February 19, 1954 – Ford Thunderbird concept is completed
Ford Motor Company knew it needed a response, and fast, when Chevrolet rolled out the Corvette prototype in January 1953. The concept for its Thunderbird was born the very next month. From idea to rolling reality in just one year, the Ford Thunderbird prototype was finished on this day
February 18, 2001 – Dale Earnhardt Sr. dies at Daytona
NASCAR superstar Dale Earnhardt Sr. was killed in an accident on the final lap of the Daytona 500 on this day in 2001. It was a three car crash at Daytona that sent Earnhardt’s #3 car into the outside wall head on. An autopsy revealed he had died instantly
February 17, 1972 – VW Beetle outsells Ford Model T
Introduced in 1908, the Ford Model T held the record for the best selling car of all time for the 45 years following the end of its production in 1927. That record was finally overtaken on this day in 1972 when the 15,007,034th Volkswagen Type 1 Beetle left the
February 16, 1843 – Henry Leland, founder of Cadillac & Lincoln, is born
Henry Leland, founder of Cadillac and Lincoln, was born on this day in 1843. He began his professional engineering career in the firearms industry, including time spent at Colt. His exceptional eye for toolmaking, manufacturing and parts interchangeability resulted in a partnership with Robert Faulconer, and the two founded
February 15, 2002 – The Last Plymouth Prowler
In 1993, as a followup to the Dodge Viper, Chrysler rolled out the Plymouth Prowler concept car. With a design influenced in part by famed hot rod builder Chip Foose, the car received enough consumer attention that it was put into production in 1997. The first production Prowlers featured
February 14, 1867 – The patriarch of Toyota is born
Sakichi Toyoda, the “King of Japanese Inventors” and patriarch of Toyota, was born on this day in 1867 in Kosai, Shizuoka, Japan. Early in his career Toyoda invented a variety of weaving machines, including the automatic power loom, leading him to found Toyoda Automatic Loom Works. By the late
February 13, 1958 – The four seat Ford Thunderbird debuts
The Ford Thunderbird was introduced as a two seat model in 1955 to compete with the Chevrolet Corvette, which hit the market just two years earlier. However, the Baby Bird, as the first generation of T-Birds have come to be known, was marketed not as a sports car, but
February 12, 2014 – Sinkhole swallows Corvettes at museum
The Chevrolet Corvette has been built in at GM’s Bowling Green Assembly Plant in Kentucky since 1991. Just a quarter of a mile away from the plant is the National Corvette Museum, home to some of the most rare and iconic Corvettes ever built. It was there, on this