competition to its extremes. The embodiment of stock car racing's hard-nosed past, Lee Petty never lost a race on account of being too kind to his competitors, even if his competitors were family. Richard Petty remembers his quest to win his first NASCAR race at the Grand National Exposition in Toronto, "Cotton Owens was leading and daddy was second. They came up on me and I moved over to let them pass. Cotton went on, but daddy bumped me in the rear and my car went right into the wall." Richard finished in 17th place. In 1959, Richard thought he had won his first race after finishing first in the Grand National at Lakewood, Georgia. However, Lee, who finished second in the event, protested his son's victory. The protest was upheld, and Lee won the race. Before you call Richard Petty "The King," remember "The King" isn't an absolute monarch when his daddy is around. Richard's son Kyle is also a successful NASCAR racer, and no doubt benefits from the family's competitive edge.

March 14, 1962
GM produced 75-millionth US-made car.

[Shermatt]

On this day, March 15, 1906
Rolls-Royce Ltd. was officially registered with Charles S. Rolls and F. Henry Royce as directors. In 1904, Henry Royce, the founder of his self-titled electrical and mechanical engineering firm, built his first car. In May of that year, he met Charles Rolls, whose company sold cars in London. The two men agreed that Royce Limited would manufacture a line of cars to be sold exclusively by C.S. Rolls & Co. The cars bore the name Rolls-Royce. Success with their partnership led to the formation of the Rolls-Royce Company. In 1906, just after the company was
organized, it released the six-cylinder 40/50 horsepower Silver Ghost. The car was enthusiastically heralded by the British press as "the best car in the world." From its formation to the start of World War I in 1914, Rolls-Royce focused on one product--the Silver Ghost. The war forced new demands on the British economy, and Rolls-Royce shifted its manufacturing emphasis to airplane engines. Henry Royce's designs are credited with having provided half of the total horsepower used in the Allies' air war against Germany, and World War II transformed Rolls-Royce into a major force in aerospace engineering. In 1931, Rolls-Royce absorbed Bentley, and, since then, it has produced all cars bearing that name. Together Rolls-Royce and Bentley are synonymous with luxurious handmade cars.
PICTURED: Charles Rolls sitting on a 1898 PANHARD 8hp

March 15, 1911
Gustave Otto, the son of internal combustion engine pioneer Nikolaus Otto, organized Gustav Otto Flugmaschinenfabrik Muchen. Otto's Munich-based this aero-engineering firm would later merge with Karl Rapp's firm to form the Bayerische Motoren-Werke, or BMW.

March 15, 1968
Construction starts on the north tunnel of the Eisenhower/Johnson Memorial Tunnel on Interstate 70 in Colorado. Located at an altitude of more than 11,000 feet, the project was an engineering marvel and became the world’s highest vehicular tunnel when it was completed in 1979. Four months after opening, one million vehicles had passed through the tunnel; today, some 10 million vehicles drive through it each year.

March 15, 1990
The Ford Explorer was introduced to the public. One of the first generation sports utility vehicles released by the Big Three in the early 1990s, the Ford Explorer became one of the company's best-selling models almost immediately. Like sports cars before them, "Sport Utility Vehicles" (SUVs) became the chosen automobiles for the glamorous world of entertainment, and their virtues were even extolled in pop music. Ice Cube rapped, "I put the petal to the floor of my two-tone Ford Explorer," in his song "Down For Whatever." However, SUVs have come under fire recently for the relatively high proportion of deaths resulting from accidents involving them and their fuel guzzling habits.