| History according to a Carnut!!!
Special thanks to the History Channel |
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| Other months of Carnut's History Jan/Feb | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December |
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| November 29 |
November 28 |
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1948 : First all-Australian automobile is unveiled 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. 100,000 Holden FXs were sold in the first five years of production. 100,000 units seems impressive when you consider that the new GTO is based on the Holden and sold about 8 units in 3 years... |
1895 : First gas-powered race is run 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 was offering $5,000 in prizes, including a first-place prize of $2,000, received telegrams from automobile enthusiasts across America and Europe. Delayed until Nov 28 the course was shortened to a 52-mile round-trip out of Chicago and back because of the snowy weather conditions. After 10 1/2 hours, despite an accidental two-mile detour, Frank crossed the finish line with no other car in sight, having achieved an average speed of 7.5mph 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. I am pretty sure that to a number of legislators and cops, that a car race with an average speed of 7.5 mph is viewed as the good old days!!! |
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| November 26 |
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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 15,000,000 million copies of the "Tin Lizzie" were sold in its 19 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 four-cylinder engine that produced 40hp. With prices starting at $460, nearly 5,000,000 Model As, in several body styles and a variety of colors, rolled onto America's highways until production ended in early 1932. 19 years virtually unchanged?!? With all the massive improvements in car design it seems unthinkable. Like changing your DVD burner in for a reel to reel tape!!! |
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| November 24 |
November 23 |
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1900 Test Drive Of The First Production Pierce Nov 24 1878 the first gas-powered Pierce automobile was taken on a test drive through the streets of Buffalo, New York. Costing $5000 in 1905 the George N. Pierce Company's cars were some of the biggest and most expensive produced in America. In 1908, The name changed to the Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Company and U.S. president William Howard Taft ordered two of the prestigious automobiles, a Brougham and a Landaulette, for use by the White House. more from the History Channel |
1966 Elvis, The Racecar Driver Spinout, Elvis Presley's 22nd film, premiered in Los Angeles, California, on this day. In the musical film, Elvis plays Mike McCoy, a rock-&-roll singing race-car 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. more from the History Channel |
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| November 23 |
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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 18, Olds built his first automobile, a steam-propelled three-wheeled vehicle. This first vehicle built buy the young Ransom was called the 4-3-2 and was aimed at the younger sportier steam Crowd. 4-3-2 stood for 4 gallons of water...3 wheels...2 horsepower. more from the History Channel |
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| November 22 |
November 22 |
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1985 Chrysler CEO Leads Immigration Ceremony On this day, Lee Iacocca, the chief executive officer of the Chrysler Corporation, presided over the largest swearing-in ceremony for new U.S. citizens in American history. Iacocca served as president of the Ford Motor Company during the 1970s, and was largely responsible for the extremely profitable Mustang marque. 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. 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. Way to go Lee on a great job at the Statue and all you have done for the auto industry!!! So indirectly Henry Ford II was the reason all our soccer moms have MiniVans to drive!!! |
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| November 21 |
November 21 |
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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. 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 new "Cleveland" block, and was factory rated at 300bhp. 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. This was also the last year of Mustangs as great looking cars...for a long time. |
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| November 8 |
November 8 |
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| 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 22, Austin moved to Melbourne, 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 50mph, 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 Ford names Edsel 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 marque was abandoned, and its name would forever be synonymous with business failure. |
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| November 7 |
November 7 |
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| 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 576.553mph across the one-mile course. Robert McNamara named Ford president In 1946, Henry Ford II, the president of the Ford Motor Company, hired 10 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 chief executive officer. 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. |
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 brakes 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, pre-war 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 marque, 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 18bhp. 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. |
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| November 6 |
November 6 |
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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. I can see why Ford wanted to take over Alfa Romeo...they obviously are Kindred spirits... I have rented an Alfa Romeo 159 Deisel with a 6 speed manual box and although it had 30,000 kms of hard rental miles on it, it was a brilliant car to drive. A look like no other car and wicked fun!!! |
1899 : First Packard is completed 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. By the 1920s, Packard was a major producer of luxury automobiles, and this prosperity would continue well into the late 1950s. If more people were like Packard all Pinto and AMC owners would be making cars.... Isn't this how lambo started? 5 cars in 2 months...sounds like how Packard ended... |
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| November 5 |
November 5 |
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| 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 16 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 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. Put your imaginations to work and patent something anything and then charge everyone to do it. I am going to patent whining about high gas prices and then whenever someone complains about high gas prices I get a cash payout!!! |
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. Such a tragedy...but one less Nascar Fan...so it is sort of a wash.... |
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| November 3 |
November 4 |
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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 31 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 hill-climbing ability of the various automobiles. Spectators paid 50¢ each to attend the event. 50cents in 1900 was an astounding sum! A Stanley Steamer was $850 in 1910 so 50cents to $850 is like $1500 to a $25000 Montana Minivan. Would you pay $1500 to see a car show? |
1939 : The first air-conditioned car is displayed 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 device, 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 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. I remember a quote from some rich guy back before refrigeration...He said that things have a way of equalling out, take ice for example...the rich get it in the Summer and the Poor get it in the Winter! |
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| November 2 |
November 2 |
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| 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, 80 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 90-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 race on November 28. 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 68 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. Talk about taking the scenic route...The above item was sponsored by "Preparation H" |
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| November 1 |
November 1 |
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| 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 60 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. |
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 15,000,000 copies of the "Tin Lizzie" were sold in its 19 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 40hp. With prices starting at $460, nearly 5,000,000 Model As, in several body styles and a variety of colors, rolled onto to America's highways before production ended in early 1932. |
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