1187 replies to this topic

[rdrcr]

I thought that this would be a fitting TNF topic and a great on-going thread for special occurrences that happened on "This Day In Motorsports History". Also included in the dates, are Non-Racing Related items that may be of interest.

Here is an index for navagating this thread:

Note: In some cases, the links will only get you close to the indicated date - discussions within the thread often took the desired page of the link past its target. Thank you for your understanding.

December 17th - December 24th

December 25th - January 1st

January 2nd - January 9th

January 10th - January 17th

January 18th -January 25th

January 26th - February 3rd

February 4th - February 12th

February 13th - February 20th

February 21st - February 28th

March 1st - March 8th

March 9th - March 16th

March 17th - March 24th

March 25th - April 1st

April 2nd - April 9th

April 10th - April 17th

April 18th - April 25th

April 26th - May 2nd

May 3rd - May 10th

May 11th - May 18th

May 19th - May 26th

May 27th - June 3rd

June 4th - June 11th

June 12th - June 19th

June 26th - July 3rd

July 4th - July 11th

July 12th - July 19th

July 20th - July 27th

July 28th - August 4th

August 5th - August 12th

August 13th - August 20th

August 21st - August 28th

August 29th - September 5th

September 6th - September 13th

September 14th - September 21st

September 22nd - September 29th

September 30th - October 6th

October 7th - October 14th

October 15th - October 22nd

October 23rd - October 30th

October 31st - November 6th

November 7th - November 14th

November 15th- November 22nd

November 23rd - November 30th

December 1st - December 8th

December 9th - December 16th



On this day December 17,

1909, The second race at the Indianpolis Motor Speedway, and the first to take place on the brick surface. Really, In the snow? Or, it must have been in between storms...

1917, Grand Prix driver, Ludwig Fischer was born in Germany.

1950, Jim Derhaag was born.

1968, CART racer Paul Tracy was born in Canada.

1979, Driver Stan Barrett became the first person in the world to travel faster than sound on land. He drove the Budweiser Rocket car at a top speed of 739.666 in a one-way run at Rogers Dry Lake, California. The ultrasonic speed set an unofficial record, but an official record requires trips in both directions, whose speeds are averaged.

1999, NASCAR great Dale Earnhardt undergoes back surgery to remove a ruptured disk at University Medical Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA.

1999, The Indianapolis 500 car owner and builder Grant King died from injuries in a traffic accident near his Danville, Ind., home. King, 67, disregarded a stop sign and pulled into the path of a pickup truck about 9:15 a.m. Friday, Indiana State Police said. King's pickup truck struck a fence and flipped several times. He was taken to a Danville hospital where he later died.

King was a familiar face in the Indianapolis racing community. From 1964 through the early 1980s, he was either the owner, chief mechanic or builder of dozens of Indy 500 cars.

But his influence in the racing community ended when the FBI began investigating his business as part of a two-state stolen-car ring. He pleaded guilty in November 1990 to four federal charges related to auto theft and the sale of stolen cars.


Non-Racing Related:

1903, Controlled, powered flight had seemed impossible until Orville Wright took off on the 17th December 1903. The key to the Wright Brother's success was that their engineering had gone beyond the trial and error methods of their contemporaries. Having only very limited resources they showed great scientific ingenuity. 2003 marks the 100th anniversary of this event!

1963, The U.S. Congress passed the Clean Air Act, a sweeping set of laws designed to protect the environment from air pollution. It was the first legislation to place pollution controls on the automobile industry.

[wingsbgone]

rdrcr-
Great to have this anniversery recalled. I've been an LSR fan since Craig Breedlove started thinking outside the box.
Not that there's not a fair amount of controversy surrounding the ultimate speed and the "supersonic" claim of the Budwieser Rocket run. Too bad Hal N. couldn't pull together a more organized/corraborated attempt.
If nothing else, it was a VERY fast run. And took unimaginable ba&&s to actually get into the thing. I actually have a video of the run and an interview with him describing it. Very spooky to see both deep fear mixed with exhilaration. I believe he even mentioned he didn't like to think about, cuz he really wanted to have that feeling again.
Too bad that sort of lunacy will never be repeated....

[Don Capps]

Here is one that sort of fits.... http://www.atlasf1.c...&threadid=51217

[rdrcr]

[Barry Lake]

Am I missing something here? I don't understand the last two posts. Went to that thread, couldn't see any relevance.

[rdrcr]

December 18,

1898, Another land speed record, albeit much earlier... Count Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat set the world's first official land speed record in Acheres Park near Paris: 39.245 miles per hour in his Jeantaud automobile, powered by an electric motor and alkaline batteries. The Jeantaud is widely believed to be the first automobile steered by a modern steering wheel rather than a tiller.

1909, The first races held on the newly repaved (with 3,200,000 bricks replacing crushed stone and tar) Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

1955, NASCAR Winston Cup driver Ted Musgrave was born.

1991, Grand Prix driver, George Abecassis died. Abecassis began racing in 1935 in a modified Austin Seven but really made a name for himself in English club racing during the 1938 and 1939 seasons with an Alta. When war broke out Abecassis joined the Royal Air Force and became an experienced pilot, ultimately becoming a member of the secret Moon Squadrons, ferrying secret agents in and out of France with Lysander aircraft.

After the war, he went back to racing initially with prewar machinery but then became a partner with John Heath in HW Motors Ltd. This organization built an HW-Alta which became known as the HWM and it was these cars that Abecassis raced in his two Grands Prix. He was more successful as a sportscar driver with Aston Martin and won his class at Le Mans in 1950, sharing with Lance Macklin. He also finished second in Sebring 12 Hours in 1953, partnered by Reg Parnell.

In 1956, Heath was killed in an accident on the Mille Miglia and Abecassis retired from racing and turned his attention to running the HWM operations. He was also the Facel Vega importer for Britain, while his motor industry connections were aided by the fact that he was married to the daughter of Aston Martin chairman Sir David Brown.

[fines]

... and, I believe, it was his every-day car to boot!

[Ray Bell]

Was he late for work that day then?

Or rushing to get to the shops before they shut?

[Barry Lake]

Originally posted by rdrcr
December 18, 1898

The Jeantaud is widely believed to be the first automobile steered by a modern steering wheel rather than a tiller.

Widely believed, perhaps, but not necessarily true.

I went into this "first steering wheel" thing once and found it wasn't as clear cut as some would like to think. Possible inaccurate dating of photos in some books (as well as the possibility of some early cars being converted to wheel steering and photographed at a later date) might have added to the confusion. But, as with all claimed "firsts" there is plenty of reason to doubt the claim - and there also is the possibility that the REAL first might never be known.

Does anyone have any good information on this?

[Barry Lake]

19 December 1922, Onofre Marimon, 1950s GP driver was born.


rdcr, You do realise this will be much harder than the "numbers game" thread, don't you?

But a lot more productive, I suspect, if you can keep it going.

[rdrcr]

Barry,

Yeah, I figured it would be kind of tough, especially in the winter months, but then I thought of those members from down under, who should chime in with all sorts of automotive facts and trivia for those hard-to-come-up-with-something days.

Difficult as it might be, I think we're all up to the task... It should prompt some interesting discussion as you've just demonstrated; about the first steering wheel to be implemented on an automobile.

I won't portray that bit as fact, just as an aside to the speed-record run of the Jeantaud.

[Bernd]

Originally posted by Barry Lake
I went into this "first steering wheel" thing once and found it wasn't as clear cut as some would like to think

After studying Ancient and Modern History, I came to the conclusion that the simplest matters like this are never clear cut.

[rdrcr]

December 19,

1923, Grand Prix driver, Onofre Marimon was born in Argentina.

1961, Birth of F3000 driver, Claude-Yves Gosselin in Caen, Frnace.

1962, Birth of FIA GT driver, Henrik Roos in Stockholm, Sweden.

1967, The first Matra 3-liter V12 engine comes to life on a test-bench at Saclay.

1969, Birth of F3000 Driver Akira Iida in Kanagawa, Japan.

1969, Birth of F3000 Driver Christophe Tinseau in Nouan-le-Fuzelier, France.

1994, USAC driver, Henry Banks died in Indianapolis, Indiana. (3 Indy Races 1950-1952)

1999, Ferdinand Porsche, designer of Auto Union Grand Prix racers and the original Volkswagen, is honored as the Car Engineer of the Century.


Non-Racing Related:

1924 A Famous Ghost Vanishes - The last Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost manufactured in England was sold in London. The Silver Ghost, a custom touring car, was introduced in 1906, and was called by some the "Best Car in the World." The Silver Ghost was followed by the Twenty, the Phantom, the Silver Cloud, the Silver Shadow, and the Silver Wraith.

1994, A German Under the Hood - Great Britain's prestigious Rolls-Royce, a luxury automobile maker, announced that its future cars would feature 12-cylinder motors manufactured by Germany's BMW. It was an ironic change; in earlier years, Rolls-Royce made a name for itself in automobile and aircraft engines.

[Prostfan]

19 December 1924: Carlo Chiti born in Pistoia

[Barry Lake]

Originally posted by Prostfan
19 December 1924: Carlo Chiti born in Pistoia

How reliable is your source on this?

I have 29 December 1924 - although from a source that has been unreliable in the past.

[rdrcr]

I have this to support the December 19th DoB for Mr. Chiti.

[rdrcr]

December 20

1868, Birth of Harvey Samuel Firestone in Columbiana County, Ohio.

1911, AAA and Grand Prix driver at Indy, Walt Brown was born in the USA.

1959, CART and IRL driver, Scott Goodyear, was born in Toronto, Canada.

1965, Birth of F3000 driver, Guido Knycz.

1968, F1 and sportscar driver, Karl Wendlinger was born in Germany.

1968, F3000 and touring sedan driver, Phil Andrews was born in England.

[Barry Lake]

Originally posted by rdrcr


I have this to support the December 19th DoB for Mr. Chiti.

On the face of it that's a better source than mine, but even the knowledgeable and conscientious can hit the wrong key...

I have a couple of books on Chiti, but not readily accessible until I move to larger premises - not easy to do at the peak of an insane real estate boom.

[eldougo]

quote:Barry Lake
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


I have a couple of books on Chiti, but not readily accessible until I move to larger premises - not easy to do at the peak of an insane real estate boom.


don,t move

[Milan Fistonic]

Originally posted by Prostfan
19 December 1924: Carlo Chiti born in Pistoia

Doug Nye in the book Grand Prix has Chiti's birth date as 29 December 1924.

[Barry Boor]

I think the "born on this day" or "died on this day" options should only be used as fall backs in the event of no actual motor sporting event taking place, otherwise this will degenerate into a long list of birthdays.....

[rdrcr]

Originally posted by Barry Boor
I think the "born on this day" or "died on this day" options should only be used as fall backs in the event of no actual motor sporting event taking place, otherwise this will degenerate into a long list of birthdays.....

Agreed, as I could find no other significant motorsports history on December 20th, is why I resorted to the B'days...

December 21,

1921, Birth of F1 driver, Karl-Günther Bechem (alias Bernd Nacke) in Hagen, Germany.

1935, Grand Prix driver, Lorenso Bandini was born in Italy.

1956, An order is placed for a Porsche 356A, which ends up being chassis 100017, a car Jim Clark will later race.

1965, Hertz Rent-A-Car orders 800 Mustang GT350Hs, their second order of these cars from Shelby American.

1992, Ayrton Senna tested a Penske Indycar at Firebird International Raceway in Phoenix, Arizona.

[byrkus]

Originally posted by rdrcr
December 21, 1956 An order is placed for a Porsche 956A, which ends up being chassis 100017, a car Jim Clark will later race.

Wow, Jim Clark raced Porsche 956 30 years before anybody else...

I believe it should be 356.;)

[Gary C]

it's the Black & Gold for me, every time!!

[rdrcr]

Originally posted by byrkus


Wow, Jim Clark raced Porsche 956 30 years before anybody else...

I believe it should be 356.;)

Thanks...

Originally posted by Gary C
it's the Black & Gold for me, every time!!

Yeah, those were some pretty nice cars... IIRC, they had the 3/4 glass side windows instead of the louvers.

[rdrcr]

December 22nd,

1897, Austrian businessman Emil Jellinek, travelled from his home in Nice, France to purchase a car from the Daimler factory in Cannstatt, Germany. On his return to the French Riviera, his sporting Daimler Phoenix caused such a sensation that he decided to enter it into a local touring competition, under the name of "Mercedes" after his 9 year old daughter. Realising the business potential for the new car, he not only placed an order for 36 more, but also secured the franchise for selling them in several countries. Gottlieb Daimler also agreed to having them sold under the name of "Mercedes."

After Daimler's death, the Mercedes trade name was registered on 1900 and the 3-pointed star became the trademark. Daimler had once drawn the emblem on a postcard to his wife, the star symbolising the growth of the business into transport on land, sea and air.

1905, Sports car and Grand Prix driver, Pierre Levegh was born in France.

1934, Birth of NASCAR driver, David Pearson in Whitney, South Carolina. (addition by fvebr)

1938, Birth of USAC driver Bob Lazier.

Non-Racing Related:

1888, Felix Millet received a patent for a 'Gasoline Bicycle' - named 'Soleil' (Sun). It had an extraordinary 5 rotative cylinder engine disposed inside the rear wheel and developed 2/3 Hp and could reach 55 Kph (34 Mph). It was proposed for commercial use and road racing.

1937, The Lincoln Tunnel in NYC opened to traffic. (addition by fvebr)

1964, The Lockheed SR-71 spy aircraft reached 3,530 kph (a record for a jet) (addition by fvebr)

[Barry Lake]

Pleased to see you've come back to using past tense, rdcr, unlike the 21 December post, which repeated the presumably cut and pasted present tense from Motorsport.com. Call me pedantic if you like, but I fail to see how on December 21, 1956, an order is placed for a Porsche 356A...

Does that mean the order is placed on a regular basis every time 21 December 1956 rolls around?

I know it is common usage for these "On this day" columns and web sites, but that doesn't make it right, and I've never been able to understand the logic of it.

Keep up the good work. I love this information.

[Barry Lake]

Originally posted by rdrcr
After Daimler's death, the Mercedes trade name was registered on December 22nd, 1900 and the 3-pointed star became the trade mark.

Funny... for this date, I have, "The first Mercedes car was shipped to Emile Jellinek in Nice..."

The source? "Karl Ludvigsen, The Nostalgia Forum"

[rdrcr]

Originally posted by Barry Lake


Funny... for this date, I have, "The first Mercedes car was shipped to Emile Jellinek in Nice..."

The source? "Karl Ludvigsen, The Nostalgia Forum"

Yeah, I've seen that too, here and elsewhere but I've also seen the date used (this one from DYK) for the registration as well... I also saw the date being provided as the 1st Mercedes produced and one, citing Jellinek as the designer.

EDIT... so, I went to the MB site and found the last word ... as it turns out, you and Karl were correct. I'm not the least bit suprised.

Hey, I just try to come up with "stuff", now, I'm taken to task to prove it all! Thanks!



On December 23

1956, F1 and Sports car driver, Michele Alboreto was born in Italy.

1962, F1 driver, Bertand Gachot was born in Belgium.

1969, Birth of F3 driver, Gianantonio Pacchioni (Won twice, the Monaco F3 race 1993-1995). (Addition by fvebr)

1969, Birth of NASCAR driver, Greg Biffle in Vancouver, Washington. (Addition by fvebr)

1971, Birth of F3000 driver, Gregoire de Galzain in Versailles, France. (Addition by fvebr)

1971, Alessandro Cagno died. He began to race at the age of eighteen, placing second on the Belgian circuit of Ardennes in 1902. He won the climb race of Susa - Mont Cenis in 1904. He finished in third position at the hillclimb at Mont Ventoux in 1905 driving a Gordon Bennett. In 1906 he took part at the first edition of the Targa Florio winning the race while driving a Fab Auto Itala SA.

Cagno was also a flying enthusiast, and he designed and tested aircraft, founding Italy's first flying school in Pordenone. He volunteered to fight in the war in Libya, and built the first bomber aircraft.

In 1912, he returned to Fiat as Chief Tester of racing cars and General motor vehicle Tester. During the war he ran the General Testing Office for the Italian and French armies. After the war he returned to racing and concluded his career in 1923, leading the Fiat team to victory in the Leningrad-Tiblisi-Moscow race. He then continued to collaborate with Fiat as a test driver and dealer.

1985, Grand Prix and Sports car driver, Prince Bira Bhanuban died. Birabongse Bhanuban of Thailand was born in 1914 and educated at Eton and Cambridge. He was very artistic and was studying sculpture in London at the same time racing a Riley and later an M.G. Magnette with only modest success. His cousin Prince Chula who managed his racing team, bought him the E.R.A. R2B which was later called Romulus, for his 21st birthday and on his first outing he was second at Dieppe in the 1,500 c.c. race behind Pat Fairfield. A second E.R.A followed and then a third which were named Remus and Hanuman, but the most successful of the three was Romulus.

Bira later bought one of the Whitney Straight 8CM 2.9 litre Maseratis and a sports Delahaye which was stripped of its road gear and used for racing at Brooklands. Chula also bought the 1.5 litre Delages which were very complex and difficult cars but had no success with them.

Bira was a very fast driver who won many races under very competitive conditions, one of his most exciting victories being in the 1936 Brooklands International Trophy when after being chased for eight laps by Raymond Mays who was pushing his car to the limit and catching Bira at two seconds a lap, he was overtaken at the rim of the Banking only to dive out of Mays’ slipstream as they plunged off the Byfleet Banking on to the Finishing Straight to beat Mays over the line by one second at 91.00 m.p.h. Both were driving 1½ litre E.R.A.s. Bira and Chula left the track in their car for London and 1½ hours later was on the air at the B.B.C. recounting his tale.

One of Bira’s other great Brooklands achievements was to win the first race on the Malcolm Campbell circuit when it was opened on 1st May 1937, in the 2.9 litre Maserati beating Rayson in a 1,496 c.c. Maserati by 2 minutes 36.8 seconds after a 3 hour. 16 minute. 52 seconds drive. This win followed a very close duel with Earl Howe who momentarily lost concentration after overtaking Bira in his E.R.A. R.8.B. and crashed heavily breaking a wrist, shoulder and rib. The first E.R.A to finish was R.9.B. in fourth place driven by Denis Scribbans.

Bira went on to race into the fifties both at Le Mans and in Grands Prix , finally in a Maserati 250F which he eventually sold in 1955 when he retired.

He died of a sudden heart attack in the early sixties whilst standing on the platform of a London Underground tube station.

1993, The Ferrari 93a made its debut to the public.


Non-Racing Related:

1923, President Woodrow Wilson received a Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost Pall Mall touring car for his birthday. It was a gift from friends.

1986, Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager made the first around-the-world flight without refueling. (Addition by fvebr)

1997, Death of Toshiro Mifune, the Japanese actor who was featured as 'Mr. Yamura' in John Frankenbheimer's Movie, Grand-Prix. (Addition by fvebr)

[rdrcr]

December 24th,

1893, Henry Ford completed his first successful gasoline engine. He and his wife tested the engine in their kitchen. Ford's first automobile took its inaugural drive on June 4, 1896.

1941, F1 driver and creator of the TIGA racing cars, Howden Ganley was born in Hamilton, New Zealand.

1949, Sports car and one off F1 driver, Warwick Brown was born in Australia.

1960, Ralph Moody offered Fred Lorenzen a Ford factory stockcar ride.

2000, John Cooper, died at the age of 77.

The Cooper cars have a special place in the history of Grand Prix racing as the first constructor to win a race with a rear-engined car. The story begins in the immediate post war years when Charles Cooper and his son John were supporters of 500cc racing. As the car was chain driven it made sense to put the engine at the back, close to the rear axle. The cars were very successful and the Cooper Car Company was founded to build more.

The company quickly grew to dominate Formula 3 races but many people, including Cooper himself, doubted that the same principles could be applied to more potent machinery. In 1955 an experimental Cooper was run by Jack Brabham at the British Grand Prix with only limited success. Cooper was still more interested in Formula 2 and spent most of his time developing a rear-engined car to compete in the series. During 1957 a handful of larger versions were produced and ran in various Grands Prix, but with only 2-litre units onboard they failed to cause any serious damage.

For 1958 Rob Walker, the heir to the Johnny Walker whiskey fortune, managed to secure the services of Stirling Moss to run a Cooper in the Argentine race. In his little blue Coooper T51 Moss beat the Ferraris in what was the first World Championship victory by a rear-engined car. The next race in Monte Carlo brought Cooper another victory and although the cars were underpowered it became obvious that the rear-engined concept had merit.

For 1959 Cooper fielded the T51 with Jack Brabham at the wheel. Coupled with a 2.5-litre Coventry-Climax engine the car was finally competitive. Brabham won in Monaco and Britain, while his team-mate Bruce McLaren scored a stunning win at Sebring. Brabham got the driver's title and Cooper got the constructor's cup. 1960 saw more of the same with both Brabham and Cooper taking back-to-back titles as result of Brabham run of five wins.

Following seasons brought less success as Cooper's pioneering developments were copied and improved on by Ferrari, Lotus and BRM. Charles Cooper died in 1964 and with John suffering from the effects of a serious road accident, the team was sold to the Chipstead Group and later relocated to Byfleet. In the final years Cooper reintroduced the V12 Maserati engine but the writing was on the wall and they closed their doors for the last time at the end of 1968.

Non-Racing Related:

1801, One of the very earliest origins of powered mobility came in when Richard Trevithick drove a three-wheeled steam-powered vehicle up a hill in Camborne, Cornwall, England, carrying seven passengers. It was the first time the inventor had driven his steam-wagon, one of the first automobiles in history. Trevithick had invented a high-pressure steam engine which was lighter and more powerful than the low-pressure engine invented by James Watt. He adapted his improved engine to hoist loads in mines, drive locomotives and ships, and run rolling mills. Trevithick is sometimes called the "Father of the Steam Locomotive."

1903, The First English License Plate was issued. England issued its first automobile license plate, number A1. The plate was issued to Earl Russell, the brother of the philosopher Bertrand Russell.

[Ray Bell]

I'll bet on that last paragraph getting some comments...

[Barry Lake]

Originally posted by rdrcr


Hey, I just try to come up with "stuff", now, I'm taken to task to prove it all! Thanks!

No criticism of you, R2D2, just more reminders that there is a lot of crap published on the web by people so besotted with a chance at 15 minutes or more of fame via the www that they never bother to check their sources, nor their own typing/reading.

Don't take to heart any corrections/questions.

Keep it up; I, for one, am enjoying it.

[Barry Lake]

Originally posted by rdrcr


On December 23 1993, the Ferrari 93a made its debut to the public - From motorsport.com again.

Now don't get upset...

I went to Motorsport.com after you'd mentioned it as a source earlier and spotted this fairly obvious mistake.

Since the Ferrari F93A was the company's car for 1993 (ran for the first time at Kyalami 1 March 1993, I think) this is a fairly obvious mistake.

Could be mistaken, but I think the Motorsport.com info comes from the same source as that in Vintage Racecar magazine. They come up with some interesting stuff, but also make quite a few mistakes - some of them real "boomers".

[rdrcr]

nahhh... I'm not getting my nose all bent, because of the scrutiny... I'll just do the best I can with what I have to work with. (which in some cases ain't much).

I'll put them up, you can verify and debunk all you want, I won't take it personally. (notice the non-use of the after the "Thanks!" in my previous post - as I was sincere) I'm learning through doing.

Re: the Ferrari 93a matter. Could that debut, be an "unveiling" at a press announcement or other function? Or is it just flat wrong? I say this because you use the word "ran", not necessarily the same as "debut".

Don't you think it's in everyone's best interest that someone like you contact Motorsports.com and tell them of the errors? That way, one of the most hit sites would at least have their facts straight. Just a thought.

Ray, what part of the Cooper story would raise eyebrows?


December 25

1934, Grand Prix driver, Giancarlo Baghetti was born in Italy.

1943, F1 driver, Wilson Fittipaldi was born in Brazil.

1967, Derek Bell turned down an F3 offer from Chris Williams to go racing in F2.

1985, On Christmas Day, David Turner and Tim Pickhard arrived in John o' Groat's, Scotland, the northernmost point in Great Britain. They had set out four days earlier from Land's End, the southernmost point in Britain, in a battery-powered Freight Rover Leyland Sherpa driven by a Lucas electric motor. They traveled 875 miles on a single battery charge, completing the longest battery-powered drive in history.

Non-Racing Related:

1994, Pierre Dreyfus, Renault President between 1955-1975 passed away.

[rdrcr]

Originally posted by Ray Bell
I'll bet on that last paragraph getting some comments...

hmmm... would this be the reason?

Lotus Type 18 FJ in 1960.

[Ray Bell]

Why would that be questioned?

No, not the Lotus, it was merely a refinement of the Cooper type...

But surely there were other 'mid-engined' F1 cars... and also Indianapolis cars... prior to the Cooper efforts of 1955 and 1961 respectively?

[Vitesse2]

Dec 25th 1950-something. DSJ took a Lotus GP car for a spin round North Hampshire.

[Ray Bell]

As the clock rolls on past midnight and the calendar clicks over to the 26th December... we're in Boxing Day, which was once a traditional racing day... Brands Hatch used to hold meetings that attracted World Champions on this day.

Here in Australia it was the Hume Weir meeting that held sway for a long time, though I suspect only after Bright closed down... and it was on this day in 1964 that the driver of a Mini racing there had all eyes upon him.

John Harvey had been a star at the Speedway for a number of years, but now he was out of that and into road racing. Sponsored by R. C. Phillips Sports Car World, he had an Austin Mini Cooper S that would become as quick as any Mini in Australia in short order... ahead lay Australian titles in A?NF2 and Sports Cars and wins in Gold Star events, meritorious placings in Tasman Cup events...

Tragically, on the way to the circuit that day, on the Riverina Highway (part of which was once a leg of the Wirlinga-Thurgoona circuit pre-war) about three miles short of Hume Weir, Ron Phillips had the misfortune to come up behind a slow old Vanguard sedan. The driver of the Vanguard moved over to let the red Mercedes Benz 230SL go by, but kicked up a rock that smashed the windscreen of the Mercedes.

The Vanguard had travelled all night at very slow speeds, not more than about 35mph, from Sydney due to bearing rattle that threatened to put an end to the journey at any time. Down the larger hills the drivers, keen enthusiasts who frequently went to distant race meetings together, let it run in neutral and saw as high as 90mph on the speedometer.

These and other events formed motor racing history on this day, December 26, 1964.

[David Beard]

Originally posted by Vitesse2
Dec 25th 1950-something. DSJ took a Lotus GP car for a spin round North Hampshire.

The actual Lotus 12 DSJ drove lives near Adelaide these days, owned by Mike Bennett. He has a copy of the documentation that Jenks needed for the trade plates used. It has been the subject of some discussion by Simon Taylor in Classic & Sportscar of late.

It is written that the original intention was to use Bruce Halford's 250f, but it was in Italy for some work. Perhaps this would have got a little further without breaking down.

[Barry Lake]

Originally posted by rdrcr
[B]
Don't you think it's in everyone's best interest that someone like you contact Motorsports.com and tell them of the errors? That way, one of the most hit sites would at least have their facts straight.

I spend more time than I can afford informing people of mistakes on their web sites. I try to direct corrections to the serious sites. They are happy to have mistakes corrected and they put them right, post haste.

A bit of help with this massive proof-reading task would be greatly appreciated.

But what hope do we have of correcting the many bloopers on sites that have information like the following? They obviously don't have much of a grasp on the subject.

September 8
1960 Go, Speedracer, Go!
Aguri Suzuki, Japanese racing phenomenon, was born on this day. As a seven-time Formula 1 World Champion, he is one of the most successful Japanese race car drivers in history, a favorite of fans around the world. He began his winning career in the Japanese Kart Championship, but eventually moved on to Formula 1 racing. He is married with one son and enjoys ultra-light flying, golf, and water sports.

[dmj]

Damn! I always thought Aguri deserved better F1 fate (just like his once-teammate Eric Bernard). It seems he achieved it while I was looking elsewhere...

[rdrcr]

December 26

1922, F1 driver Astrubel (Asdrubal Esteban) Fontes Bayardo was born in Uruguay (1 DNQ 1959).

1935, F1 Driver Moises Solana was born in Tacubaya (Mexico) (8 Gp 1963-1968).

1935, Grand Prix driver, Bill Brack was born in Canada.

1936, Grand Prix and Sports car driver, Trevor Taylor was born in Rotherdam, England.

1958, F1 Designer, Adrian Newey was born.

1959, At Brands Hatch, England, Jim Clark entered his first single-seater race.

1965, David Piper won the Redex Trophy at Brands Hatch, England, driving a Ferrari 250 GTO.

1992, Grand Prix driver, Jan Flinterman died. A professional fighter pilot with the Dutch airforce, Flinterman shared an Escuderia Bandeirantes Maserati A6GCM with Chico Landi in the 1953 Dutch Grand Prix to finish ninth.


Non-Racing Related:

1926,The first overland journey across Africa from south to north was completed when the expedition of Major C. Court Treatt arrived in Cairo, Egypt. Major Treatt had set out from Capetown, South Africa, some twenty-seven months earlier in two military-style Crossley automobiles. After the difficult trek across unmapped regions, the hero's safe arrival in Cairo was a major celebration for everyone.

1933, The Nissan Motor Company was organized in Tokyo under the name Dat Jidosha Seizo Co. (It received its present name the next year). Nissan began manufacturing cars and trucks under the name Datsun. During World War II, Nissan was converted to military production, and after Japan's defeat operated in a limited capacity under the occupation government until 1955. Since then, Nissan has grown into one of the world's premier car companies.













Barry, I'll email Mike Stucker (when time allows) and advise him of the errors. I'm going to be rather occupied the next several days so I'd appreciate it if you all would throw down a few for a while!

Re: the Aguri statistic! ....whoo boy...

Interesting choice of words Ray... "tragically" seems a might melodramatic for a pinged windshield don't you think?

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by rdrcr
.....Interesting choice of words Ray... "tragically" seems a might melodramatic for a pinged windshield don't you think?

Uhh... yeah, I guess so...

But I felt pretty bad at the time. I could have 'held my line' and made him wait till it was clear to pass...

[Gary Davies]

Pardon the pedantry, rdrcr, but Graham Hill's South African victory, and the sealing of his first title, was on December 29.

[Jim Thurman]

Interesting since the first major project I did was "This Date In Racing History", which featured race re-caps as well as off-track events. It was on line at a couple of different services. I believe I might have done mine before Mike Stucker.

While doing it, I ran into some interesting conflicts in information. Like one Champ Car race report listing Bobby Unser as "retiring early" and another from the same race listing him finishing 3rd!

I didn't get the whole year done, my schedule forced a break in July and August and a switch to a every five year format.

If I can, I might post some of the entries. Perhaps TNF members could fine tune it a bit. I'm sure there are bound to be errors based on my sources.


Jim Thurman

[Milan Fistonic]

December 28 was the date of the Christmas meeting at Bay Park in 1969, 1970, 1971 and 1975.

Ron Grable won the main race in 1969 driving a McLaren M10B-Chev.

Graham McRae (McLaren M10B-Chev) won in 1970.

Graeme Lawrence won the first heat in 1971 driving the T300 Lola he would crash at the NZ Grand Prix. Frank Radisich won the second heat driving a McLaren M10B.

Graeme Lawrence was the winner in 1975 driving his Lola T332-Chev.

[Barry Lake]

27 December 1934 Pat Moss was born, sister of Stirling.

[Barry Lake]

Milan

While checking Bay Park dates, did you happen to see at which meeting in the 1960s Alexander Elvey was killed?

[Milan Fistonic]

December 29, 1968 saw the first appearance of Formula A (F5000) cars in New Zealand.

Ron Grable (Sceptre-Chev), Rex Ramsay (Le Grand- Chev), Stew McMillan (Eisert-Chev) and Pierre Phillips (Lola T140- Chev) contested the Monaco Inernational Trophy at Bay Park. Ron Grable was the winner.

[Barry Lake]

December 30, 1976. Grand Prix driver of the 1950s, Rudi Fischer died, aged 64.