Thank you all very much for covering some highlights over the past few days...

To catch up a bit ~

December 27,

1900, Grand Prix driver, Hans Stuck was born in Germany.

1969, F1 driver, Jean-Christophe Boullion was born in France.

1993, Grand Prix driver, Andre Pilette died. Pilette's father finished fifth in the 1912 Indianapolis 500, setting the tone for both his son and grandson Teddy's enthusiasm for motorsport. Pilette had a varied, on-and-off Formula 1 career which began in 1951 with a sixth place in the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps in a Lago-Talbot and ended 13 years later when he retired a 1.5-liter Scirocco-Climax from the same event.

In between were a variety of outings in Connaught, Gordini, Emeryson and Lotus 18 - even a run to sixth at Spa in 1956 at the wheel of a factory Lancia-Ferrari D50. After his retirement he opened a racing drivers' school at Zolder.


Non-Racing Related:

1943, Engineer and Inventor Dies - Curtis Veeder, the engineer who invented the modern automotive tachometer and odometer, died on this day.



December 28,

1896, Grand Prix driver, Philippe Etancelin was born in France.

1905, AAA and Grand Prix driver at Indy, Bill Holland was born in the USA.

1909, Grand Prix driver, Bill Murray was born in England.

1939, Grand Prix driver, Conny Andersson was born in Sweden.

1963, East London, South Africa, Two months after the Mexican GP, the final round of the World Championship took place in South Africa. It was interesting only in that it gave World Champion Jim Clark the opportunity to set a new record for the number of wins in a season. The opposition to Team Lotus came from Ferrari, Brabham, BRM and Cooper and Rob Walker took Jo Bonnier along in a private Cooper. The rest of the field was made up of enthusiastic locals who every year provided the F1 teams with a market for their old machinery. Clark qualified on pole position with the Brabhams of Jack Brabham and Dan Gurney alongside. The second row was shared by the Ferraris of John Surtees and Lorenzo Bandini and then came Graham Hill and Ritchie Ginther in their BRMs and Trevor Taylor in the second Lotus.

At the start of the race, Brabham took the advantage off the line but Clark and Surtees quickly pushed him back to third position, while Taylor made a good start to run fourth ahead of Gurney, Brabham and the rest. The two Brabham drivers quickly overtook the Lotus and began to look for a way of overtaking Surtees. By the time they had done that Clark was seven seconds ahead. The challenge from Brabham faded when Brabham began to lose power and dropped back and was overtaken by Surtees and Hill (Taylor having spun off and dropped down the field). Surtees retired later with an engine problem, which elevated Graham Hill to third at the finish. Ginther would have been fourth but he suffered a transmission problem, while Brabham spun in the closing laps and had to retire. This meant that Bruce McLaren ended up fourth in his Cooper-Climax with Bandini fifth and Bonnier sixth, although he was two laps behind.

The South African Gp was also Jim Clark's 10th win and also the 15th win for Lotus...

1983, F1 Driver Eugène Marius Chaboud died in Montfermeil, France. He Raced 3 GP's - 1DNS 1950-1951. He finished 5th in the French Reims GP in 1950 with a Talbot-Lago. He started Racing in 1936 and won Le Mans 1938. In 1952, he crashed heavily at Le mans and decided to retire.


Non-Racing Related:

1957, The two-millionth Volkswagen was finished on this day in 1957. Begun thirty years earlier by the Nazi regime, the German auto maker and its economical Beetle overcame their unpleasant pasts and began selling in the United States.


December 29,

1917, Grand Prix driver, David Hampshire was born in England.

1925, Grand Prix and Sports car driver, Jay Chamberlin was born in the USA.

1962, East London, South Africa, It was a whole three months between the United States GP - the penultimate race of the World Championship - and the title decider at East London. In that time the teams had raced in the non-championship Mexican GP (where Ricardo Rodriguez was killed while trying to qualify one of Rob Walker's Lotuses). This was followed by two South African races in December, the first at Kyalami being won by Jim Clark and the second at Westmead going to his Team Lotus colleague Trevor Taylor. There was further tragedy for the Walker team at Westmead when Gary Hocking was killed in one of the cars.

The event was to be the first World Championship South African Grand Prix and on race day there were 90,000 people present to watch the action in East London.

The battle for the World title was between Graham Hill and Jim Clark and the BRM star had the advantage although the scoring system (which allowed only the best five results) meant that if Clark won the race he would take the title. Clark took pole position with Hill alongside him. The second row was shared by Jack Brabham's Brabham and Innes Ireland in the British Racing Partnership Lotus 24. John Surtees was fifth on the grid in his Lola, just ahead of Tony Maggs's Cooper.

At the start Clark, went into the lead with Hill chasing. Clark was in dominant form and Hill could not keep up while the battle for third place was a lively one involving McLaren, Surtees and Maggs. After 20 laps Clark was 13 seconds ahead while Surtees disappeared with engine trouble. With 25 laps to go Clark's Lotus began to smoke and on lap 62 or 82 he came into the pits with an oil leak. Hill had, therefore, won the title and he was able to win the race as well, leading home the two Coopers of McLaren and Maggs by 50 seconds. The only other man to go the distance was Brabham in the Brabham BT3. This was the 5th win for BRM.

1969, Grand Prix and Sports car driver, Allan McNish was born in Scotland.

1982, Grand Prix driver, Max de Terra died. A Swiss amateur racer who competed intermittently in the late 1940s and early 1950s. He raced in two Grands Prix at Berne's Bremgarten circuit in 1952 and 1953 but he failed to post a result in either.

1988, Grand Prix driver, Mike Beuttler died. A talented Formula 3 graduate from the late 1960s, Beuttler graduated to Formula 2 and then Formula 1 in 1971, driving a rented March 711 financed by a group of wealthy stockbroker friends. He contunued his efforts in Formula 1 for the 1972 and 73 seasons in a newer March 721, finishing a career best seventh in the 1973 Spanish GP. Beuttler retired from racing for good at the end of that season and eventually moved to San Francisco where he died of AIDS in 1988.


Non-Racing Related:

1800, Charles Goodyear was born on this day. Today he is famous for the invention of vulcanized rubber. In its natural form, rubber is sticky, and gets runny when hot and stiff when cold. Goodyear discovered (accidentally) that when rubber is mixed with sulfur and heat-treated, it loses its adhesiveness but keeps its elasticity, even at extreme temperatures. He called the process "vulcanization." The industrial use of rubber is possible only because of vulcanization. Goodyear's process made millions of dollars, but not for him. Widespread infringements on his patents, together with poor luck in business, left him deep in debt at his death in 1860.

1908, Otto Zachow and William Besserdich of Clintonville, Wisconsin, received a patent for their four-wheel braking system, the prototype of all modern braking systems.



December 30,

1905,French driver Victor Hemery, driving a gasoline-powered Darracq automobile, set a new land-speed record in Arles-Salon, France. He reached a speed of 109.589 miles per hour.

1911, 1911 Birth of USAC driver Walt Brown, in Springfield, New York (2 Indy races 1950-1951).

1930, William Tyler "Grumpy" Jenkins, drag racer and creator of the NHRA's Pro Stock class, was born.

1934,NASCAR driver, Fred Lorenzen was born.

1936, Grand Prix driver, Mike Spence was born in England.

1942, Grand Prix driver, Guy Edwards was born in England.

1942, Grand Prix driver, Francois Hesnault was born in Neuilly, France.

1968,Roger Penske took delivery of a Lola T70 MKIIIB enduance racer (serial number SL76/139), this was the first MKIIIB delivered.

1976, Grand Prix driver, Rudi Fischer passed away in Luzern Switzerland. A bespectacled Swiss amateur and successful restaurant owner, Fischer raced his own Ferrari in many non-Championship races as well as a handful of Grand Prix outings.

Non-Racing Related:

1936, Strikes closed seven General Motors factories in Flint, Michigan. The giant auto maker employed upwards of 200,000 men, and more than one in six of them stopped working during the strike. The United Automobile Workers of America, a labor union, was quarrelling with G.M. over the right to bargain collectively with manufacturers. The work stoppage was so large that it threatened to force layoffs in the steel, glass, and battery-manufacturing industries, due to reduced demand.

Missed it, but on December 29, 1962 - FORTY YEARS AGO - Graham Hill and BRM clinched their World Championship titles with victory in the South African Grand Prix at East London. After all the trial and tribulation and pain and expense ... wasn't that a relief?

DCN

December 31,


1948, Speed record holder, Malcolm Campbell died of natural causes. Born in Chiselhurst, Kent on 11 March 1885, Malcolm was the only son of a successful Hatton Garden diamond merchant. He first became involved with racing whilst in Europe studying the diamond business as his father had done before him. Germany would be the place which would see him begin his quest for speed. At the turn of the century, he advanced from being a bicycle enthusiast to a motorcyclist enthusiast. Malcolm, how with a thirst for racing went on to win three successive gold medals in the London to Lakes End Trials between 1906 and 1908.

In 1909, he became interested in aeroplanes and in 1910 began car racing at Brooklands, initially christening his cars "The Flapper". In 1912 he adopted the name 'Blue Bird' after seeing the stage play 'The Blue Bird' by Maurice Maeterlinck. Malcolm was now married, but after only two short years he divorced. When World War I started he was drafted into the Royal Flying Corps, having had some previous flying experience. He remarried after the war and his son, Donald was born in 1921, followed by a daughter, Jean, two years later.

In 1923 after driving many different racing cars including an Austro Daimler, Star, Talbots, Italas and Chryslers, he purchased the former Land Speed Record holding 350HP V12 Sunbeam from Kennelm Lee Guinness, (of the famous brewing family and inventor of the K.L.G. spark plug) which would see him clock 146.16mph on Pendine Sands and officially take the Land Speed Record for the first time in 1924. Realising the Sunbeam's limitations, he employed the talents of Amherst Villiers to design what would become the Campbell-Napier Blue Bird which would, in 1927, allow him to take the record for a second time, clocking a speed of 174.88mph. Malcolm was not the only man in quest of records, however. Among his challengers was England's Henry Segrave. Segrave set a new record of 203.79 mph on the hard packed sand's of Daytona Beach, Florida, in 1927. The following year, 1928, Campbell fought back and recaptured the record with 206.95 mph at the beach.

Malcolm returned home a record holder again, but less than two months later, the Americans fought back and reclaimed the record for the first time since 1906. Malcolm, now with the news that the British challenge would be taken up by Segrave with Golden Arrow, set about rethinking Bluebird in an attempt to regain the Land Speed Record.

After a very expensive and less than impressive attempt at Verneuk Pan, South Africa in 1929, a new Reid Railton designed, Gurney Nutting bodied Blue Bird appeared in 1931. Fitted with a Napier Sprint Lion VII Schneider Cup aircraft engine, it would propel him to a speed of 246.09mph on 5th February 1931, earning him a new record, a Knighthood and the coveted Lord Wakefield Trophy for his achievements. In the years to come, he would also be awarded the Seagrave Trophy in 1933 and 1939.

By 1935, Malcolm had raised the mark to 276.82 at Daytona Beach, but now concerned with the soft sand and lack of tractionat the beach, wanted to find another site to reach the ultimate mark of 300 mph. He found this at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, and on 3rd September 1935, he became the first man to exceed 300 mph. Malcolm was also a shareholder and director in several businesses, including Brooklands racing circuit, where he was active in the running of the track and designed the Campbell road racing circuit within the confines of the site. This circuit was used from its opening on 1st May 1937 to the outbreak of World War II.

In 1937 having achieved his goal on land, he aspired for the same result on water, setting the Water Speed Record in the all new Blue Bird K3 Hydroplane on 1st September at 126.33 mph. The following day, dissatisfied with his first record, he raised it again to 129.56 mph. The following year, 1938, saw him go to Lake Hallwyl in Switzerland, where he raised the record to 130.93 mph.

On 19 August 1939, he set another record with a speed of 141.74 mph at Coniston Waters in the all new Blue Bird K4 Hydroplane, a record that was still his when he died on New Years Eve, 1948 in Reigate, Surrey. Sir Malcolm was buried in Chiselhurst, in the same grave as his mother and father. His son, Donald, was to follow in his footsteps, together they were to become the 'Speed Kings' of the 20th century.

1950, Ralph Deshon and Fred Koster drove a Crosley Hotshot to victory in the 6-hour Sam Collier Memorial Grand Prix of Endurance, the first autorace held at Sebring, Florida. It was also the first sportscar endurance race held in the United States. The little Crosley was able to defeat faster Ferraris, Jaguars, and others because the race was run under an Index of Performance handicapping system.

1951, Kenny Roberts Sr., 3-time and first American 500cc motorcycle Grand Prix World Champion, was born in Modesto, CA.

1974, CART driver, Tony Kanaan was born.

1999, Stirling Craufurd Moss OBE was awarded a KBE in the New Years Honors list for services to motor racing. During his career he competed in over 500 motor races, rallies and sprints, winning 222 of them.
For January 11,

2001, Kalamazoo, Michigan: James Stanley "Jim" Gilmore, Jr., Championship car sponsor, Kalamazoo businessman, and public servant was killed early Sunday afternoon in a freak traffic accident. Gilmore, 74, was pronounced dead at the scene. He and a passenger were returning from shopping when Gilmore hit a patch of ice and lost control of his 2000 Nissan Frontier pickup truck.

The truck skidded into some deep snow, flipped on to the drivers side, and to continued to slide into a fence. Sheriff deputies said that snow poured into the driver's side window and sunroof. Fire and rescue from Comstock Township had to dig Gilmore's body out of the snow.

Gilmore sponsored Championship race cars from 1967-1990, most notably for A. J. Foyt. He sponsored Gordon Johncock from 1967 to 1970 in the Gilmore Broadcasting Specials. In 1970, he raced two cars, one with Johncock, the other with Jack Brabham. In 1971, Mel Kenyon, Art Pollard and Jimmy Caruthers raced under the Gilmore banner. Mel Kenyon returned in 1972 along with Wally Dallenbach and Lee Kunzman.

In 1973, Gilmore began his relationship with A.J. Foyt. This pairing lasted until Gilmore retired from sponsorship in 1990. Gilmore sponsored cars won a total of thirty races.



From rdrcr ~ fucked up in Aspen, CO ~ HapPy NeW YeAr!

Ok, here's a sample...two for the price of one A little tidying up and...


DECEMBER 30 , 1951 - Gardena, California...Allen Heath won the AAA Pacific Coast Big Car (Sprint) race on the 1/2 mile dirt Carrell Speedway. The race was the first counting toward the 1952 AAA Pacific Coast championship.

1956 - Titusville, Florida...Fireball Roberts led a factory Ford sweep in the NASCAR Grand National race held on a road course at the Titusville-Cocoa Airport. The Pete DePaolo-John Holman led Ford team took the top 4 positions in the 89.6 mile race on the 1.6 mile airport course. Paul Goldsmith won the pole in the Smokey Yunick Chevrolet and led the first 27 laps before Roberts took over. Goldsmith departed 7 laps later with mechanical trouble, setting the stage for the Ford sweep. Curtis Turner, Marvin Panch and Ralph Moody finished 2nd through 4th, all on the lead lap. The independent Ford of Doug Cox finished 5th, one lap down. A disappointing field of 15 started the 56 lap race.


DECEMBER 31 , 1950 - Sebring, Florida...The inaugural race on the Sebring airfield, the 6 hour "Sam Collier Memorial", was won by the team of Fritz Koster/Ralph Deshon driving a Crosley Hot Shot. The results were determined on a handicap basis. The duo completed 288.3 miles at an average speed of 48.05 mph.

On January 1st, 1968, Jim Clark did won his last ever WC GP event, the South African at Kyalami, ahead of his team mate Graham Hill, Rindt's Brabham and Amon's Ferrari.

Carles.

On January 1st, other South-African GPs,
in 1936 (handicap race won by "Mario"),
1938 (handicap race won by Meyer),
1960 (Paul Frère),
1965 (Jim Clark),
1966 (Mike Spence).

Dr. Mario Mazzacurati (later: Massacurati)

Jacky Ickx is born on January 1st, 1945.

And Hans J Stuck born January 1 1951 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Bavaria, Germany.

Interesting! There is always a ski jumping competition in Garmisch-Partenkirchen on exactly the same date. Highlight of my usually hangover affected New Year's days... Today's event was great and really exciting...

JANUARY 1 , 1913 - San Diego, California...George Hill won the AAA
Championship San Diego Road Race in a Fiat. Hill covered the 183.4
miles in a time of 3 hours, 58 minutes and 12 seconds in taking the
only AAA Championship win of his career.

1932 - Oakland, California..."Babe" Stapp was declared winner of the
accident shortened 100-mile AAA Pacific Coast championship race at
Oakland Speedway. The race, twice postponed because of rain, was
halted after the second serious accident of the event. Ralph
Hepburn, 3rd in AAA points in '31, and Bryan Salpaugh were badly
injured in seperate accidents (note: both did race again). Earlier,
Salpaugh had set a new lap record of 35.31 (101.95 mph avg.) on the
1 mile high banked oiled dirt oval.

1965 - East London, South Africa...Jim Clark won the Formula One
season opening South African GP in a Lotus-Climax, in what would be
the last championship F1 GP held on the East London circuit. Clark
led from the pole, with defending World Champion John Surtees'
Ferrari 29 seconds behind at the finish. The checkered flag fell a
lap early, but Clark trusted his pit signals and carried on through
a confusing final lap. The race also featured a couple of debuts of
note: Jackie Stewart made his championship GP debut, earning a
point for finishing 6th, and Goodyear tires made their F1 debut on
the Brabham team cars.

1968 - Kyalami, South Africa...Jim Clark of Scotland drove his
Lotus-Ford to victory as the Formula One season opened with the
South African Grand Prix on the 2.5 mile Kyalami circuit. The win
was the 25th of Clark's career, moving him past Juan Manuel Fangio
to become at the time, the winningest driver in F1 history. Sadly,
it would be Clark's final championship F1 start as he died in a F2
crash, in April, before the next championship event.

To round up January 1st, Mauri Rose died 22 years ago, Jean Marc Gounon is 40, Carlo Franchi 65, whilst Hap Sharp would've been 75 and Marcel Balsa 102 if they were still alive.

January 2nd, (I'm cheating a little (40 mins to go) but I wanted to get it in)

36 years ago, 1967 - the famous South African GP which John Love almost won, but ended up seeing Pedro Rodriguez get his & Mexico's first win in the World Championship

10 years before that, Beppe Gabbiani was born.

More stuff for the 1st...

1928, Sportscar racer James R. "Hap" Sharp born.

1929, Ferdinand Porsche becomes the chief engineer and technical director of Steyr in Vienna, Austria.

1968, FIA declares there can be sponsorship on cars participating in racing they sanction, provided the sponsor's logo is no larger than one square foot.

Also in '68, Jim Clark drove his Lotus 49 to its first Grand Prix win, at Kyalami, South Africa and Jackie Stewart debuted the Matra MS9-Ford in the same race.

EDIT:

More January 1st events;

1956, The 1956 Corvette makes its debut at the Waldorf Astoria in New York for the Motorama show.

1975, Zora Arkus Duntov officially resigns from Chevrolet. David McLellan takes over as Chief Engineer.



January 2,

1901, Walter Sobraske, machinist for Miller, Schofield, Offenhauser, and Meyer & Drake (later shop forman there), born in West Virginia, USA.

1967,Kyalami, South Africa...Taking the lead when local hero John Love pitted for fuel with 7 laps left, Pedro Rodriguez won the Formula 1 South African GP in a Cooper-Maserati. The first F1 win of Rodriguez' career was overshadowed by the performance of 42 year old Rhodesian driver Love, who nearly pulled off one of the biggest surprises in championship F1 history. The Brabham-Repco cars of Denis Hulme and Jack Brabham paced the first half of the 204 mile race, with Love moving his dated, underpowered Cooper-Climax into 3rd. After Brabham retired and Hulme pitted for brake fluid, Love took the lead with the least powerful car in the race. The chance for a storybook finish ended with 7 laps remaining when Love had to pit for fuel. Rodriguez roared by while Love was in the pits, going on to cross the line 26 seconds ahead of Love. John Surtees finished a lap down in 3rd in a Honda. Rodriguez himself was driving for the Cooper team on a "try out" basis (he got the job). The race also marked the first championship GP at the Kyalami circuit.
(Also as a side note to Rodriguez win, it marked Cooper's last.)

1971,Levin, New Zealand...Graham McRae drove his McLaren M10B to victory as the 1971 Tasman Cup series for Formula 5000 cars got underway with a race on the 1.2 mile Levin Circuit.

From Jim Thurman's TDIAR

And ever more for the first... or was it the 2nd?

Allan Tomlinson won the fastest-yet Australian Grand Prix at Lobethal in South Australia (don't have my books here...) driving his highly modified MG TA Special. His average speed for the race was about 84mph.


And it's a sad reflection on my attention span that I failed to mention the 1937 Australian Grand Prix, which was held on December 26, 1936.

There was no 1937 Australian Grand Prix. Never was, never will be, except in the imagination of the people who wrote the CAMS Manual and the people who have plaguerised their list ever since.

Nor was there a 1936 Australian Grand Prix, come to that. It was the South Australian Centenary Grand Prix, since popularly included in the list of Australian GPs, simply because it was the major road race in the country that year and would have qualified to be called the Australian GP had anyone thought of it at the time.

The 1939 AGP at Lobethal was 2 January.

Well, apart from the fact that Clark "drove" the car at Kyalami, rather than "drives" (on a regular basis?), and depending on how you interpret commas, this statement COULD be correct. It was the first GP win AT KYALAMI for the Lotus 49. But there's the small matter of Clark and the 49 winning the Dutch, British, US, Mexican and Spanish GPs during 1967.

But keep 'em comin' R2D2.

And, as for Tomlinson, was his first name "Allan" or "Alan"?

I always have spelled it with one "l". Please correct me if I am wrong.

To be honest, Barry, I am not totally sure...

I do think that I asked him and he told me 'Allan'... and it's something I will ask when I speak to him again.

As for the 1937 AGP, yes, I know that, you know that, it was just a way of bringing this fact to the fore yet again... a 1937 race in 1936? Ridiculous...

One of the things that I delight in is that those who were there... just as those who were at Phillip Island in 1928... still refer to both races by their proper names!

At least, all the ones I speak to...

3 January 1954

Christian Lautenschlager, winner of the French GP in 1908 and 1914, died, aged 76.

4 January 1967

Donald Campbell crashed and was killed while attempting to break the world water speed record on Lake Coniston.

January 3,

1899, An editorial in the New York Times made a reference to an "automobile" on that day. It was the first known use of the word.

1926, General Motors introduced the Pontiac brand name. The new Pontiac line was the descendant of the Oakland Motor Car Company, acquired by General Motors in 1909.

1980, Sprint car builder and Indy 500 crew chief Wally Meskowski dies at the age of 64.








Re: the 1968 statement, wasn't the South African GP the first one on the schedule? Any wins after that and they wouldn't be the first - or am I missing something from a point you're trying to make?

... Barry, sometimes these tidbits are cut and pasted in haste without regard to grammar, but I'll make the appropriate changes when time allows... and shouldn't it be R3D1?

Three Rs

Yes, I realise you have been cutting and pasting; I was just stirring.

The 1968 win by Clark was at the beginning of 1968. The other wins mentioned for Clark in Lotus 49 were in 1967. So it definitely wasn't the first win for the 49.

Regarding 3 January 1899, "first use of the word" automobile, I think you will find this refers to USA only. There was considerable discussion and disagreement in the US as to what to call the horseless carriage. They finally settled on the French word, which had been around for some time by then, I think.

It is common for US "historians" to write simply "first", when they should be saying , "first in USA". I have come across it many times.

stir away my man...

I must have glazed over the 1968 date... recently, my vision has been sort of blurry in the mornings.

As we come across discrepancies, I shall endeavor to write those sources who have provided the information and offer other sources to substantiate the changes... I wonder if they'll listen.

Regarding the word automobile; Brief investigation shows that the word was synonymous
with "horseless carriage" when it was first introduced (in France?).

In French, the word "voiture", which used to mean a horse-drawn carriage, now means automobile. They didn't pass through a stage when they felt a need for a separate word for the version "sans cheval."

Presumably, it was originally called "voiture automobile".



January 4,

In addition to the loss of Campbell...

1970, Graeme Lawrence drives a Ferrari Dino 246 to victory in Tasman Cup race at Levin, New Zealand.

JANUARY 3 , 1915 - Bakersfield, California...Bob Burman wins 50 mile race on the 1 mile dirt oval at Bakersfield. Burman averaged 73 mph in a Peugeot.

1932 - Bakersfield, California...Defending AAA Pacific Coast champ Ernie Triplett drove his Miller to victory in the AAA Pacific Coast championship race at Bakersfield. Earlier, 1928 Indy 500 winner Lou
Meyer set a new qualifying record of 36.64 on the 1 mile dirt oval.

JANUARY 5 , 1965 - Daytona Beach, Florida...NASCAR Grand National driver Billy Wade died when his Mercury crashed during Goodyear tire tests at Daytona Intl. Speedway. The 34 year old Wade, a native of Houston, Texas was the 1963 GN Rookie of the Year and had emerged as a rising star on the NASCAR scene after moving to the Bud Moore prepared factory Mercury team. Wade scored a then record four straight wins on his way to finishing 4th in season points in 1964. Reportedly, Wade was earning $200 a day for the tests to develop a tire inner liner.

6 January 1989

Jim Hurtubise, racing driver died, aged 56. Heart attack. Port Arthur, Texas.

Wasn't he the last man to run a front-engined roadster at the Indianapolis 500?

January 5,

2000, Trevers Walkett, one of four brothers who formed Ginetta Cars, dies at age 76.

2001, The Chrysler LMP turned a wheel for the first time at the Vairano test track in Italy.


Non-Racing Related:

1904, Olds Moves On - Ransom Eli Olds retired from Olds Motor Works on this day. Olds had founded the company in 1899 with financial help from Samuel L. Smith, a lumber tycoon. Olds made the most profitable car in the early 1900s, the tiller-steered Oldsmobile Runabout. In 1904, Olds was approached by his head of engineering, Henry Leland, who had designed a lighter, more powerful engine that could improve the Runabout dramatically. Olds refused to use the new engine, to the dismay of his backer, Samuel Smith. Smith forced Ransom Olds out of the company. Olds went on to found the Reo Motor Car Company, and Oldsmobile went on without him. Henry Leland, the clever engineer, took his motor elsewhere: it powered the world’s first Cadillac.

1914, Henry Ford established a minimum wage of $5.00 per day in his automobile factories. These wages were twice what Ford had paid the year before, and much more than Ford’s competitors were paying. The lofty minimum wage was made possible by Henry Ford’s manufacturing breakthrough: the constant-motion assembly line, which carried moving cars past lines of workers. The first modern assembly line, Ford’s process allowed him to build cars faster and cheaper than anyone else could. The profits rolled in, and Ford’s workers shared in the wealth: an ironic beginning for an auto company that would go on to be a notorious enemy of labor in the 1930s and 1940s.

1924, Walter Chrylser, a General Motors executive who had pioneered the introduction of all-steel bodies in automobiles (instead of wood), introduced his first motorcar. After his departure from GM in 1920, Chrysler had breathed new life into the failing Maxwell Motor Company. The first Chrysler-built Maxwell was put on display in New York City’s Commodore Hotel, where it drew admiring crowds. In 1925, the Maxwell Motor Company was renamed the Chrysler Corporation.

1933, Construction got started on the Golden Gate Bridge on this day in 1933. The bridge stretched across the San Francisco Bay and made it a lot easier to get around town. With its tall towers and famous red paint job, the bridge quickly became a famous American landmark, and a symbol of San Francisco.



January 6,

1926, Birth of AAA driver, Pat Flaherty in Glendale, California. (addition by fvebr)

1926, USAC driver, James "Dick" Rathmann was born.

1960, FIA GT driver, Mauro Casadei was born in Pesaro, Italy. (addition by fvebr)

1968, Chris Amon won the Pukekoke, New Zealand, Tasman Cup race... Kier is never around when you need him

The race opened the annual Tasman Cup series. Front row starters Amon and Jim Clark both made last minute tire switches. Clark switched from Firestones to Dunlops going to the grid and Amon was on Goodyears as his Firestones had not arrived.

Clark got the jump on the start only to lose the lead when the engine coughed momentarily on his shift to second. Clark tucked into Amon's slipstream on the back straight, pulling around near the end of the straight to regain the lead. Frank Gardner, Pedro Rodriguez and Denis Hulme trailed. Clark was in the same Lotus 49, fitted with a 2.5 liter Ford motor, that he'd won the '67 Dutch and U.S. GPs in.

Plagued by faulty electrics and fuel starvation all practice, Bruce McLaren slowed by lap 10, pitted on lap 13 and retired a lap later. Despite the practice woes, it was a burned out clutch that parked McLaren's 2.5 liter BRM V12.

Driving the same BRM that Jackie Stewart took to victory the year before, Rodriguez ran well in 4th and fought off a determined Hulme. Then Rodriguez was chopped off at the hairpin by a back marker that had let Gardner through, the result affecting the BRM's steering.

After losing a lap in the pits, Rodriguez continued more slowly with damaged steering until retiring at half distance. Amon had constantly stayed in close pursuit of Clark and had begun closing when Clark stopped on the 45th of 58 laps, apparently from a dropped valve. Late in the race, Hulme, in a brilliant and forceful drive in his F2 Brabham-Ford, was closing on the 2.5 liter Brabham-Alfa of Gardner, who was losing revs due to a failing battery.

Hulme was attempting to lap Laurence Brownlie's 1.5 liter Brabham-Ford for the fifth time when the two touched going onto the backstraight. Further down the long straight and going about 130 mph, Hulme tried to get by on the inside and the two touched again, sending Hulme's car into the air and rolling several times and Brownlie's end for end. Hulme was taken to hospital with a concussion and facial lacerations while Brownlie suffered a broken leg and foot. Amon went on to cross the line 37.7 seconds ahead of Gardner with Piers Courage 3rd in a 1.6 liter McLaren-Ford F2.
from Jim Thurman's TDIAR.

1973, Pukekohe, New Zealand. John McCormack drove an Elfin MR5-Holden/Repco to victory in the 22nd running of the New Zealand Grand Prix.

The race on the 1.75 mile Pukekohe circuit opened the annual Tasman Cup series. Two chicanes had been installed in hopes of lessening accidents on the high speed sections, the result slowing the pole speed 10.9 seconds from the year before (pole winner Matich did a 1:07.6).

Organizers decided on a rolling start, and with such a short distance between the final chicane and start line, when the flag flew before the front row was even halfway down the normal grid, everyone except Matich was caught by surprise. McRae reacted next while the rest of the field frantically reached for gears and temporary confusion broke out (described as "the most unorganized start ever seen"). Matich went into the first turn 10 lengths ahead of McRae. Matich clipped a chicane kerbing with his right front wheel and McRae powered out of the sharp right hander and pulled alongside when third starting McCormack zapped right between the two to take the lead.

The front trio had already opened a gap on the rest of the field. By the next lap, McCormack was leading McRae and Max Stewart as Matich slipped down the order before rolling into the pits at the end of the lap to have his steering checked. One lap later, third running Max Stewart limped in with his right front wheel askew, having also run afoul of one of the new chicanes. McCormack lost third gear on lap 8, but his lap times hardly showed the loss and McRae didn't close immediately. McRae began making his move on lap 11, gaining a half second a lap until the 17th lap, when the two ran nose to tail. Kevin Bartlett, who'd driven into a comfortable 3rd, rolled into the pits with no power, which moved Alan Rollinson into the spot, 31 seconds behind McRae. On the following lap, McRae pitted with a flat and lost 2 laps, moving Rollinson to 2nd. On lap 27, Matich returned to the pits for a lengthy stay with suspension and steering troubles. On lap 29, Rollinson was 17 seconds back of McCormack, but put on a charge that saw him cut the margin to 3 seconds in 11 laps! McRae briefly returned to 3rd before pitting with a dropped valve. At the checkered flag, McCormack was 6 seconds ahead of Rollinson's McRae GM1. Steve Thompson was a lap back in 3rd in a Chevron B24 and McRae managed to finish 4th, 2 laps down.

American Sam Posey retired while 4th and Evan Noyes was plagued with overheating. After the race, Rollinson explained that something had blistered his backside, even showing the assembled press corps exactly where his blisters were! It was later reported that McCormack had misplaced replacement front brake discs, so he had a new set overnighted from Australia. When those were found missing from customs, the team searched for hours until tracking down a clerk in an Auckland suburb who had taken them home, planning to deliver them to the circuit the next morning. - from Jim Thurman's TDIAR.

1978, The F1CA, soon to be rename FOCA, named Bernie Eccelstone the President of Administration and Chief Executive, Enzo Ferrari the President of Sport, and Max Mosley the Legal Advisor. (addition by fvebr)

1981, Birth of BTCC driver Gareth Howell. (addition by fvebr)

2000, Sam Schmidt was paralyzed after he broke his neck in a crash while testing his IRL car at Walt Disney World Speedway in Orlando, Florida.

Non-Racing Related:

1980, Jimmy Carter signed a bill authorizing $1.2 billion in federal loans to save the failing Chrysler Corporation. It was the largest federal bailout in history. The "Big Three" American car makers (Ford, GM, and Chrysler) had suffered through the 1970s, as Japanese competitors led by Honda and Toyota outperformed them in quality and price. Chrysler, which lacked the vast cash reserves of GM and Ford, was brought to the brink of bankruptcy by 1980. The federal bailout, which required Chrysler to find billions in private financing in order to receive the federal money, brought Chrysler back from the brink. Lee Iacocca, the charismatic executive largely responsible for Ford’s successful Mustang, joined Chrysler in late 1979, and engineered the company’s return to profitability during the 1980s.

January 7,

1923, F1 driver, Jean 'Lucienbonnet' Bonnet was born in Nice, France (DNQ Monaco 1959) Lucien was Jean's brother, and he used his brothers' name to create his pseudonym. (addition by fvebr)

1924, F1 driver, Albert Uria was born In Montevideo, Uruguay (2 Argentina GP 1955, 1956...6th with a Maserati). (addition by fvebr)

1924, Gioachini Columbo joined Alfa Romeo. He will later design the Alfetta 158.

1938, Rally driver, Rauno Aaltonen was born in Turku, Finland. (addition by fvebr)

1939, Birth of F1 driver, Brausch Niemann in Burban, South Africa. (1 Gp + 1 DNQ 1963,1965). He later raced sports cars before turning his hand to racing motorcycles, winning the 1979 South African Championship. (Here's another for that "went car racing first" thread ;)). (addition by fvebr)

1946, Birth of F1 driver, Mike Wilds, in London, England (3 Gp + 5 DNQ 1974-1976). (addition by fvebr)

1951, WSC driver, Massimo Sigala was born in Italy.

1958, Birth of Rally driver, Massimo 'Miki' Biasion in Bassano del Grappa, Italy. (addition by fvebr)

1964, Death of F1 driver, Reg Parnell in Derby, England. Had it not been for the Second World War, this farmer and haulage contractor might have matured into one of Britain's foremost Formula 1 drivers. As it was, he gained a reputation as a steady, dogged and supremely versatile competitor in almost every category. 6 GP + 1 DNS 1950-1954 (1 Podium, a 3rd at Silverstone in 1950 with an Alfa Romeo 158) (Scored a total of 9 points). And as a Pre-war driver, he also won the Non-Championship, New Zeland GP and South Islands Race at Dunedin in 1957. He retired to the post of Aston Martin team manager at the end of the 1954 season and later ran the Yeoman Credit/Bowmaker teams from which he evolved Reg Parnell Racing from the start of 1963, giving a Formula 1 break to the promising 19-year old Chris Amon along the way. He died at 52 of peritonitis following medical complications after a seemingly routine appendix operation. (addition by fvebr)

1967, New Zealand GP at Pukekohe, Australia. Bright sunshine and the prospect of close racing brought the fans streaming to Pukekohe in their thousands to see Stewart, Attwood and Gardner take up their places on the front row of the grid for the 21 lap Air New Zealand Grand Prix Preliminary in the morning. In the second row were Bartlett and Clark, while Palmer, Lawrence and Dennis Marwood shared the next. Right at the back, behind the slower 2.5 and 1.5 cars, were Brabham and Hulme. This was the race to determine the grid positions for the Grand Prix.

Stewart hit the front from the start and remained there with Clark in close attendance, after Clark had displaced Attwood in the course of the sixth of the 12 laps, until the end.

Defections came early. Gardner soon departed the scene when a piston and valve contacted. Brabham was carving a path through the field in spectacular fashion and, with Gardner off the stage, took fourth spot ahead of Bartlett and Palmer in his third lap. The pace was a cracker and the leaders were already doubling the tail-enders. In the fourth lap Attwood took to the grass in front of the stands to pass two slower cars. Up front, Stewart had 100 yards on Clark, and then down came the rain.

Brabham, apparently unconcerned about the changed conditions, pressed on at undiminished speed in his eighth lap when he struck an oil patch in the new Esses, put a wheel on the soft shoulder and spun off into a ditch, well and truly out of the race. Within seconds Roly Levis joined him. Now Hulme had taken Bartlett for fourth and next in line was Palmer. They finished in that order, with Lawrence a lap behind in seventh spot. Stewart cut out the race in 12 min 46 sec to average more than 100 mph. Other casualties were Thomasen, who blew a motor, as did Dawson, and Smith also did not finish. Only Brabham, Smith and Levis managed to get their cars into shape for the main race.

Jim Palmer (Brabham-Climax) took 4th and first resident finisher for the fourth successive year.

The grid, now in a 2-2-2 format looked as follows: Stewart, Clark; Attwood, Hulme; Bartlett, Palmer; Marwood, Lawrence; Hollier, Brownlie; Weston, Boyd; Stone, Sager; McDonald, McLoughlin; Brabham, Harvey; Levis, Smith.

The sun was shining and the track dry when the field, with latecomer Brabham tagging along behind, completed the GP warm-up lap. Clark made the best of the start, but within yards Stewart had nosed to the front. Then came Attwood, Bartlett and Hulme. The field swarmed through the Esses after the right-hand swerve beyond the pits and as they cleared away from Castrol Curve down Firestone Straight the BRM and Lotus could be seen pulling clear of the bunch. First time round Stewart and Clark were 100 yards clear of Attwood, Hulme, Bartlett and Palmer. Then there was another gap to Marwood, Lawrence, Brownlie, Hollier and Boyd. With six laps gone, Stewart and Clark, glued together, were lapping the tail-enders and turning in 'ton' laps. Brabham was among the spectators, after breaking a half-shaft on lap 5, and the field was strung out with Attwood and Hulme having their own race fairly well clear of Bartlett and Palmer who were similarly engaged. With about 14 laps completed, the Scots had pushed their average up to 101 mph and still the pace was on. The next two laps were at 102 mph and Stewart was doing all he knew to shake off Clark, but to no avail.

By lap 24 Bartlett and Palmer, fifth and sixth, had been doubled, and Marwood and Lawrence, who were not far apart, had been doubled twice. The two in front were half a lap clear of Attwood and Hulme. Three laps later Bartlett made a quick stop. After two more laps he retired with magneto problems. Marwood had already abandoned on lap 24 with a broken crown wheel. In the 29th lap Hulme took Attwood who was getting apprehensive when his engine temperature soared, but it was to no avail, as he broke a stub axle with just seven laps to go.

Most interest was still up front. Time and again Clark would ease out of Stewart's slipstream in front of the pits in vain attempts to take the BRM. Then in the last few laps Clark pulled out all the stops, finally recording his stupendous 104.1 mph before his hopes of victory were dashed in the following lap. As he attempted to pass Stewart at the hairpin, he came into contact with McLoughlin's slow Cooper and lost the front panels and windscreen. Stewart, and Clark now in the bodiless Lotus, took the flag well clear of the field headed by Attwood, Palmer and Lawrence. Next were Hollier, Boyd, Bill Stone, who had completed 50 laps each, Levis and Ken Sager with 49 and Brownlie with 45.

1968, Death of F1 driver, George Constantine in SouthBridge, (Ma) 1 Gp (USA 1959)Constantine won the SportsCar Race at Watkins Glen in 1956 and NASSAU Trophy in 1959. He won the USSC Driver of the year award and a 5th and Class Winner at Daytona 3 Hrs in 1962. (addition by fvebr)

1971, Death of F1 driver, Henri Louveau (2 Gp 1950-1951) He was a bicycling champion in his twenties. He then turned to racing and competed in the late 1930s in the Liege-Rome-Liege race and in the Le Mans 24 Hours. When the war broke out Louveau joined the French army and served with a rifle regiment in Algeria. As soon as the war was over he went back to racing and won the Coupe de la Liberation in the Bois de Boulogne in September 1945 at the wheel of a Maserati 6CM. The following year he competed in the major French races and finished second to Raymond Sommer in the Grand Prix du Forez and fourth in the Coupe de la Resistance in a Maserati 4CL. He was runner-up later that summer to Jean-Pierre Wimille in Perpignan and was second to Tazio Nuvolari at Albi. He later began entering cars for Sommer and the two shared victory in the Circuit des Trois Villes, a race between Lille, Roubaix and Tourcoing. For the Valentino GP that autumn he rented a Scuderia Milan Maserati. The following year he raced for Delage, scoring a number of good placings in French national races, including third in Marseilles and finished sixth at the Italian GP and second in the non-championship French GP at Lyons.

He was back in a private Maserati in 1948 but by then the cars were no longer very competitive. In 1949 he took a Delage to a close second in the Le Mans 24 Hours and drove a 4.5-liter Talbot Lago in the 1950 Italian and 1951 Swiss Grands Prix. He crashed heavily into a lamp post in the second event, suffering leg and shoulder injuries and decided to retire from racing. He later built up a very successful hire car business in Paris. (addition by fvebr)

1979, Birth of F3000 driver, Ricardo Mauricio, in Sao Paulo, Brazil. (37 Races + 3 DNQ 1999-2002 Back in Spanish F3 in 2003, won title and might be in Nissan or Irl for 2004). (addition by fvebr)

1989, The Dodge Viper was introduced at the North American International Automobile Show.

1982, Bert Oosterhuis died. A Dutch Sports car and Rally driver, died in race crash (Paris-Dakar). (addition by fvebr)

1993, Reigning F1 World Champion, Nigel Mansell drove on an American oval for the first time when he practiced at Phoenix, Arizona, in a Newman-Haas Lola-Ford.

1993, Honda announced that starting in 1994, they will become an engine supplier in the CART PPG World Series.

2002, Death of F1 driver, Geoff Crossley in Headington, England. (2 GP in 1950) A pleasant amateur who raced for fun. He retired from racing in 1955 and from business in the early 1980's. (addition by fvebr)

Was this Dick Rathmann or 'Dick' Rathmann?

James 'Dick' Rathmann was born Jan 6, 1926
Richard 'Jim' Rathmann was born Jul 16, 1928

uhhh yeah, that's the one.... sorry about the missing 'n' and the lack of the full name - correction and clairification made.

Thanks

January 8,

1944, William K. Vanderbilt Died. William Vanderbilt, a great patron of early automobile racing who is said to have maintained a personal garage of more than 100 cars and 20 mechanics, died in New York City at the age of sixty-five. At the turn of the century, cars were still beyond the financial means of most citizens, and car racing was a spectacle nurtured by society’s elite. Men like William K. Vanderbilt, equipped with their own private fortunes, raced and equipped their own cars. In 1902 Vanderbilt became the first American to enter the land speed record books when he ran a mile in 47.32 seconds at an average speed of 76.086 miles per hour.

Vanderbilt’s impact off the racetrack left a more enduring legacy. In 1904 he staged the first Vanderbilt Cup in order to introduce Europe’s best automotive drivers and manufacturers to the U.S. The first major international race held in the U.S., the Vanderbilt Cup ran thirty miles over a ten-mile lap course in Hicksville, New York. Growing steadily in popularity in each year of its existence, the Vanderbilt Cup would eventually draw as many as 250,000 spectators. Cars exceeding speeds of 100 miles per hour whizzed past crowds closely huddled at the roadsides with not even a fence to protect them. Predictably, race tragedies occurred, ultimately forcing Vanderbilt to cancel the event in 1916.

William K. Vanderbilt is also credited with having constructed America’s first private or "toll" highway. He built the Long Island Expressway to circumnavigate restrictions with which the local authorities hampered his car races. Car races can’t have speed limits--not ones than anyone is likely to attend anyway; so Vanderbilt built his own road. In the early years of automotive racing he fostered the growth of automotive racing and, in doing so, extended the dream of owning an automobile to countless Americans.

1942, Drag racer, Dick LaHaie was born.

1947, Sportcar driver, Greg Pickett was born.

1969, Birth of Rally driver, Johnny Milner, in England - he's still Racing... (addition by fvebr)

1978, NASCAR driver, Bobby Hamilton Jr. was born. (addition by fvebr)

2002, Toyota unveiled their Formula One car at the Paul Ricard circuit in France. (is this correct?)

At the time, The Sydney Morning Herald reported that it happened 17 December 2001. though didn't say where it was.

Perhaps there was an "indoor" release and a "first drive" release?

Does anyone know?

Barry,

I think that this just passed into history... The debut of the Toyota 2003 car was yesterday, as they had their debut of this new car at Paul Recard. I guess I was just a tad premature in my reporting...

Your December 17th date was the initial debut of the TF102 car. That debut was at their factory in Cologne, Germany.

January 9,

1959, NASCAR driver Mark Martin was born.

1972, Buenos Aires, Argentina...After a tragic debut in the previous year's event, the Ferrari 312P prototype dominated the Buenos Aires 1000 Kilometers. The race was round 1 of the 1972 World Sports Car Championship. In their first drive for Ferrari, the team of Sweden's Ronnie Peterson and Australia's Tim Schenken took the victory by nearly a lap. The winners covered the 1000 kilometer distance in 5 hours, 45 minutes for an average speed of 108 mph. Not only was it the first win for the 312P, but Clay Regazzoni/Brian Redman drove a team car to second and only minor mechanical problems with the Jackie Ickx/Mario Andretti car prevented a 1-2-3 sweep for the 312P. From Jim Thurman's TDIAR

1977, Argentina Grand Prix. For the start of the '77 season, McLaren was the only major team not to change drivers. Ferrari had signed up Carlos Reutemann and his job at Brabham went to John Watson, who was out of work after Roger Penske's decision to close down his team. The assets were sold to wheel-making magnate Gunther Schmid of the ATS company, who planned to run Hans Stuck. This left a seat open at Shadow alongside Tom Pryce and the team hired Renzo Zorzi. Reutemann's arrival at Ferrari meant that Clay Regazzoni was out of work for 1977 and he decided to join Ensign, which had showed well at the end of the 1976 season while Reutemann's original replacement at Brabham Larry Perkins joined the Stanley BRM team which had landed backing from Rotary watches.

With Jody Scheckter having gone to the new Walter Wolf Racing (to drive a new car designed by Harvey Postlethwaite) Tyrrell needed a new driver and signed up Ronnie Peterson from March and with Vittorio Brambilla joining Surtees (where he was joined by Hans Binder), March decided to hire two new drivers Ian Scheckter (Rothmans International) and Alex Ribeiro (Hollywood). The field in Argentina was completed by Fittipaldi running Emerson Fittipaldi and Ingo Hoffmann and Jacques Laffite's Ligier.

In qualifying the World Champion James Hunt used an old M23 to take pole position from Watson's Brabham-Alfa Romeo. Patrick Depailler was third for Tyrrell with Niki Lauda fourth on the grid in his Ferrari. Then came Jochen Mass (McLaren), Carlos Pace in the second Brabham-Alfa Romeo and Carlos Reutemann in the second Ferrari. The top 10 was completed by Mario Andretti in the new Lotus 78, Tom Pryce in the Shadow and Gunnar Nilsson in the second Lotus. Scheckter was 11th in the Wolf. NIlsson ended up as a nonstarter after Andretti's car was seriously damaged when a fire extinguisher exploded during the morning warm-up on race day.

At the start Watson took the lead with Hunt tucking in behind him. Lauda was third ahead of Andretti, Mass, Reutemann, Pryce and J Scheckter. Nothing changed at the front until lap 11 when Hunt took the lead and behind him Andretti overtook Lauda for third place. On the next lap Lauda dropped behind Mass as well and on lap 16 the Ferrari was also behind Pace's Brabham. On lap 21 Mass overtook Andretti to take third place but eight laps later the German spun off. Three laps later Hunt suffered a suspension failure and crashed out of the lead, leaving Watson ahead of his team mate Pace. Watson was struggling with suspension trouble and soon let Pace ahead. Behind then Andretti was third but he was caught and passed by Scheckter in the new Wolf.

When Watson retired on lap 42 Scheckter moved to second place. In the closing laps Pace was slowed with exhaustion because of heat in his cockpit and on lap 48 Scheckter took the lead. Andretti also overtook Pace but went out immediately with a wheel bearing failure and so Pace finished second with Reutemann third, Fittipaldi fourth and Andretti being classified fifth and Regazzoni sixth. The Wolf team could not have asked for a better start.

1999, Rick Bennewitz, director of the TV program "Santa Barbara" and president of the Vintage Auto Racing Association (VARA) died of a heart attack while giving a speech at the Peterson Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, California.

Non-Racing Related:

1911, In 1895, George Selden was awarded the first American patent for an internal-combustion automobile, although Selden hadn’t yet produced a working model. Other inventors, such as Ransom Olds and the Duryea brothers, were already driving their home-built automobiles through the streets.

Beginning in 1903, however, the Selden patent began to make itself felt. The Association of Licensed Automobile Manufacturers was organized to gather royalties on the Selden patent from all auto makers. Soon, every major automobile manufacturer was paying royalties to the A.L.A.M. and George Selden—except for one major standout, a young inventor named Henry Ford. Ford refused to pay royalties. The A.L.A.M launched a series of lawsuits against Ford.

On this day in 1911, the United States Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Ford Motor Company was not infringing on the Selden patent. It was the beginning of the end for the A.L.A.M. and Selden’s royalties.

1958, The Toyota and Datsun (later Nissan) brand names made their first appearances in the United States at the Imported Motor Car Show in Los Angeles, California. Previously, these auto makers had sold in the U.S. only under American brand names, as part of joint ventures with Ford and GM.

1967, Construction of the Volga Automobile Works began in Togliatti in the Soviet Union. By April of 1970, Zhiguli automobiles (later known as "Lada" autos) were rolling off the assembly lines. In association with Fiat, the Volga works became (and remains) the largest producer of small European automobiles.

Yes!

1981

Franz Wittmann had the first official start with the Audi quattro.... and he won.
And in a few days there comes Monte Carlo. An new era in motorsport begun. I'll tell you the story.

JANUARY 8 , 1956 - Ft. Wayne, Indiana...The United States Auto Club (USAC) sanctioned it's first race, a Midget race indoors on a 1/10 mile oval on the concrete floor of the Allen County Coliseum. The race was won by Indy 500 veteran Gene Hartley.

1966 - Pukekohe, New Zealand...England's Graham Hill drove a B.R.M. P261 to victory in the New Zealand Grand Prix on the 2.2 mile Pukekohe circuit. The race opened the annual Tasman series.

1972 - Pukekohe, New Zealand...Driving a factory Lola T330, Australia's Frank Gardner won the New Zealand International Grand Prix on the Pukekohe circuit. The race was the opening round of the Tasman Cup series for Formula 5000 cars.


JANUARY 9 , 1915 - San Diego, California...1913 AAA champ Earl Cooper won the AAA Championship Point Loma road race in a Stutz. The 305 mile race was run in a time of 4 hours, 40 minutes and 10 seconds.

1965 - Pukekohe, New Zealand...Graham Hill drove a Brabham BT11A to victory in the Tasman Cup New Zealand Grand Prix on the 2.2 mile Pukekohe circuit.

1971 - Pukekohe, New Zealand...Australia's Niel Allen piloted a McLaren M10B to victory in the New Zealand GP, part of the Tasman Cup series for Formula 5000 cars.

1972 - Buenos Aires, Argentina...After a tragic debut in the previous year's event, the Ferrari 312P prototype dominated the Buenos Aires 1000 Kilometers. The race was round 1 of the 1972 World Sports Car Championship. In their first drive for Ferrari, the team of Sweden's Ronnie Peterson and Australia's Tim Schenken took the victory by nearly a lap. The winners covered the 1000 kilometer distance in 5 hours, 45 minutes for an average speed of 108 mph. Not only was it the first win for the 312P, but Clay Regazzoni/Brian Redman drove a team car to second and only minor mechanical problems with the Jackie Ickx/Mario Andretti car prevented a 1-2-3 sweep for the 312P.

1977 - Buenos Aires, Argentina...Taking the lead when defending World Champion James Hunt had an accident with six laps left, Jody Scheckter won the Argentine GP driving a Wolf. Hunt dominated the race in his McLaren, taking the pole, setting fastest race lap and leading 21 of the 53 laps before the accident. Carlos Pace finished second in a Brabham-Alfa, 43 seconds behind Scheckter.

Richard:


The Vanderbilt name figured in international racing in the Thirties:
http://home.san.rr.com/fsheff/oldpht07.htm

Very interesting photos on your site Frank... I wonder why the author of that quote cited 1916? Perhaps it was that specific event. Then the event resurfaced at a later time when safety concerns were met. Without a doubt, someone here will know for sure.

January 10,

1921, 1959 and 1962 Indy 500 champion Roger Ward born in Beloit, Kansas, USA.

1935, Ferry Porsche married Dorothea ("DoDo") Reitz, a native Stuttgarter.

1953, Robert Woodward Rahal, F1 driver, CART and Indy 500 champion was born in Medina, Ohio.

1958, F1, CART, and IRL driver/owner Eddie Cheever was born in Pheonix, AZ but spent his childhood in Italy.

1971, Jo Siffert and Derek Bell lead a Porsche 1-2 finish in the Buenos Aires 1000 KM race for the Championship of Makes. Ferrari 312P made its race debut. A Leader in the race, Ignazio Giunti was a tremendously promising young Italian who made his name driving saloon and sports cars for Alfa Romeo before being recruited into the Ferrari works team at the start of 1970, crashed and was killed.

Giunti drove splendidly to fourth place in the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps on his Formula 1 debut and seemed set for very successful future. Driving the brand new Ferrari 312P 3-liter sports prototype. He was leading the 1000kms race when he collided with the Matra which Jean-Pierre Beltoise was attempting to push back to the pits after running out of fuel on the circuit. Giunti sustained injuries from which he could not survive.

Non-Racing Related:

1942, The Ford Motor Company signed on to make Jeeps, the new general-purpose military vehicles desperately needed by American forces in World War II. The original Jeep design was submitted by the American Bantam Car Company. The Willys-Overland company won the Jeep contract, however, using a design similar to Bantam’s, but with certain improvements. The Jeep was in high demand during wartime, and Ford soon stepped in to lend its huge production capacity to the effort. By the end of the war, the Jeep had won a place in Americans’ hearts, and soon became a popular civilian vehicle. And that catchy name? Some say it comes from the initials G.P., for "General Purpose." Others say it was named for Jeep the moondog, the spunky and durable creature who accompanied Popeye through the comics pages.

No. Should read "...hits a Matra being pushed ALONG the track by Jean-Pierre Beltoise...".

DCN

Done...

Thank you for that correction...

JANUARY 10 , 1970 - Pukekohe, New Zealand...Frank Matich, driving a McLaren M10A, won the New Zealand Grand Prix on the 2.2 mile Pukekohe circuit. It marked the first NZGP run under Formula 5000 rules.

1971 - Riverside, California...1969 and 70 Western Grand National champ Ray Elder beat the NASCAR regulars to win the season opening Motor Trend 500 NASCAR Grand National race at Riverside International Raceway. Driving the family owned Dodge, Elder passed Bobby Allison with 12 laps left and went on to take the checkered flag 10.5 seconds ahead of Allison's Dodge. Benny Parsons finished third in the L.G. DeWitt Ford, two laps down. Elder, a hay and alfalfa farmer from Caruthers, California, started third and was the only car among the leaders on Firestone tires. The race also marked the first NASCAR GN race run under Winston sponsorship (I believe this was the last NASCAR win for Firestone as well).

January 11,

1923, In Leesburg, Texas, legendary racer, car builder, and chili mix marketer, Carroll Shelby was born.

1944, J. Walter Christie, died at age 78. He helped build first submarine and designed tanks used by Britain in WWII. His WC-5 Grand Prix racer of 1907 was the first to use 4-cylinder engine, front-wheel drive, and a transverse engine.

1956, The 1956 model Corvette was officially announced.

1981, The Winston-Western 500 at Riverside, California, was the last NASCAR Winston Cup race for the 115 inch wheelbase "big" cars. All future racers would use a 110 inch wheelbase.

2001, Famed Indianapolis roadster builder Quinn Epperly, died at the age of 87.

2001, Sports car driver, Louis Krages, AKA "John Winter", winner of the 1985 24 Hours of Le Mans, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.


Non-Racing Related:

1913, The world’s first closed production car was introduced: Hudson Motor Car Company’s Model 54 sedan. Earlier automobiles had open cabs, or at most convertible roofs.

I have a birth date for J Walter Christie as 6 May 1865, which would make him 78 years old, rather than 68.

Could this be another case of someone hitting the wrong key and failing to double check?

Yes, it could like me.... Correction noted and changed.

January 12,

1879, Ray Harroun, winner of the first Indianapolis, 500 was born in Spartanburg, Pennsylvania.

1904, Henry Ford and co-driver Spider Huff set a land speed record at Lake St. Clair, in Michigan, of 91.37 mph in a car known as the "999". The "999" was powered by a 1156 cubic inch 4-cylinder engine. They broke the old speed record by 14 mph. (Note: I have also seen this record attributed to Barney Oldfield driving solo - anyone know for sure?)

1975, Argentina Grand Prix. There were not many changes in the winter of 1974-75. Yardley withdrew and so McLaren concentrated it efforts on the two Marlboro cars. John Mass was taken on to replace the retired Denny Hulme. The Tyrrell, Lotus, Ferrari, Brabham, Shadow, Hesketh and Hill teams remained with the same drivers. Brabham landed sponsorship from Martini while Hill began to build his own cars his team having developed the Lola to such an extent that it ceased to be a Lola. Frank Williams finally began to race cars under his own name, having ended the relationship with Iso because the Italians had not paid. He retained Arturo Merzario and Jacques Laffite. March announced that it was not going to continue but then changed its mind and entered Vittorio Brambilla with backing from Beta. There were big chances at BRM following financial problems with Sir Alfred Owen's Rubery Owen company. The team was renamed Stanley BRM after Louis Stanley (who was married to Owen's sister Jean) and most of the existing management departed. Tim Parnell giving up as team manager and designer Mike Pilbeam moving on. Only one car was entered and, in an effort to drum up British support the car were painted red, white and blue and was driven by Mike Wilds. Surtees also reduced its involvement to one car (with support from Matchbox Toys) and hired John Watson to drive, Hexagon of Highgate having closed down its F1 operation. Penske and Parnelli both became full-time F1 teams with drivers Mario Andretti and Mark Donohue while Wilson Fittipaldi began campaigning the Fittipaldi chassis, designed by Richard Divila and supported by Copersucar.

Helping to level the playing field, Firestone announced that it was withdrawing from F1 and so Goodyear ended up with a virtual monopoly (although Parnelli did run Firestones briefly in the course of the year).

The big news in qualifying in Buenos Aires was the pace of the new Shadow DN5 with which Jean-Pierre Jarier took pole position by nearly half a second, beating Brabham's Carlos Pace. The second row featured Carlos Reutemann in the other Brabham and Niki Lauda in the Ferrari. Then came World Champion Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren), James Hunt (Hesketh), Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) and Patrick Depailler (Tyrrell). The top 10 was completed by Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell) and Andretti. The Lotuses were not very competitive with Ronnie Peterson 11th and Jacky Ickx 18th.

On the final parade lap Jarier's transmission failed and so the race started with the pole position man and this enabled Reutemann to jump ahead of his team mate Pace at the start, to the delight of the crowd. At the first corner Mass and Scheckter collided and both cars ended up in the pits. Lauda ran third with Hunt right behind him and on lap eight the Hesketh finally overtook the Ferrari and chased after the two Brabhams.

There was some excitement when the new Fittipaldi spun out of control, crashed into a barrier and caught fire. Wilson Fittipaldi was able to get out but the car was destroyed in the blaze. While this was happening Pace took the lead but then spun near the scene of the accident and dropped to seventh place. Hunt closed gradually up on Reutemann and on lap 26 he took the lead. As Hunt closed in on Reutemann Fittipaldi (E) moved ahead of Lauda to run third and he was soon past Reutemann as well and closing on the leader. On lap 35 the McLaren went ahead.

The order remained unchanged at the front with Fittipaldi winning from Hunt and Reutemann. Pace was fourth until he suffered engine failure and so the place went to Regazzoni with Depailler fifth and Lauda sixth.

1998, Four time British Rally champion Roger Clark died in Leicestershire, England, at the age of 58 after suffering a stroke.


Non-Racing Related:

1900, The Detroit Automobile Company finished its first commercial vehicle, a delivery wagon. The wagon was designed by a young engineer named Henry Ford, who had produced his own first motorcar, the quadricycle, before joining the company. Ford soon quit the Detroit Automobile Company, frustrated with his employers, to start his own company.

If no one minds, I'll add this, some additional entries and a couple of Richard's with more details...

JANUARY 11 , 1981 - Riverside, CA...Bobby Allison drove his Ranier Racing Chevrolet Monte Carlo to victory as the NASCAR Grand National season opened with the Western 500 at Riverside International Raceway. The race was 500 kilometers/311 miles on the 2.62 mile road course. Allison took the lead from Terry Labonte with 15 laps left and went on to win by 1.73 seconds. The race was the last allowing full sized 115 inch wheelbase cars, beginning with Daytona all cars would be downsized to 110 inch wheelbase maximum. Darrell Waltrip made his first start for Junior Johnson Racing as did Ricky Rudd with DiGard Racing. Waltrip won the pole and led the first three laps before sliding off the track. Later, mechanical trouble dropped Waltrip many laps down. Rudd ran in the top five all day until retiring with engine woes after 98 laps. Behind Allison and Labonte, Dale Earnhardt drove the Rod Osterlund Pontiac Grand Prix to third, the highest finisher of the downsized cars. Richard Childress was fourth and Richard Petty fifth. Petty Enterprises switched numbers for the race, placing #43 on Kyle's car, giving Kyle the Winner's Circle money. Richard had hoped to win with #42 on his car and get both cars on the Winner's Circle plan. After the race, NASCAR advised Petty Enterprises to switch the cars back to the original numbers.

JANUARY 12 , 1936 - Oakland, California...Al Gordon won the 150 mile AAA Pacific Coast Championship race at Oakland Speedway. 1933 AAA Pacific Coast champ Gordon averaged 81.4 mph in a Miller on the 1 mile banked oiled dirt oval.

1957 - Ardmore, New Zealand...Reg Parnell won the New Zealand Grand Prix at the wheel of a Ferrari 555. Peter Whitehead finished 2nd, also in a Ferrari, while Stan Jones was 3rd in a Maserati. The event was run under pall after driver Ken Wharton died as a result of injuries suffered in an accident while leading a preliminary Sports Car race. The 40 year old Wharton, a garage owner from Smethwick, England, was a popular and versatile driver having won in trials, rallying and hillclimbing (where he won 4 consecutive British hillclimb titles) before concentrating on circuit racing. His best championship F1 finish came in his first start, the 1952 Swiss GP, where he placed 4th at the wheel of an ancient Frazer-Nash. He also drove a Cooper-Bristol, Maserati and Vanwall in championship F1 races as well as a driving a B.R.M. in many Formula Libre events. Despite his busy schedule, he tried some Sports Car racing, teaming with Peter Whitehead in a factory Jaguar to win the 1954 12 Hours of Reims.

1974 - Pukekohe, New Zealand...Peter Gethin drove his Chevrolet powered Chevron B24 to victory in round 2 of the Tasman Cup Formula 5000 series, held on the Pukekohe circuit.

1975 - Pukekohe, New Zealand...Warwick Brown drove his Chevy powered Lola T332 to victory in the 24th running of the New Zealand Grand Prix, returned to the Pukekohe circuit. The race
was round 2 of the 1975 Tasman Cup series for Formula 5000 cars.

1975 - Buenos Aires, Argentina...Taking the lead when James Hunt spun with 18 laps to go, Emerson Fittipaldi won the Argentine Grand Prix in a McLaren. Hunt recovered from the spin to finish second, 5.9 seconds back in his Hesketh. Jean-Pierre Jarier earned his first career pole, but his Shadow broke a rear end during the warm-up lap and was unable to start. The Copersucar, Brazil's first, and so far only entry into F1, made it's debut with Wilson Fittipaldi driving.

January 13,

1918, Barney Oldfield won 2 of 3 main events at Ascot in Los Angeles, California, driving the Miller "Golden Submarine", but with the fully enclosed body removed.

1935, Longtime NHRA starter, Buster Couch was born.

1957, Argentina Grand Prix. As usual the first race of the new season was an event on its own. The cars were much the same as they had been but there had been a few changes in the driver lineup. Juan-Manuel Fangio had left Ferrari and moved to rival firm Maserati. Mike Hawthorn returned to Ferrari to partner Peter Collins and Eugenio Castellotti.

The race in Argentina was a straight fight between the two Italian teams with Stirling Moss doing one more race for Maserati before he moved to Vanwall. He was fastest in qualifying, beating Fangio and Jean Behra with Castellotti the only Lancia-Ferrari on the front row. There were three of the cars on second row with Collins, Luigi Musso and Hawthorn side-by-side while the third row featured the Maseratis of Carlos Menditeguy, Harry Schell and two more Lancia-Ferraris for Froilan Gonzalez and Cesare Perdisa.

At the start of the race Behra took the lead from Fangio and Castellotti. Moss was taken by surprise and a juddering start damaged the throttle mechanism and he pitted at the end of the first lap. While Moss sat in the pits, Castellotti led but was then overtaken by Behra. Soon afterwards Collins worked his way to the front but within a few laps he was in trouble with his clutch and had to pit. This left Behra in the lead again but he was soon passed by Fangio. Castelotti had lost his third position after a spin so now Hawthorn was leading the charge although both he and Musso would retire after a while with clutch problems. Castellotti remained the only challenge to the Maseratis at the front but his race ended when a wheel fell off with 24 laps to go. It would be Castellotti's last Grand Prix. He was killed testing a Ferrari at Modena two months later.

Menditeguy and Schell were promoted to third and fourth when Castellotti went out and so Maserati started the year with a 1-2-3-4 result.

1974, Argentina Grand Prix. The F1 circus was back together again in Buenos Aires after a short winter break. The oil crisis was in full swing and the Monte Carlo Rally was canceled. Formula 1 refused to give way and, in fact, as the season progressed there were more and more becoming involved in the World Championship.

Tyrrell had lost not only Francois Cevert but also Jackie Stewart and so lined up in 1974 with a completely new driver team: Patrick Depailler being joined by former McLaren hotshoe Jody Scheckter. Peter Revson had left McLaren to take a job with Shadow where he was joined by March refugee Jean-Pierre Jarier. McLaren retained Denny Hulme but had signed up Lotus star Emerson Fittipaldi. The team now carried sponsorship from Marlboro and Texaco. The team also ran a third car in Yardley colors for Mike Hailwood.

To replace Fittipaldi Team Lotus had hired Jacky Ickx, previously of Ferrari. The Italian team had been completed restructured after a dreadful season with Luca di Montezemolo brought in to manage the team. There were two new drivers, both Clay Regazzoni and Niki Lauda transferring from BRM. Brabham had lost Wilson Fittipaldi, who had gone off to start his own F1 team, and so Carlos Reutemann started the year with Richard Robarts as his team mate. There was also a customer Brabham team with John Goldie Racing running John Watson in a Hexagon of Highgate BT42.

Team Surtees had replaced Hailwood with Jochen Mass as Carlos Pace's team mate. March had picked up Howden Ganley and Hans Stuck while BRM had a new design team led by Mike Pilbeam and the new P201. This was sponsored by Motul and the three cars were driven by Frenchmen Jean-Pierre Beltoise, Henri Pescarolo and Francois Migault.

Frank Williams continued to be backed by Marlboro and ran his cars as Iso-Rivoltas, in the hope that money would arrive from the Italian car company. Williams had picked up former Ferrari driver Arturo Merzario. Money was very short and so the second seat was leased to pay-drivers on a race-by-race basis. Hesketh Racing was working on its own car for James Hunt but started the year with an old March while Graham Hill had done a deal for Lola to build cars for him and entered two cars for himself and Guy Edwards. The field was completed by the Ensign, driven once again by Rikki Von Opel.

In Argentina it was decided to use the faster number 15 circuit of the Autodromo rather than the previously-used number nine. In qualifying Ronnie Peterson was on Pole but Ferrari showed how much progress had been made with Regazzoni qualifying alongside the Lotus on the front row. The second row featured Fittipaldi and Revson, while James Hunt impressed with fifth place in the Harvey Postlethwaite-modified Hesketh March. Local hero Carlos Reutemann was sixth with Ickx seventh and Lauda eighth. Hailwood and Hulme shared the fifth row.

At the start Peterson took the lead with Hunt second while Regazzoni, Revson and Hailwood all arrived together and collided. Regazzoni and Revson spun and Jarier ran into Revson (his team mate). Both Merzario and Watson also damaged their cars in the melee while Scheckter took to the grass to avoid hitting anyone.

Further round on the lap Hunt blew his chances by spinning and so Reutemann moved into second with Fittipaldi, Hailwood, Ickx and Hulme chasing him. On the third lap Reutemann took the lead, while Fittipaldi went into the pits to have a plug lead reattached. This left Hailwood in third place but he was soon overtaken by Hulme (who had got ahead of Ickx) and by Ickx himself. Peterson then began to fade because of brake trouble and was overtaken by Hulme and Ickx, the latter beginning to come under pressure from Lauda, who made his way ahead of Hailwood and and Peterson.

On the 27th lap Ickx went into the pits with a puncture and so Lauda was a solid third. Reutemann seems to have the race in his pocket but his engine began to misfire and Hulme began to close rapidly. He took the lead on the penultimate lap. Reutemann eventually ground to a halt on the last lap and he was overtaken by Lauda, Regazzoni, Hailwood, Beltoise and Depailler.

1980, The Winston-Western 500 NASCAR Winston Cup race begins. The race ends six days later after being delayed by rain on lap 26.

1980, Although the team won the 1979 World Championship, Ferrari could not afford to be complacent because it was very clear by the end of the year that the Williams chassis was a great deal better than the Ferrari 312T4. And so, Mauro Forghieri designed a new 312T5. Realizing that the future was in turbocharging the team began development work on a turbo engine. The flat-12 engine made ground-effect aerodynamics difficult but the team decided that there was no choice but to continue with it until the turbocharged engine was ready.

Williams refined the FW07 in B specification and Carlos Reutemann was taken on to partner Alan Jones. Clay Regazzoni moved to Ensign which had found sponsorship from Unipart and had built a new car. Ligier revamped the JS11 and hired Didier Pironi to partner Jacques Laffite, while the team's former driver Patrick Depailler was recruited to drive alongside Bruno Giacomelli in the new Alfa Romeo team. Renault revamped its chassis but kept Jean-Pierre Jabouille and Rene Arnoux. Brabham retained Nelson Piquet and Ricardo Zunino but had a new white and blue color scheme after several season running in Alfa Romeo red. Team Lotus had lost some of its 1979 sponsorship but Essex petroleum became the title sponsor and the team produced a brand new 81 chassis and as Carlos Reutemann had departed to Williams recruited Elio de Angelis to be Mario Andretti's partner. This resulted in a law suit between de Angelis and his former employer Shadow. Shadow was running out of steam but produced the new DN11 for new boys Stefan Johansson and David Kennedy. Arrows was in rather better shape with the new A3 chassis for Riccardo Patrese and Jochen Mass.

McLaren was trying to rebuild after an awful season in 1979 and while John Watson was retained the team hired a new youngster called Alain Prost in place of Patrick Tambay. Walter Wolf decided that he had enough of F1 and sold the remains of his team to Emerson Fittipaldi who landed backing from Skol Brasil from himself and Keke Rosberg. A new Harvey Postlethwaite car was planned but the season began with a hybrid F7.

Tyrrell hired Derek Daly to partner Jean-Pierre Jarier and the new 010 was designed by Maurice Philippe. The Merzario and Rebaque team disappeared but there was a new addition to the grid in the form of the Osella FA1, sponsored by Denim and MS and driven by Eddie Cheever. ATS expanded to two cars with Marc Surer joining Jan Lammers and so there were a total of 28 cars with 13 two-car teams and two one-car teams.

In qualifying in Buenos Aires Jones was fastest with Laffite and Pironi second and third, Piquet fourth and de Angelis an impressive fifth ahead of Andretti, Patrese, Villeneuve and Jabouille. Prost did a very good job to qualify 12th several places ahead of his team leader Watson. Both Shadows, the ATS and the Osella failed to qualify.

At the start Jones went into the lead chased by Piquet, Laffite, Reutemann with Pironi is sixth position although his engine blew soon afterwards. De Angelis and Patrese had collided and dropped back through the order while Jabouille ran into technical trouble and drop down the order.

Jones's lead did not last long however as he picked up a large plastic bag in one of his radiators and the car overheated. He had to pit and dropped to fourth place behind Laffite, Piquet and Villeneuve. The Canadian soon came under pressure from the Williams driver and went wide, which enabled Jones to get ahead. He then overtake Piquet (Villeneuve following him through soon afterwards) and on lap 30 took the lead again from Laffite.

Laffite's engine failed soon afterwards and Villeneuve disappeared with a steering failure and so Jones won easily with Piquet second and Keke Rosberg third in the Fittipaldi. Daly was fourth, Giacomelli fifth and Prost sixth on his F1 debut.

This race marked the return of the Argentine GP after a twelve year break.

1984, John Bolster, Technical Editor for Autosport magazine since its inception in 1950, dies at the age of 73.

1997, US Tobacco announces that Ron Capps will drive the Copenhagen Camaro funny car in NHRA events. Don Prudhomme will serve as team manager.

2000, The untimely death of F1 driver and team owner, Hector Rebaque, who passed away from an unknwn illness. Does anyone know what illness he succumbed to?

2003, The Jaguar R4 with the new Cosworth V10 was unveiled today.


Non-Racing Related:

1942, Henry Ford patented the plastic automobile, which allowed for a 30% decrease in car weight.

Isn't that also the date of Niel Allen's greatest victory?

Winning the New Zealand Grand Prix after a fantastic scrap with Frank Matich, both in McLaren M10Bs... and including the post-finish lap (after somebody forgot to show the chequered flag) when Niel had to repass Frank again after concluding that he'd won and slowed down...

Not so. It returned to the World Championship calendar in 1972, a non-championship race having been run the previous year (Forza Amon!). The last championship race prior to that was in 1960.

Yay!!! Another proof-reader!!

Well spotted Tim, and thanks. I like to see all this false information on the web being corrected.

I believe r3cd is reporting back to the source.

So that would be a 12 year hiatus from the calendar then... I shall inform the source. Thanks Tim...

January 14,

1967, The Levin International race in the Tasman Series was won by Jimmy Clark in a Lotus 33. He also set fastest lap and was hounded for much of the race by Jackie Stewart in a BRM P261. Stewart finished a scant 2.5 seconds behind at the finish, with Richard Attwood taking the third spot.

1999, Thomas Binford, founding member of USAC, former USAC president and Indy 500 Chief Steward, dies of cerebral hemorrhage in his office in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.

2001, Former CART team owner, Carl Hogan died at home in New Hampshire, USA. The Hogan Company was founded in 1918, as a local trucking company in Saint Louis, Missouri by Joseph Hogan. Joseph Hogan successfully ran the business until the early 1950's when his son, Carl Sr., entered the business.

Carl Hogan, Sr., successfully ran the trucking and full service leasing business from the early 1950's until the mid 1980's when his three sons, Carl III, David and Brian, took over the day-to-day operations.

Carl Hogan had a tremendous passion for Indy car racing operating in various series. Hogan participated in Formula 3000, Can Am and Toyota Atlantic racing before teaming up with Rahal on the CART circuit.

He teamed with Rahal, the 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner, to buy the Pat Patrick team at the end of the 1991 season. And the next May at Indy, the Rahal-Hogan Miller High Life team captured the Miller Pit Stop Contest and took a sixth in the 500. Then the captured the CART championship that year. Rahal earned his second series title by winning four races, three poles and securing 10 podium finishes. It couldn't get much better for Hogan, the big, burly newcomer from St. Louis, but it did get worse.

Rahal failed to make the Indianapolis 500 field in 1993. Hogan was in the pits with his partner when Eddie Cheever Jr., getting a last-minute ride from John Menard, bumped Rahal from the field. Rahal made one last shot at qualifying as the last car out but was too slow.

Rahal and Hogan saw better success at Indy the next two years. Rahal drove to third both years, placing behind Al Unser Jr. and Jacques Villeneuve in 1994 and behind Villeneuve and Christian Fittipaldi in 1995.

Hogan left Rahal at the end of the '95 season and teamed with Roger Penske and driver Emerson Fittipaldi in '96. Hogan then formed a team for the 1997 season, signing young Scottish driver Dario Franchitti. Hogan turned to J.J. Lehto in 1998 and Helio Castroneves in '99.

But after fielding a non-winning team out of his pocket - Hogan Truck Leasing was on the side of the cars -- for three seasons, Hogan called it quits at the end of the 1999 season after being involved for 31 years in motorsports.


Non-Racing Related:

1954, The Hudson Motor Car Company merged with Nash-Kelvinator, an auto maker formed in turn by the merger of the Nash automobile firm and the Kelvinator kitchen-appliance company. The new concern was called the American Motors Corporation. Chrysler bought out AMC, essentially for their Jeep line for $800,000,000 - one of the better acquisitions of the last 20 years.

1982, The brand new 3rd Generation of Camaros and Firebirds were formally announced on December 1981 and debuted to the public on this day.