Subscribe to our Newsletter!

Tag: american

March 4, 1932 – Iconic custom car builder Ed “Big Daddy” Roth is born
4Mar By Automotive HistoryNo Comments
This Day

March 4, 1932 – Iconic custom car builder Ed “Big Daddy” Roth is born

Iconic American hot rod builder Ed “Big Daddy” Roth was born on this day in 1932 in Beverly Hills, California. Growing up, Roth attended Bell High School where he took auto shop and art classes. Both played key roles in a career that'd come to be filled with grotesque characterizations and one of a kind hot rods.  Above: Ed Roth at his home on San Feliciano Drive, in La Mirada,Ca 1987. By Paul Conroy, CC BY-SA 3.0Top: 1961 Beatnik Bandit by Sicnag CC BY 2.0 He first made a name for himself in the hot rod world by selling airbrushed “Weirdo” t-shirts at car shows and out of Car Craft magazine in the late 1950s. In 1959 he opened a hot rod shop in Maywood, California. The next year he had one of his custom cars, The Outlaw, featured in Car Craft and Rod and Custom magazines. ...
Read More
November 2, 1935 – The Coffin Nose Cord debuts
2Nov By Automotive HistoryNo Comments
This Day

November 2, 1935 – The Coffin Nose Cord debuts

1936 Cord 810 Phaeton by Cliff. CC BY 2.0 The Cord 810 was introduced by the Cord Automobile division of the Auburn Automobile Company at the National Automobile Show in New York City on this day in 1935. The luxurious vehicle was the first mass produced American front wheel drive car with independent front suspension. The earlier Cord L-29 was also FWD, as was the 1934 Citroën Traction Avant. The 810, and later 812, were the first production cars to feature hidden headlights. They were offered through the 1937 model year with supercharged and non supercharged versions. The vehicle's interesting front end earned it the nickname coffin nose Cord. Cord 812 (the Coffin Nose Cord). By Tasha Carl - CC BY 3.0 Gordon Buehrig originally designed the Cord 810 as a Duesenberg, but ultima...
Read More
November 1, 1955 – Studebaker Hawk line is introduced
1Nov By Automotive HistoryNo Comments
This Day

November 1, 1955 – Studebaker Hawk line is introduced

Studebaker introduced the Hawk on this day in 1955 for the 1956 model year. Described as a "family sports car," the line included the Golden Hawk, Sky Hawk, Power Hawk, and Flight Hawk, the lowest priced model. The Hawk cars, which succeeded the Studebaker Speedster, were all two door, four seat hardtops. In 1957 the line up consisted of only the Golden Hawk and the new Silver Hawk. The following year Packard released a one year only Hawk of its own. Above: 1956 Studebaker Hawk. By KarleHorn at German Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0. Top: 1961 Studebaker Hawk. By Liz West CC BY 2.0, In the late 1950s, Studebaker, along with many automakers, suffered from declining sales. This hardship resulted in the drop of the Golden Hawk for 1959, leaving only the Silver Hawk. In 1960 the name was r...
Read More
October 29, 1954 – The last true Hudson leaves the factory
29Oct By Automotive HistoryNo Comments
This Day

October 29, 1954 – The last true Hudson leaves the factory

1954 Hudson Jet The last true Hudson left the assembly line on this day in 1954 following the May 1, 1954 merger with Nash to form American Motors. The name Hudson would live on for three more production years as rebadged Nashes, the last of those leaving the factory on June 25, 1957. The first Hudson car factory. Mack and Beaufait Avenues, Detroit, 1909, The founding of Hudson occurred on February 20, 1909 by eight Detroit businessmen. They received financing for the company from Joseph L. Hudson, a department store entrepreneur, which led to the name. Hudson set a record for most cars sold in an automaker’s first full year of production at 4,508, putting it in 17th place in the industry for sales at the time. A high placement considering the huge number of automakers in busines...
Read More
October 26, 1909 – General Motors buys Cartercar
26Oct By Automotive HistoryNo Comments
This Day

October 26, 1909 – General Motors buys Cartercar

Byron Carter founded Cartercar in Jackson, Michigan in 1905, but moved the company moved to Detroit the following year. He again shifted locations, settling in Pontiac, Michigan in 1907, where production would remain through the life of the brand, even after General Motors purchased in on this day in 1909. 1906 Cartercar advertisement General Motors buys Cartercar as sales slump At the time of its acquisition by GM, Cartercar was slowly but surely increasing its sales numbers annually. In 1906 the company sold 101 vehicles, jumping to 325 in 1907. William Durant, founder of GM, said people advised him not to purchase Cartercar, but he had his reasons. He said of the deal, "They say I shouldn't have bought Cartercar. Well, how was anyone to know that Carter wasn't to be the thing?...
Read More
October 20, 1902 – The first Cadillac is completed, maybe…
20Oct By Automotive History26 Comments
This Day

October 20, 1902 – The first Cadillac is completed, maybe…

According to the book “Henry Leland - Master of Precision,” the final assembly of the first Cadillac took place on this day in 1902, however this date is disputed. Another source points to October 17 as the day the first car reached completion. One account states car number three left the factory on October 16 of that year. So, with that in mind, on, or around, this date in 1902, the first Cadillac rolled out of the plant. The Founding of Cadillac Henry Leland bred Cadillac from the failed Henry Ford Company, Henry's second attempt at starting an automobile business. Ultimately, Henry Ford disembarked the company due to a dispute with his investors over production plans. The dying company's financial backers called upon Leland, a Detroit engineer, to appraise the Ford manufactur...
Read More
October 27, 1957 – Buck Baker becomes first consecutive NASCAR champion
27Oct By Automotive HistoryNo Comments
This Day

October 27, 1957 – Buck Baker becomes first consecutive NASCAR champion

Buck Baker with this Black Widow Chevy The 1957 NASCAR season was capped off by a dramatic 250 lap race on this day in 1957. The action unfolded on the ⅓ mile dirt track in Greensboro, North Carolina, with theatrics beginning on lap 35. During that spin around the track, an accident sent Marvin Panch end over end in his Ford. His car landed on its wheels and he kept going! After 16 more laps before finally called it quits. The crashes kept coming, making for a slow march to the finish for the The 2,500 fans shivering in the grandstands. Those who stuck it out in the chilly temperatures were treated to a high octane duel. Elzie Wylie “Buck” Baker Sr., in his Black Widow 1957 Chevrolet, and Lee Petty, in his Oldsmobile, swapped the lead four times throughout the race. Finally, on lap...
Read More
September 7, 1896 -“Get a Horse!”
7Sep By Automotive HistoryNo Comments
This Day

September 7, 1896 -“Get a Horse!”

The start of the race When the first auto race to take place on an American race track began on this day in 1896 it started so slow that spectators were shouting, "Get a horse!" The race, sponsored by automobile manufacturers hoping to attract new buyers, took place at the Narragansett Trotting Park in Cranston, Rhode Island. It marked the first time a US auto race was held on a track, opposed to on public streets. Narragansett was a one mile-long dirt oval track at the state fairgrounds that was generally reserved for horse racing. But on this day seven cars took the field to participate in the five lap “Providence Horseless Carriage Race.” After the trot of a start more than 60,000 spectators became wooed as they watched as a Riker Electric complete the five lap race first, averaging...
Read More
Dusty & Rusty – Halloween special – 1964 Chevrolet C10 Panel Truck
27Oct By Automotive HistoryNo Comments
Dusty & Rusty

Dusty & Rusty – Halloween special – 1964 Chevrolet C10 Panel Truck

Tired of the same ole haunted houses for Halloween? Maybe try this haunted AF truck! For only $575 you can snag this creepy-not-so-crawly 1964 Chevrolet panel truck out of Jackson, Mississippi, which may or may not be the inspiration for Stephen King’s next novel. This windowless Suburban is perfect for your next chainsaw massacre!  Now that the pitch is out of the way, let’s dive in.This non-running and ghoulish rig is said to be all there, just in poor shape. I’d say the seller pretty much nailed that description, and it’s basically the only thoughts given by them. So, for just over half a grand, would you put a skeleton in the driver’s seat and call Halloween a success? When the holiday is over this could make for an interesting winter project. Probably a few winters hon...
Read More
October 23,1911 – A spot of English T
23Oct By Automotive HistoryNo Comments
This Day

October 23,1911 – A spot of English T

The Ford Motor Company began intercontinental production on this day in 1911 when the first Model Ts left a factory in Trafford Park, Manchester, England, the first Ford assembly plant outside of North America. Three years after production started here, Britain’s first moving assembly line was installed at the plant, allowing the factory to pump out more than 20 vehicles per hour. Exterior of Trafford Park plant An expansion of the plant after World War I significantly increased production. By the beginning of the 1920s 41 percent of all registered cars in Britain were Fords. To further improve production numbers a plant with better access to a deep water port was ordered by Henry Ford. This new manufacturing building was completed on the River Thames in Dagenham in 1923. Ford stil...
Read More

This Day in Automotive History is a transportation history, car history and general automotive history website dedicated to providing informative and entertaining content. Our goal is to enlighten our readers by producing and publishing automotive content on a wide range of topics, including famous cars, important automotive inventors and engineers and other historic automobile related events, places and people. We encourage you to share our page and connect with us on Facebook or sign up for our automotive history newsletter at the top of this page. If you have any questions about the content we publish, including our car videos and car history pictures and text and the use of them, please don’t hesitate to contact us using the below email address. On occasion we post classic cars for sale from Craigslist, Facebook and other online marketplaces. We utilize imagery from those ads in a fair use fashion. This includes barn finds for sale, muscle cars for sale, vans for sale, station wagons for sale, trucks for sale and other affordable old cars for sale. If you’d like your car featured, reach out to us!

Facebook Twitter Instagram

Contact Us

©2022 Cars & Copy Media Co.

This Day in Automotive History is product of Spare Change Multimedia LLC, DBA Cars & Copy Inc.

Proud Member of the Port Gardner Vintage Auto Club
Click the Logo to Read Our Privacy Policy

If you learned something today,

please buy me a beer!