1902 – Mercedes Name Officially Registered
The name Mercédès became more than a racing pet name on 26 September 1902 when the Imperial Patent Office legally registered it as a trade name. Emil Jellinek had commissioned the breakthrough Mercedes 35 hp racing car and insisted the new model be marketed under his daughter’s given name, Mercédès; Daimler‑Motoren‑Gesellschaft filed for the trademark earlier that summer and saw it protected that September. From that point the Mercédès signature moved from a bespoke racing identity into the firm’s commercial vocabulary, giving Daimler a distinct model name to use on road and race cars alike — a decisive step in early automotive branding and model differentiation.
1909 – Birth of NASCAR Founder Bill France Sr.
William Henry Getty ‘Bill’ France Sr. was born on September 26, 1909, and would go on to reshape American stock‑car racing by founding NASCAR in 1948. France combined a promoter’s instincts with hands‑on knowledge of racing venues and drivers to create an organization that standardized rules and schedules across regional events, turning a loose patchwork of races into a national circuit. His role as NASCAR’s first president established the governing structure that guided stock‑car competition through its early professional era, setting the scene for the sport’s postwar growth and its emergence as a fixture of American motorsports culture.
1957 – Vespa 400 Makes Its Public Debut in Monaco
ACMA staged a high‑profile press presentation in Monaco on 26 September 1957 to unveil the Vespa 400, the tiny two‑seat microcar built under license from Piaggio. The little coupe, powered by a rear‑mounted two‑stroke engine, was touted for exceptional fuel economy — contemporary reports cited figures that caught attention — and the Monaco debut, attended by prominent racing drivers, aimed to give the scooter maker a glamorous lift before the Vespa 400’s public showing at the Paris Motor Show a few weeks later. The launch signaled the period’s appetite for compact, economical urban transport after the constraints of the postwar decade.
1967 – 1968 AMC Javelin Hits Dealerships
Buyers saw the first 1968 AMC Javelins offered for sale at dealerships beginning September 26, 1967, after AMC formally announced the new pony car the previous month. AMC priced the base Javelin at roughly $2,743 and positioned it to compete with Ford’s Mustang and Chevrolet’s Camaro with long‑hood, short‑deck styling and sporty handling cues. Under the sheetmetal, buyers could choose a range of engines and options tailored to performance buyers, and the early dealer deliveries marked AMC’s entry into the fast‑growing personal‑car performance market of the late 1960s.
1982 – Knight Rider Premieres with K.I.T.T.
The two‑hour pilot ‘Knight of the Phoenix’ introduced viewers to a talking, turbocharged crimefighter on wheels when it premiered on NBC on September 26, 1982. David Hasselhoff’s character partnered with K.I.T.T., a highly modified 1982 Pontiac Trans Am fitted with voice circuitry, a futuristic dashboard array and defensive systems that were central to the show’s appeal. Knight Rider ran as a prime‑time series through 1986, but that first broadcast planted the image of a sentient performance car in popular culture and turned the Trans Am into an instantly recognizable symbol of 1980s television technology fantasy.
