This Month in Automotive History

November 1

1927 Ford Model A Production Begins
For the first time since the Model T was introduced in 1908, the Ford Motor Company began production on a significantly redesigned automobile on this day--the Model A. The hugely successful Model T revolutionized the automobile industry, and over fifteen million copies of the "Thin Lizzy" were sold in its nineteen years of production. By 1927, the popularity of the outdated Model T was rapidly waning. Improved, but basically unchanged for its two-decade reign, it was losing ground to the more stylish and powerful motor cars offered by Ford's competitors. In May of 1927, Ford plants across the country closed, and the company began an intensive development of the more refined and modern Model A. The vastly improved Model A had elegant Lincoln-like styling on a smaller scale, and used a capable 200.5 cubic-inch four-cylinder engine that produced forty horsepower. With prices starting at $460, nearly five million Model As, in several body styles and a variety of colors, rolled onto to America's highways before production ended in early 1932.

1895 First American Auto Club

The first automobile club in the United States, the American Motor League, held its preliminary meeting in Chicago, Illinois, with sixty members on this day. Dr. J. Allen Hornsby was named president of the new organization, and Charles Edgar Duryea, the car manufacturer, and Hiram P. Maxim, car designer and inventor, were named vice-presidents. Charles King, who constructed one of the first four-cylinder automobiles in the following year, was named treasurer.

November 2

1895 First Gasoline-Powered Contest in America
In early 1895, Chicago Times-Herald publisher Herman H. Kohlstaat announced that his newspaper would sponsor a race between horseless carriages. It would be the first race in America to feature gasoline-powered automobiles. Kohlstaat, who was offering $5,000 in prizes, including a first-place prize of $2,000, received telegrams from European racing enthusiasts and from automobile tinkerers across America. After delaying the event for several months at the request of entrants who were still working on their racing prototypes, Kohlstaat finally settled on an official race date--November 2. When the day arrived, eighty automobiles had been entered, but only two showed up: a Benz car brought over from Germany by Oscar Bernhard Mueller, and an automobile built by Charles and Frank Duryea of Springfield, Massachusetts. The disappointed Kohlstaat agreed to delay the official race yet again until Thanksgiving, but approved an exhibition contest to be run on this day between the Duryea brothers and Mueller. Enthusiastic spectators gathered along the ninety-mile course from Jackson Park in Chicago to Waukegan, Illinois, and back again, and the Duryea car, driven by Frank, took an early lead over Mueller's motor wagon. However, less than halfway through the race, a team of horses pulling a wagon, frightened by the racket from Frank's noisy car, bolted into the middle of the road and the Duryea automobile was forced off the road and into a ditch. The undriveable car was taken back to Springfield by railroad, and the brothers began hasty repair work for the official November 28 race-date. Mueller was declared the winner of the exhibition by default, but on Thanksgiving Day he would have to face the Duryeas again, in an event that would be known as the Great Chicago Race of 1895.

1989 In it for the Long Haul

On this day, Carmen Fasanella, a taxicab driver from Princeton, New Jersey, retired after sixty-eight years and 243 days of service. Fasanella, who was continuously licensed as a taxicab owner and driver in the Borough of Princeton, New Jersey, since February 1, 1921, is the most enduring taxi driver on record.

November 3

1900 America's First Car Show Begins
On this day, the first significant car show in the United States began in New York City. The week-long event, held in Madison Square Garden, was organized by the Automobile Club of America. Fifty-one exhibitors displayed thirty-one automobiles along with various accessories. Among the fathers of the automobile present at the "Horseless Carriage Show" was automaker James Ward Packard, who had completed his first car the year before, and brought three of his Packards to exhibit to the public. In addition to Packard, the show introduced a number of other fledgling automobile companies that became significant industry players in the coming decades, although none of the makes present would still be in business by 1980. The event also featured automotive demonstrations, such as braking and starting contests, and a specially built ramp to measure the hillclimbing ability of the various automobiles. Spectators paid fifty cents each to attend the event.

1995 British Soldiers Break Bridge-Building Record

On this day, a team of British soldiers from the 21st Engineer Regiment broke all speed records in the construction of a bridge capable of transporting military vehicles. The British soldiers, based in Nienberg, Germany, built the bridge across a twenty-six-foot, three-inch gap located in Hameln, Germany. Their five-bay single-story medium-girder bridge was completed in eight minutes and forty-four seconds.

November 4

1939 The First Air-Conditioned Car
On this day, the 40th National Automobile Show opened in Chicago, Illinois, with a cutting-edge development in automotive comfort on display: air-conditioning. A Packard prototype featured the expensive devise, allowing the vehicle's occupants to travel in the comfort of a controlled environment even on the most hot and humid summer day. After the driver chose a desired temperature, the Packard air-conditioning system would cool or heat the air in the car to the designated level, and then dehumidify, filter, and circulate the cooled air to create a comfortable environment. The main air-conditioning unit was located behind the rear seat of the Packard, where a special air duct accommodated two compartments, one for the refrigerating coils and one for the heating coils. The capacity of the air conditioning unit was equivalent to 1.5 tons of ice in twenty-four hours when the car was driven at highway driving speeds. The innovation received widespread acclaim at the auto show, but the expensive accessory would not be within the reach of the average American for several decades. However, when automobile air-conditioning finally became affordable, it rapidly became a luxury that U.S. car owners could not live without.

1965 Mrs. Breedlove Breaks 300 MPH Barrier

Lee Ann Roberts Breedlove, wife of land speed record-holder Craig Breedlove, became the first female driver to exceed 300 mph when she sped to 308.50 mph in the Spirit of America - Sonic 1 vehicle over the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. The Sonic 1 was a four-wheel vehicle powered by a J79 jet engine. A few hours after Lee Ann jet-powered across the one-mile course, Craig Breedlove shattered his own record from the previous year when he reached 555.49 mph in the Spirit of America.

November 5

1895 Selden Receives First Automobile Patent
On this day, inventor George B. Selden received a patent for his gasoline-powered automobile, first conceived of when he was an infantryman in the American Civil War. After sixteen years of delay, United States Patent No. 549,160 was finally issued to Selden for a machine he originally termed a "road-locomotive" and later would call a "road engine." His design resembled a horse-drawn carriage, with high wheels and a buckboard, and was described by Selden as "light in weight, easy to control and possessed of sufficient power to overcome any ordinary incline." With the granting of the patent, Selden, whose unpractical automotive designs were generally far behind other innovators in the field, nevertheless won a monopoly on the concept of combining an internal combustion engine with a carriage. Although Selden never became an auto manufacturer himself, every other automaker would have to pay Selden and his licensing company a significant percentage of their profits for the right to construct a motor car, even though their automobiles rarely resembled Selden's designs in anything but abstract concept. In 1903, the newly created Ford Motor Company, which refused to pay royalties to Selden's licensing company, was sued for infringement on the patent. Thus began one of the most celebrated litigation cases in the history of the automotive industry, ending in 1909 when a New York court upheld the validity of Selden's patent. Henry Ford and his increasingly powerful company appealed the decision, and in 1911 the New York Court of Appeals again ruled in favor of Selden's patent, but with a twist: the patent was held to be restricted to the particular outdated construction it described. In 1911, every important automaker used a motor significantly different from that described in Selden's patent, and major manufacturers like the Ford Motor Company never paid Selden another dime.

1960 Country Star Dies in Accident

Country and rockabilly artist Johnny Horton, whose number one hit "Battle of New Orleans" topped the pop charts for six solid weeks in 1959, was killed in an auto accident in Milano, Texas. Ironically, he had just played his last show at the Skyliner in Austin, Texas, where, in 1953, country legend Hank Williams also played his last show, before dying in an automobile as he drove to his next performance. In another twist, Johnny Horton was married to Billie Jean Jones, the widow of Hank Williams. However, the deaths of the two country music pioneers were slightly different, while Horton perished in an auto wreck, Williams, his predecessor in music and love, died silently from a heart attack attributed to drugs, alcohol, and insomnia, in the back seat of his chauffeured Cadillac.

November 6

1899 The First Packard
James Ward Packard, an electrical-wire manufacturer from Warren, Ohio, first demonstrated his interest in automobiles when he hired Edward P. Cowles and Henry A. Schryver to work on plans for a possible Packard automobile in 1896. Although a functional engine was completed in 1897, it would take another two years, and James Packard's purchase of a Winton horseless carriage, before his company fully flung itself into the burgeoning automobile industry. In 1898, James Packard purchased an automobile constructed by fellow Ohio manufacturer Alexander Winston, and Packard, a first-time car owner, experienced problems with his purchase from the start. Finally in June of 1899, after nearly a year of repairing and improving the Winston automobile on his own, Packard decided to launch the Packard Motor Company. On this day, only three months after work on his first automobile began, the first Packard was completed and test-driven through the streets of Warren, Ohio. The Model A featured a one-cylinder engine capable of producing twelve horsepower. Built around the engine was a single-seat buggy with wire wheels, a steering tiller, an automatic spark advance, and a chain drive. Within only two months, the Packard Company sold its fifth Model A prototype to Warren resident George Kirkham for $1,250. By the 1920s, Packard was a major producer of luxury automobiles, and this prosperity would continue well into the late 1950s.

1986 Alfa Romeo Approves Fiat Takeover

On this day, the destitute Alfa Romeo company approved its acquisition by fellow Italian automobile manufacturer Fiat, shortly after rejecting a takeover bid by the Ford Motor Company. Alfa Romeo was founded by Nicola Romeo in 1908, and during the 1920s and 1930s produced elegant luxury racing cars like the RL, the 6C 1500, and the 8C 2900 B. Alfa Romeo saw its peak business years during the 1950s and 1960s, when Alfa Romeo chairman Giuseppe Luraghi oversaw a company shift toward more functional and affordable cars. The Giuletta, the Spider, and the Giulia series received enthusiastic responses from consumers, and Alfa Romeo flourished. However, during the 1970s, the company fell out of touch with a changing market, and, like many other automobile companies, failed to meet the demands of recession-era consumers who preferred fuel efficiency and reliability to luxury and design. By the mid-1980s, Alfa Romeo was bankrupt, and Fiat took over the company, assigning it to a new unit called Alfa Lancia SpA, which opened for business in 1997.

November 7

1957 East Germany Launches the Trabant Sputnik
Before World War II, Audi-founder August Horch cranked out his innovative Audis in the Zwickau Automobile Factory in the eastern German state of Sachsen. It was here that Audi manufactured the first automobiles with four-wheel hydraulic breaks and front wheel drive, decades before these innovations became standard throughout the automobile industry. After World War II, Germany was separated into eastern and western occupation zones, and Audi, like most other significant German corporations, fled to the capitalist west. Among the deserted factories the Soviet occupiers faced in postwar East Germany was the former Horch-Audi works in Zwickau. Under the authority of the Soviet administrators, and later under the East German Communist government, the Zwickau factory went back into service in the late 1940s, producing simple, prewar German automobiles like the Das Klein Wonder F8, and the P70, a compact car with a Duroplast plastic body. In 1957, the East German government approved the updated P50 model to enter the market under a new company name--Trabant. On this day, the first Trabant, which translates to servant in English, was produced at the former Horch auto works in Zwickau. For the Trabant's first marquee, the designers settled on "Sputnik," to commemorate the Soviet Union's launching of the first artificial Earth satellite the month before. The Trabant Sputnik was the first in the P50 series, featuring a tiny engine for its time--a two-cylinder 500 cc engine capable of reaching only eighteen bhp. In design, the Trabant Sputnik was the archetypal eastern European car: small, boxy, and fragile in appearance. Yet, despite the lack of style or power found in the Sputnik and its descendants, these automobiles were affordable, and provided the citizens of East Germany and other Soviet bloc countries with a capable means of getting from here to there.

1965 Green Monster Sets New Speed Record

In 1964, Art Arfons, a drag racer from Ohio, built a land-speed racer in his backyard using a military surplus J79 jet aircraft engine with an afterburner. Arfons christened the vehicle Green Monster, and in September took the racer to the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah to join in the race to set a new land speed record. On October 5, the Green Monster jet powered to 434.022--a new land speed record. However, Arfons' record would only stand for six days, for on October 13, Craig Breedlove set his second land-speed record when he reached 468.719 in his jet-powered Spirit of America. In 1965, Arfons returned to the Bonneville Salt Flats in a revamped Green Monster, and on this day shattered Breedlove's record from the previous year, when he raced to 576.553 mph across the one-mile course.

November 8

1866 Austin Founder Born in England
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 twenty-two, Austin moved to Melborne, 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 50 mph, 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.

1956 What's in a Name

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 marquee was abandoned, and its name would forever be synonymous with business failure.

1992 The Fastest Wheelie

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.

November 9

1960 Robert McNamara Named Ford President
In 1946, Henry Ford II, the president of the Ford Motor Company, hired ten young former intelligence officers from the Air Force, a group that the press soon dubbed the "Whiz Kids." Part of the genius of Henry Ford II, who was second only to his grandfather in business acumen, was his ability to find the most talented people in the industry and bring them into key positions in his rapidly growing postwar corporation. Robert McNamara, one of the Air Force "Whiz Kids," was one such individual. In addition to his other talents, McNamara was a financial disciplinarian who brought quantitative analysis and the science of modern management to the Ford Motor Company. Under the guidance of Henry Ford II and employees like Robert McNamara, Ford flourished during the 1950s, yielding such success stories as the Ford Thunderbird in 1954. On this day, Robert S. McNamara was named president of Ford, as Henry Ford II stepped down from the presidency and became CEO. However, McNamara would remain at the reigns of Ford for less than two months--on January 1, 1961, McNamara resigned from Ford to become secretary of defense for the new administration of President John F. Kennedy.

1965 A Tale of Daytona Stock Car Racers

On this day, Red Line 7000, an action film about young Daytona stock car drivers and the women who loved them, was released in the United States. Directed and written by Howard Hawks, the film starred James Caan, Charlene Holt, and featured Laura Devon and Gail Hire. Advertised under the tagline: "Meet the Speed Breed!," Red Line 7000 featured several exciting racing sequences but suffered from a tepid screenplay, and was neither a critical nor a commercial success.

November 10

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

November 11

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

1989 Jaguar Becomes a Subsidiary of Ford

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

November 12

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

1927 Holland Tunnel Formally Opened

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

November 13

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

1916 E. L. Cord's First Racing Victory

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

November 14

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

1914 The First Dodge

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

November 15

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

1965 Breedlove Breaks 600 MPH Speed Barrier

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

November 16

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

1901 A Mile in under a Minute

On this day, racer A. C. Bostwick became the first American racer to exceed the speed of a mile a minute on the Ocean Parkway racetrack in Brooklyn, New York. During a race sponsored by the Long Island Automobile Club, Bostwick achieved an average speed of 63.83 mph along a one-mile straightaway on the course, thus completing the mile in 56.4 seconds. European car manufacturers and drivers dominated early motor racing, a phenomenon reflected in the first seven speed records. However, in 1902, just under a year after Bostwick's historic run, William K. Vanderbilt, Jr., a businessman and racing enthusiast, became the first American to enter the land speed record books when he ran a mile in 47.32 seconds, or at an average speed of 76.086 mph. The Mors automobile that Vanderbilt drove was also the first vehicle with an internal combustion engine to enter the speed record books.

November 17

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

1970 First Wheeled-Vehicle on the Moon

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

November 18

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

1987 Vintage Ferrari Sets Auction Record

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

November 19

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

1954 Taking a Toll

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

November 20

1959 The British Anglia Comes to America
In 1911, the Ford Motor Company, which had been importing Ford Model Ts for several years, opened its first overseas plant at Trafford Park in Manchester, England. In 1920, after a decade of brisk sales in Britain and all over Europe, Ford was faced with a crisis--a new British law established higher tax penalties for larger-engine cars, and Ford's market share was suffering. Ford of England responded by developing several prototypes for a Ford automobile small enough to avoid British tax penalties. Designers also predicted that the citizens of dense European cities would prefer a car smaller than the standard American Ford. The resulting Model Y Ford "8" went into production in 1932, and after a strong first year Ford's British market share began to rapidly expand. In 1938, the Ford E93A Prefect was introduced, the first marquee British Ford, followed by the 100E Anglia in 1939. On this day, the all-new 105E Anglia was introduced in the United States--the first British Ford to be marketed to Americans on a large scale. Internally, the compact 105E Anglia had a brand new overhead-valve engine and a four-speed gearbox, and externally, it was like nothing else on the road with it distinctive rear-sloping back window, frog-like headlights, and stylish colors: light green and primrose yellow. Despite appreciation for the well-designed car by a few automobile enthusiasts in America, the Anglia, which was a bestseller on the world's markets, failed to make a noticeable impact in the general U.S. market.

1990 The Nation's Oldest Driver Dies

On this day, Layne Hall of Silver Creek, New York, died at the age of 105, according to his death certificate. However, Halls's active driver's license, issued to the youthful centenarian in 1988, stated that Halls was in fact one month shy of 110 years old. Whether he was actually 110 years old, or only 105, Halls had the distinction of being the oldest licensed driver in the United States at the time. If he was 110, he likely beat the previous record holder, Mrs. Maude Tull of Inglewood, California, who was issued a license renewal in 1976 at the age of 104. Tull first took up driving at the age of ninety-one after her husband died.

November 21

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

1937 Hudson Founder Dies in Gun Accident

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

November 22

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

1927 Eliason Receives Snowmobile Patent

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

November 23

1966 Elvis the Racecar Driver
Spinout, Elvis Presley's twenty-second film, premiered in Los Angeles, California, on this day. In the musical film, Elvis plays Mike McCoy, a rock-and-roll singing racecar driver who leads a carefree life on America's highways, traveling the country with his racing crew/back-up band. Along the way, McCoy becomes romantically entangled with three young women who attempt, to no avail, to get the racer to settle down. One of the three women, Cynthia Foxhugh, is played by actress Shelley Fabares who starred as Elvis's romantic interest in two other Presley vehicles. The MGM film, directed by Norman Taurog, was advertised with the tagline: "It's Elvis with his foot on the gas and no brakes on the fun," and was another box-office success and critical disaster for the pop music icon.

1897 Olds Issued Patent for "Motor Carriage"

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

November 24

1900 Test Drive of the First Production Pierce
On this day, the first gasoline-powered Pierce automobile was taken on a test drive through the streets of Buffalo, New York. George N. Pierce first founded the Pierce Company in 1878 as a manufacturer of household items, but in the late nineteenth century shifted to bicycle production. Pierce bicycles became known for their high quality, and after achieving a substantial capital base, Pierce and his company decided to try their hand in automobile production. The first few Pierce prototypes involved steam power, but in 1900 the designers shifted to gasoline engines. The first production Pierce, test driven on this day, featured a modified one-cylinder deDion engine capable of producing nearly three horsepower. The automobile would be christened the Pierce Motorette, and between 1901 and 1903 roughly 170 Pierce Motorettes were made. In 1903, Pierce began manufacturing its own engines, and later in the year, the Pierce Arrow was introduced, followed by the Pierce Great Arrow in 1904. By 1905, the George N. Pierce Company was producing some of the biggest and most expensive automobiles in America, with prices in excess of $5,000. In 1908, the Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Company was officially launched, and in 1909 U.S. president William Howard Taft ordered two of the prestigious automobiles, a Brougham and a Landaulette, for use by the White House.

1849 The Father of the Tractor

John Froelich, the inventor of the first gasoline-powered farm tractor, was born in Froelich, Iowa, on this day. Froelich's tractor, completed in 1892, featured a Van Duzen one-cylinder gasoline engine mounted on wooden beams to operate a threshing machine. Froelich manufactured several more tractors of this type during the year, and in September shipped one of his engine-powered tractors to a farm in Langford, South Dakota, where it was employed in agriculture activity for the first time. Froelich established the Waterloo Gasoline Traction Engine Company in Waterloo, Iowa, in 1893, and began to manufacture tractors on a larger scale. In 1918, the Waterloo Traction Engine Company was purchased by the John Deere Plow Company. John Deere, a long-established plow company, mass-produced gasoline-powered tractors based on Froelich's designs. During the 1920s and 1930s, tractors rapidly changed the face of agriculture in America, and many traditional farmers were pushed off their land by the encroachment of large agricultural interests who utilized the efficient new farming technology.

November 25

1973 Nixon Calls for Sunday Ban on Gasoline Sales
On this day, in response to the 1973 oil crisis, President Richard M. Nixon called for a Sunday ban on the sale of gasoline to consumers. The proposal was part of a larger plan announced by Nixon earlier in the month to achieve energy self-sufficiency in the United States by 1980. The 1973 oil crisis began in mid-October, when eleven Arab oil producers increased oil prices and cut back production in response to the support of the United States and other nations for Israel in the Yom Kippur War. Almost overnight, gasoline prices quadrupled, and the U.S. economy, especially its automakers, suffered greatly as a result. The Sunday gasoline ban lasted until the crisis was resolved in March of the next year, but other government legislation, such as the imposing of a national speed limit of 55 mph, was extended indefinitely. Experts maintained that the reduction of speed on America's highways would prevent an estimated 9,000 traffic fatalities per year. Although many motorists resented the new legislation, one long-lasting benefit for impatient travelers was the ability to make right turns at a red light, a change that the authorities estimated would conserve a significant amount of gasoline. In 1995, the national 55 mph speed limit was repealed, and legislation relating to highway speeds now rest in state hands.

1920 Death of a Chevrolet

Gaston Chevrolet, the younger brother of famous automobile designer and racer Louis Chevrolet, was killed during a race in Beverly Hills, California, on this day. Gaston, born in La-Chauz-de-Fonds, Switzerland, came to America in the early nineteenth century to join his brothers Louis and Andre in the establishment of a racing car design company: the Frontenac Motor Corporation. Frontenac replaced Louis's earlier racing car design company, the Chevrolet Motor Company, which he sold to William C. Durant in 1915. After some initial success, the Chevrolet brothers were faced with obsolete vehicles after World War I, and not enough financial resources to make them competitive again. However, in 1920, the new management at the Monroe Motors Company asked Louis to run his racing team. The Chevrolets moved their operations to Indianapolis, and rapidly made the Monroe racers ready for the 1920 Indy 500, the first to be held since 1914. During the 1920s, the Indy 500 was the most important racing event in America, and Gaston Chevrolet, driving a Chevrolet-adapted Monroe, won the first postwar competition with an average race speed of 86.63 mph. The Chevrolet brothers did not have long to enjoy their success, however, because just a few months later Gaston was killed along with his riding mechanic Lyall Jolls during the Beverly Hills race.

November 26

1980 Death of an Indy Champion
Peter DePaolo, who won a dazzling victory at the 1925 Indy 500, died at the age of eighty-two on this day. DePaolo, who was the nephew of racing legend Ralph DePalma, first started racing for Duesenberg in the 1920s. During the first half of the 1920s, Fred and August Duesenberg's expertly crafted racing cars were dominant competitors at the Indianapolis 500. In 1922, a Duesenberg engine won the event, and in 1924 a complete Duesenberg, featuring cutting-edge centrifugal superchargers, blew the competition away. For the 1925 Indy, racing car designer Harry Miller showed up with a dramatic new supercharged front-drive Miller Junior Eight, and Peter DePaolo, who was set to drive for Duesenberg, had his work cut out from him. However, DePaolo had set a promising 135-mph record on the Culver City boards that same year, and as the race got underway, he took an early lead over racer Dave Lewis in the Miller Junior Eight. By the halfway point of the race, the blisters on DePaolo's hands had become intolerable, and Fred Duesenberg replaced him with Norman Batten. When DePaolo returned from the track hospital, he learned with horror that Batten had fallen to fifth place, and Dave Lewis was leading in the Miller. DePaolo reentered the race, and slowly but surely, DePaolo fought his way to the front of the pack again. When the dust cleared on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Peter DePaolo had prevailed. It was a great victory for the Duesenberg team, made greater by DePaolo's passing of the 100-mph Indy speed barrier with an average speed of 101.13 mph.

1927 Ford Model A Announced

On this day, the Ford Motor Company announced the introduction of the Model A, the first new Ford to enter the market since the Model T was first introduced in 1908. The hugely successful Model T revolutionized the automobile industry, and over fifteen million copies of the "Thin Lizzy" were sold in its nineteen years of production. By 1927, the popularity of the outdated Model T was rapidly waning. Improved, but basically unchanged for its two-decade reign, it was losing ground to the more stylish and powerful motor cars offered by Ford's competitors. In May of 1927, Ford plants across the country closed, as the company began an intensive development of the more refined and modern Model A. The vastly improved Model A had elegant Lincoln-like styling on a smaller scale, and used a capable 200.5-cubic-inch 4-cylinder engine that produced 40 horsepower. With prices starting at $460, nearly five million Model As, in several body styles and a variety of colors, rolled onto America's highways until production ended in early 1932.

November 27

1968 Highway Driving Music Goes Gold
On this day, Steppenwolf's eponymous first album, featuring the rock and roll driving hit "Born to Be Wild," is certified gold with sales in excess of 500,000 copies. "Born to Be Wild" was a well-known example of the ongoing love affair of rock and roll with fast driving, affirmed earlier by such rock artists as Chuck Berry and the Beach Boys, in hits like Berry's "Maybelline and the Beach Boys's "Little Deuce Coupe." In "Born to Be Wild," which was Steppenwolf's biggest hit, rough-voiced singer John Kay asked listeners to "get your motor running / head out on the highway / lookin' for adventure / in whatever comes our way."

1924 First Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

On this day, New York City's Macy department store held its first Thanksgiving Day parade down a two-mile stretch of Broadway from Central Park West to Herald Square. The parade featured large performing platforms that, because they were attached to specially outfitted automobiles concealed beneath them, seemed to float down Broadway. Each "float" had a separate theme: some featured Macy's employees dressed as clowns, cowboys, sheiks, and knights, while others displayed live animals on loan from the Central Park Zoo. The event was created to boost holiday sales and to bring customers to Macy's new flagship store at Herald Square. With an audience of over a quarter of a million people, the parade was a great success, and subsequently declared an annual event. In 1927, a new Macy's tradition began with the introduction of large balloons in the shape of animal or cartoon characters. Felix the Cat was Macy's first parade balloon. Although these literal "floats" tended to command the center of attention, automobile-propelled floats continue until this day--perennial favorites being the Santa Claus float and the traditional Turkey float. Since 1950, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade has been nationally televised, and millions of Americans tune in to the spectacle every year.

November 28

1942 Ford's War Effort at Willow Run
On this day, the first production Ford bomber, the B-24 Liberator, rolled off the assembly line at Ford's massive Willow Run plant in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Two years before, U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt had urged an isolationist America to prepare for its inevitable involvement in the war, declaring that U.S. industry must become "the great arsenal of democracy." Roosevelt established the Office of Production Management (OPM) to organize the war effort, and named a former automotive executive co-director of the OPM. Most Detroit automobile executives opposed the OAW during its first year, and were dubious of the advantages of devoting their entire production to war material. However, on December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, and American citizens mobilized behind the U.S. declaration of war against the Axis powers. Since profit ruled Detroit, the government made Ford and America's other automakers an economic offer they could not refuse. For their participation in the war effort, automakers would be guaranteed profits regardless of production costs, and $11 billion would be allocated to the building of war plants--factories that would be sold to private industry at a substantial discount after the war. In February of 1942, the last Ford automobile rolled off the assembly line for the duration of the war, and soon afterward the Willow Run plant was completed in Michigan. Built specifically for Ford's war production, Willow Run was the largest factory in the world. Using the type of assembly line production that had made Ford an industrial giant, Ford hoped to produce 500 B-24 Liberator bombers a month. After a gradual start, that figure was reached in time for the Allied invasion of Western Europe, and by July of 1944 the Willow Plant was producing one B-24 every hour. By the end of the war, the 43,000 men and women who had worked at Ford's Willow Run plant had produced over 8,500 bombers, which unquestionably had a significant impact on the course of the war.

1895 The Great Chicago Race

America's first race featuring gasoline-powered automobiles was held on this day in Chicago, Illinois, with six vehicles competing: two electric cars, three German Benz automobiles, and one American-made Duryea automobile. Charles and Frank Duryea of Peoria, Illinois, had completed America's first working gasoline-powered automobile in 1893, and to the Great Chicago Race, as it would come to be known, the brothers brought a vastly improved two-cylinder model. The race was organized by Chicago Times-Herald publisher Herman H. Kohlstaat, who had announced in early 1895 that his newspaper would sponsor a major race between horseless carriages. Kohlstaat, who was offering $5,000 in prizes, including a first-place prize of $2,000, received telegrams from automobile enthusiasts across America and Europe. At the request of entrants still working on their automobile prototypes, Kohlstaat agreed to delay the race, originally scheduled for the summer, until November 28, Thanksgiving Day. When the fateful day finally came, the streets of Chicago were covered with several inches of snow, but six of the eighty original entrants had managed to show up. Because of weather conditions, the course was shortened to a fifty-two-mile round-trip out of Chicago and back. The flag dropped and Frank Duryea and his five competitors drove into automotive history. A few miles into the race, both electric cars broke down, leaving the Duryea brothers to contend with the three Benz vehicles. The German-built Benz cars, driven by two Americans and a German, were no match for Frank and the powerful two-cylinder Duryea automobile. After ten-and-a-half hours, despite an accidental two-mile detour, Frank crossed the finish line with no other car in sight, having achieved an average speed of 7.5 mph during the race. The only other vehicle to finish, a Benz driven by German Oscar Mueller, completed the race an hour and a half later.

November 29

1948 The First All-Australian Automobile
On this day, Australian Prime Minister Ben Chifley and 1,200 hundred other people attended the unveiling of the first car to be manufactured entirely in Australia--an ivory-colored motor car officially designated the 48-215, but fondly known as the Holden FX. In 1945, the Australian government had invited Australia's auto-part manufacturers to create an all-Australian car. General Motors-Holden's Automotive, a car body manufacturer, obliged, producing the 48-215, a six-cylinder, four-door sedan. The 48-215 was an instant success in Australia, and 100,000 Holden FXs were sold in the first five years of production. During the next few decades, General Motors-Holden's Automotive went on to introduce a number of other successful marquees, including the Torana and the Commodore. Four million Holdens, with their trademark "Lion-and-Stone" emblem, were sold in Australia and exported around the world by the 1980s. In 1994, General Motors-Holden's Automotive finally adopted Holden as its official company name, and today Holden continues its mission of meeting Australia's unique motoring needs.

1996 VW Executive Resigns under Espionage Charges

Volkswagen executive Jose Ignacio Lopez resigned on this day under charges of industrial espionage from General Motors, his former employer. As part of a major lawsuit against Volkswagen, GM charged that Lopez, its former worldwide chief of purchasing, had stolen trade secrets from the company in 1993 when he defected to Volkswagen along with three other GM managers. Lopez's resignation was likely a result of pressure from the German carmaker, which sought to reach a settlement before the scheduled lawsuit began under U.S. jurisdiction. In January 1997, VW and GM announced a settlement in which Volkswagen would pay General Motors $100 million and agree to buy at least $1 billion in parts from GM. VW also confirmed that the three other former GM managers accused of industrial espionage had all either resigned or were due to take administrative leave. In return, GM agreed to drop all legal action.

November 30

1960 The First International Harvester Scout
On this day, the first Scout all-terrain vehicle rolled off the assembly line at International Harvester's Fort Wayne plant. The history of International Harvester dates back to the early 1800s, when the company sold Cyrus McCormick's mechanical reaper. Around the turn of the century, the company took the name of International Harvester (IH), and in 1907 produced the Auto Buggy, an early motorized truck marketed to farmers. During the next few decades, IH specialized in industrial vehicles and agricultural machinery. During the 1950s, IH truck production flourished with the rapid emergence of interstate highways. In 1959, IH began work on a new 4x4 utility vehicle, which would be offered to the average American as an alternative to the popular Jeep vehicle. Designed by Ted Ornas, the first Scout was introduced to the public as a versatile, affordable vehicle for both passenger and cargo transport. It was available in both two- and four-wheel drive and featured a 4-cylinder engine, with three-speed, floor-mounted transmission. The Scout became the best-selling vehicle in IH history, enjoying a full ten years of production before being replaced by the improved Scout II in 1971.

1866 America's First Underwater Highway Tunnel

Work on the first underwater highway tunnel in the United States began on this day in Chicago, Illinois. Over a three-year period, workers and engineers tunneled underneath the Chicago River, finally completing the 1,500-foot tunnel at a cost of over $500,000. The tunnel had two roadways, each eleven feet tall and thirteen feet wide, and a separate footway ten feet wide and ten feet tall. In 1907, the tunnel was lowered to provide better air circulation, and for the first time it began to allow regular automobile traffic.