December 10, 1915 – 1,000,000 Fords
On this day in 1915 the 1,000,000th Ford ever produced rolled out of the River Rouge factory in Detroit. That year Ford produced a total of 308,162 vehicles with its base model, the Runabout, selling for $390. The next year, production increased by nearly 200,000 units and the price
December 9 1920 – Italian moto champion Bruno Ruffo is born
Italian motorcycle racer Bruno Ruffo was born on this day in 1920. In 1949 he would win the innaugural 250cc World Championship while riding for Moto Guzzi. The next year he would take third in the class, but he claimed the factory asked him to let his teammate win.
December 8, 1981 – Mitsubishi lands in America
In 1971 Chrysler Corporation purchased 15 percent of Mitsubishi, allowing the Japanese company to sell the Mitsubishi Galant as a rebadged Dodge Colt in order to compete in the growing small car market in the US. Less than a decade later Chrysler was bleeding financially and Mitsubishi was not
December 7, 1979 – The Last MG Midget
On this day in 1979 the final MG Midget rolled off the assembly line. The car was first introduced in 1961 as a more spendy badge-engineered Austin-Healey Sprite. It had identical mechanicals as the Sprite, but in 1962 the 948cc engine was upgraded to 1098cc. The car would go
December 6, 1976 – Kitty O’Neil sets a land speed record
Alvord Desert in the state of Oregon hosted Kitty O’Neil and her team as she chased the women’s land speed record on this day in 1976. Kitty was working a stuntwoman when she met Bill Fredrick, a stunt technology maker, who built the SMI Motivator, the car which she
December 5, 1977 – The first FWD car from Chrysler
The first mass produced front wheel drive cars from the Chrysler Corporation, the Dodge Omni and Plymouth Horizon, were introduced on this day in 1977. Not only were they the first front wheel drive vehicles produced in large quantities from Chrysler, they are among the first from any American
December 4, 1915 – Henry Ford sets sail to end WWI on “Peace Ship”
Henry Ford had a history of supporting unusual causes, often in even more unusual ways. Perhaps no attempted feat was more widely mocked than his World War I peace ship, an amateur attempt at ending the fighting in Europe. Henry Ford chartered the ocean liner Oscar II and invited
December 3, 1979 – The last AMC Pacer
The 1970s gas crisis forced many automakers to rethink their production lineup. By the middle of the decade consumers were less interested in style and power and more focused on value and fuel efficiency. To answer the cries of the people AMC introduced the Pacer. When it debuted in