This Day in Auto History:

3.19.1879 John J. Raskob, financier and political activist who was heavily involved with General Motors during the 1920’s, is born in Lockport, NY 3.19.1900 The new Fiat plant in Turin, Italy is officially opened by the Duke of Genoa 3.19.1941 Matteo Ceirano of Fiat dies in Turin, Italy at age 71 3.19.1956 Joe Oros is appointed Chief Sylist for all Ford cars and trucks, a position he would hold until 1968

Source: Automobile History Day By Day, by Douglas A. Wick

This Day in Auto History:

3.18.1881 Rudolph Carl Norberg of the Willard Storage Battery Company is born in Stockholm, Sweden 3.18.1917 The steamer “Vigilancia” with 84 FWD trucks on board is torpedoed by a German U-boat leading to United States entry into World War I 3.18.1929 General Motors announces plans to acquire Adam Opel AG of Germany 3.18.1937 Racer Mark N. Donohue Jr. is born in Summit, NJ 3.18.1953 The Chrysler Imperial Newport hardtop coupe is introduced as a mid-year model

Source: Automobile History Day By Day, by Douglas A. Wick

This Day in Auto History:

	3.12.1882 Erwin George “Cannon Ball” Baker is born in Lawrenceburg, IN 3.12.1928 Kurt Volkhart takes the Opel RAK-1 rocket-powered car for its first test run in Russelsheim, Germany 3.12.1952 Albert G. Partridge of the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company dies at age 71 3.12.1963 Racer John Andretti is born in Bethlehem, PA 3.12.1969 Racer Gareth Rees is born in Great Britain

Source: Automobile History Day By Day, by Douglas A. Wick

This Day in Auto History:

This Day in Auto History: 3.11.1890 Eugene F. McDonald Jr., a onetime Franklin official who later became President of the Zenith Radio Corporation, is born in Syracuse, NY 3.11.1914 Andrew L. Pomeroy of Thompson Products Inc. is born in Philadelphia, PA 3.11.1943 Racer Arturo Francesco Merzario is born in Civenna, Italy 3.11.1956 Peter M. Heldt, German-born automotive journalist whose 1902 Horseless Age editorial led to the formation of the Society of Automotive Engineers, dies in Miami, FL 3.11.1985 Racer Lee Shepherd dies at age 40 when he crashes during a race in Ardmore, OK

Source: Automobile History Day By Day, by Douglas A. Wick

This Day in Auto History:

3.10.1903 Byron J. Carter is issued a United States patent for his three-cylinder steam engine 3.10.1909 Andrew L. Freeman, the inventor of the headbolt heater, is born in Upham, ND 3.10.1939 Racer Charles Crichton-Stuart is born in London, England 3.10.1942 Walter M. Nones, founder in 1914 of the Norma-Hoffmann Bearings Corporation and its Chairman until 1941, dies in New York City at age 67 3.10.1960 The Gordon (later Gordon-Keeble) GT is introduced as a new marque at the Geneva (Switzerland) Autoshow

Source: Automobile History Day By Day, by Douglas A. Wick

This Day in Auto History:

3.5.1903 The Association of Licensed Automobile Manufacturers (ALAM) is organized with 18 manufacturers as charter members following a successful patent infringement lawsuit against the Winton Motor Carriage Company on behalf of George B. Selden 3.5.1926 John David Caplan of General Motors is born in Weiser, ID 3.5.1929 Allen Edward Murray of the Mobil Corporation is born in New York City 3.5.1936 A. O. Dunk, prolific buyer of defunct automobile manufacturer inventories, dies in Los Angeles, CA at age 62 3.5.1952 Robert H. Duff, a Scottish-born truck engineer with the Chrysler Corporation since 1926, dies in Detroit, MI at age 54

Source: Automobile History Day By Day, by Douglas A. Wick

This Day in Auto History:

3.4.1889 Luis de Florez, a mechanical and chemical engineer who is credited with many inventions in the oil refining industry, is born in New York City 3.4.1900 The Automobile Club of America (ACA) stages its first race, a round trip between Springfield, Long Island, NY and Babylon, NY - the winner is Andrew L. Riker driving a Riker of his own design, the only electric car in the field 3.4.1921 Warren Gamaliel Harding becomes the first President of the United States to ride to his inauguration in an automobile (a Packard Twin Six) 3.4.1936 Racer James “Jim” Clark Jr. is born in Kilmany, Fifeshire, Scotland 3.4.1966 L. Irving Woolson of DeSoto dies at age 61

Source: Automobile History Day By Day, by Douglas A. Wick

This Day in Auto History:

2.28.1892 George H. Ellis, a 26-year-old employee of the Deering Harvester Company, successfully tests his automobile in Ravenswood, IL, now a part of Chicago - although additional production was ruled out, this vehicle is considered to be the ancestor of the International truck 2.28.1908 Racer Albert Scherrer is born in Switzerland 2.28.1920 The Beverly Hills (CA) Board Speedway stages its first event, a 250-mile race won by Jimmy Murphy in a Duesenberg 2.28.1933 Gordon M. Buehrig joins General Motors Styling 2.28.1940 DeWitt Page, a Vice President of General Motors and former President of the New Departure Manufacturing Company, dies in Hialeah Park, FL at age 70

Source: Automobile History Day By Day, by Douglas A. Wick

This Day in Auto History:

2.25.1899 The first motor vehicle accidental death in Great Britain occurs in London 2.25.1920 Henry Russel of Oldsmobile dies at age 67 2.25.1943 Racer Jurgen Lassig is born in Tuttlingen, Germany 2.25.1957 Sir William M. Letts, pioneer British automobile designer and founder of the Automobile Association, dies in Llandudno, Wales one day short of his 84th birthday 2.25.1964 Maurice Farman, pioneer racer, luxury automobile manufacturer, and airplane designer, dies in Paris, France at age 86

Source: Automobile History Day By Day, by Douglas A. Wick

This Day in Auto History:

2.22.1914 Clinton Firestone of Firestone-Columbus dies 2.22.1923 The 1,000,000th Chevrolet is produced 2.22.1947 Dr. J. Harry Clo, Director of Research for A. Schrader’s Son and an authority on air controlled automotive devices, dies in Waynesville, NC at age 65 2.22.1953 Severt Sundberg is killed when his Ferrari 166 crashes during an ice race in Burtrask, Sweden 2.22.1990 Victor Lasky, the critical biographer of Henry Ford II, dies in Washington, DC at age 72

Source: Automobile History Day By Day, by Douglas A. Wick

This Day in Auto History:

	2.21.1907 Hendrik Spijker of Spyker drowns when his North Sea steamer breaks up in a storm off the coast of the Hook of Holland, the Netherlands 2.21.1916 The Dixie Flyer is introduced in Louisville, KY 2.21.1944 Coachbuilder Giacinto Ghia dies in Turin, Italy at age 56 2.21.1968 Iso is granted an international copyright for the Grifo name

Source: Automobile History Day By Day, by Douglas A. Wick

This Day in Auto History: 21 MAY

This Day in Auto History: 5.21.1898 The Nesseldorf Prasident makes a test run from Nesseldorf, Moravia to Vienna, Austria – this was the first car built in what is now the Czech Republic, and is also often cited as the first car to be equipped with a front bumper 5.21.1918 Charles Valton, a designer of automobile mascots, dies in Chinon, France at age 67 5.21.1929 The Ford Model A Fordor sedan is introduced 5.21.1945 Hudson Motor Car Company President A. E. Barit announces that the Fisher brothers, having resigned from General Motors in August 1944, are attempting to gain control of Hudson 5.21.1962 Racer Enrique Contreras is born in Mexico

Source: Automobile History Day By Day, by Douglas A. Wick

This Day in Auto History: 12 MAY

This Day in Auto History: 5.12.1904 The first and only speed trials staged at Douglas Promenade, Isle of Man are won by S. F. Edge in a Napier at 57.3 mph 5.12.1915 Automotive historian Lyle Kenyon Engel is born in New York City 5.12.1922 Racer Roy Francesco Salvadori is born in Dovercourt, Essex, England of Italian ancestry 5.12.1935 The Alfa Romeo 16-cylinder Bimotore race cars debut at the 9th Tripoli Grand Prix in Libya, with two cars driven by Tazio Nuvolari and Louis Chiron finishing 4th and 5th 5.12.1946 William F. Marande, Chief Metallurgist of the Eaton Manufacturing Company and a former employee of Buick, dies in Saginaw, MI at age 46

Source: Automobile History Day By Day, by Douglas A. Wick