This Day in Automotive History: November 12

1908 – General Motors Acquires Olds Motor Works

When William C. Durant folded Olds Motor Works into General Motors on November 12, 1908, he added one of the era’s best-known names into what was still a newborn corporate collection. The deal—often cited in manufacturer histories—brought Oldsmobile under GM control just months after Durant founded the company, joining Buick and other acquisitions that created GM’s early network of marques. Olds’ established production and model line gave Durant immediate product breadth as he pursued the rapid consolidation strategy that defined the first decade of the American auto industry. Bringing Oldsmobile into the fold helped shape GM’s development into a multi‑brand manufacturer.

1914 – Birth of Racing Driver Peter Whitehead

Peter N. Whitehead was born in Menston, Yorkshire, on November 12, 1914, and became one of Britain’s versatile pre‑ and postwar racers. He scored headline victories such as the 1938 Australian Grand Prix behind the wheel of ERA machinery, and later in his career co‑drove to overall victory at the 1951 24 Hours of Le Mans. Whitehead campaigned a wide variety of cars from single‑seat racers to sports cars through the 1930s–1950s, and his name appears regularly in contemporary entry lists and result books. He continued to race until his death in a crash on 21 September 1958.

1979 – U.S. Stops Importing Iranian Oil

President Jimmy Carter used Proclamation 4702 on November 12, 1979, to order a halt to U.S. imports of crude oil and petroleum products from Iran, a direct response to disruptions tied to the hostage crisis. The proclamation, recorded in the Federal Register and summarized in contemporary accounts, was part of the U.S. government’s economic measures against Iran at the time. By cutting imports through formal proclamation, the administration aimed to signal a policy line while relying on legal proclamation authority recorded in government documents and press reports the following day.

1998 – Chrysler Becomes DaimlerChrysler Subsidiary

The corporate paperwork that consummated the high‑profile tie-up was completed on November 12, 1998, when Chrysler formally became a wholly owned subsidiary of the newly formed DaimlerChrysler AG. Regulatory filings and Daimler’s own 1998 company history record that the company‑law steps effecting the merger took place on that date, after months of negotiation. The closing transformed Chrysler’s legal status overnight, making it part of a German‑American automotive group and setting the stage for the combined entity’s global share issuance and subsequent trading later that month.

2017 – Debut of the 2019 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1

Chevrolet pulled the wraps off the 2019 Corvette ZR1 on November 12, 2017, introducing a radically aggressive Corvette billed as the marque’s most powerful production car to date. Revealed in a global introduction timed with the Dubai International Motor Show, the ZR1 packed a supercharged V8 rated at 755 horsepower and a host of aerodynamic and cooling upgrades aimed squarely at high‑speed track performance. Chevrolet’s materials that day emphasized the ZR1’s combination of raw power and track hardware, positioning it as the pinnacle of the Corvette lineup for the 2019 model year.