thebear's archive of motorsports trivia

[thebear]

April 28, 1939

Cincinnati, OH, entrepreneur Powell Crosley Jr. enters the car business for the fifth time with the unveiling of his Crosley minicar at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. After failing at three car-making ventures between 1907 and 1914, he amasses a fortune making automobile accessories, radios and refrigerators before again trying his hand in car production. Two 80-in. wheelbase '39 models are offered: a $325 convertible coupe and $350 convertible sedan. Both are powered by a Waukesha air-cooled 2-cyl. engine and featured 12 inch diameter wheels. Output at plants in Cincinnati and Richmond, IN, totals just over 2,000 units in 1939. Initially, the cars are marketed through department stores, appliance dealers and hardware stores. The line is expanded to include a delivery model and a station wagon in 1940 with a “covered wagon” convertible station wagon and sedan-delivery added in 1941. Total pre-WWII output is 5,700 units. During the war, Crosley sells a variety of vehicles to the U.S. armed forces, including a 2-passenger mini-utility vehicle.

The updated 1946 car has a new stamped-steel and copper brazed 0.7L SOHC 4-cyl. developing 26.5 hp. Crosley's peak year is 1948, with output of 27,700 cars, but the price of the least costly model rises to $850 against $1,017 for the cheapest Chevrolet. A more modern body style, a 2-passenger sports car, a cast-iron engine to eliminate leaks in resulting from poor brazed joints and 4-wheel disc brakes are introduced in 1949, but only 8,900 cars are built, 750 of them the Hot Shot sports car. The disc brakes are subsequently replaced by drum brakes due to problems with the calipers becoming jammed with debris from the road. A unique vehicle called Farm-O-Road appears in 1950, but after losing between $3 million and $4 million from 1949 to 1952, Crosley calls it quits in July 1952.

[thebear]

"It is certain that there will be no sale of Chrysler or of a part of the brand. Changes in personnel are also not envisioned".

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Dieter Zetche, Chaiman and CEO of DaimlerChrysler, 22 SEP 06 in an interview with the Geman newspaper Die Welt.

On 14 FEB 07 Dr.Z announced 13,000 job cuts and the search for a buyer for Chrysler.

[thebear]

The first ever race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was actually for gas-filled balloons. Cars first circled the track in August 1909 and the first Indianapolis 500 Motor Sweepstakes took place in 1911.

[thebear]

- In the "Modern Era", the United States has held grands prix in more places than any other country with no fewer than eight circuits holding world championship races. Sebring, Riverside, Watkins Glen, Long Beach, Detroit – where the late Ayrton Senna notched up three fabulous victories - Dallas, Las Vegas Phoenix and, of course, Indy.

[thebear]

- The US became the only country ever to host three Grands Prix in a season in 1982 when races were held at Long Beach, Detroit and Las Vegas.

[thebear]

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway's track surface originally consisted of crushed stone and tar but was replaced after a year by a paved surface of 3.2 million bricks, hence the nickname ‘Brickyard’. The circuit, except the start and finish straight, was covered in asphalt in 1937 with the straight remaining bare until 1961. A yard of bricks can still be seen on the start/finish line today.

[thebear]

May 15, 1981

The 20 millionth original VW beetle is produced at Puebla Mexico.

[thebear]

A.J.Foyt's May Milestones:

1957: A.J. wins his first major race in a "midget" - Kansas City

1961: A.J's first Indy 500 win

1967: A.J's third Indy 500 win

1977: A.J.'s fourth Indy 500 win

. . .

[thebear]

Monaco Musings:

Monaco has the slowest and fastest corners in F1. The slowest is the Loews hairpin while the tunnel bend is the quickest.

Monaco is the oldest race on the F1 calendar. It pre-dates the formation of the world championship having first taken place in 1929.

In 1955 the great Italian racer Alberto Ascari became the only driver in history to crash into Monaco’s harbor after spinning off and flying over the barrier. Divers fished him out of his Lancia but he was tragically killed weeks later in a testing crash. The `harbor crash’ was recreated in John Frankenheimer’s 1969 movie “Grand Prix”, starring James Garner.

Stirling Moss made history in the 1960 race by taking Lotus’ first ever grand prix victory.

[Darren Galpin]

Originally Posted by thebear

Monaco Musings:
Monaco is the oldest race on the F1 calendar. It pre-dates the formation of the world championship having first taken place in 1929.

The Italian Grand Prix dates back to 1921, and the French Grand Prix dates back to 1912 (or 1906 if you take into account some retrospective counting), although it has been known as the Grand Prix de l'Automobile Club de France, and the Grand Prix de France.

[D-Type]

The first GP de l'ACF was in 1906. The creative counting comes in when they tried to claim some of the inter-city races before this so as to make the 25th 50th or some such anniversry fall a few years early.
The American Grand Prize was 1908
Indianapolis International Sweepstakes 1911Spanish GP 1913 (but this was a reliability trial)
Italian GP 1921
Belgian GP 1925
German GP 1926 (for sports cars)
RAC British GP 1926

Only those in red have a near continuous history

[thebear]

A retrospective on Jose Carlos Pace

[thebear]

Stirling Moss made history in the 1960 Monaco F-1 race by taking Lotus’ first ever grand prix victory.

. .. .

[thebear]

Viva la Mille Miglia !

After having been cancelled since 1958 for security concerns, it was revamped in 1982 as an historical race for sports cars built between 1927 and 1957 and now takes place annually.

Every single car taking part in the competition has its own special story. See #1 , #2 & #3 . . . .

[John Turner]

Originally Posted by thebear

Stirling Moss made history in the 1960 Monaco F-1 race by taking Lotus’ first ever grand prix victory.

. .. .

Ironic really when you consider it was a Rob Walker entered car rather than a Lotus works car ..... but then it was Moss!

[thebear]

May 21, 1977

Janet Guthrie qualifies for the Indianapolis 500

Janet Guthrie (born 3/7/1938 in Iowa City, IA) is a race car driver & the 1st woman to qualify & compete in both the Indy 500 & the Daytona 500.

Guthrie was originally an aerospace engineer & after graduating from the University of Michigan, she worked w/Republic Aviation. She began racing in '63 on the SCCA circuit in a Jaguar XK 140 & by '72, she was racing on a full-time basis.

In '76, Guthrie got her 1st big break in racing, being invited to drive at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for team owner Rolla Vollstedt, but failed to qualify. The same year, she was invited to compete in NA$CAR as well. She competed in the '76 World 600, finishing 15th, becoming the 1st woman to compete in a NA$CAR Winston Cup superspeedway race. Guthrie would go on to compete in 4 more races that season. The following season, she competed in her 1st Daytona 500, finishing 12th when her car's engine blew 2 cylinders w/10 laps to go. For the race, tho, she still earned the honor of Top Rookie. OA, Guthrie went on to compete in 33 races in NA$CAR over 4 seasons, finishing as high as 6th place.

Guthrie qualified for & competed in the 1977 Indy 500, but finished 29th w/engine troubles. She would compete in 2 more Indy 500s, finishing as high as 9th in the '78 race. OA, she competed in 11 IndyCar events finishing as high as 5th.

Nevertheless, Guthrie's place in history was secure. Her helmet & race suit can be found in the Smithsonian Institution & Guthrie was one of the 1st elected to the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame. She was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame on 4/27/2006. Her '05 autobiography, "Janet Guthrie: A Life at Full Throttle," has received critical praise in such publications as Sports Illustrated.

[thebear]

Steve Matchett: A Look BACK at McLaren’s 1988 MP4-4.

[thebear]

June 4, 1896

Henry Ford test drives the “Quadricycle”, the first car he ever designed or drove.

[thebear]

June 6, 1933

Richard Hollingshead opens the first drive-in movie theater in Camden NJ.

[thebear]

June 10, 1947

SAAB introduces it’s first car, the model 92 prototype.

[thebear]

June 15, 1844

Charles Goodyear is granted a patent for vulcanized rubber.

[johnh875]

Originally Posted by D-Type

The first GP de l'ACF was in 1906. The creative counting comes in when they tried to claim some of the inter-city races before this so as to make the 25th 50th or some such anniversry fall a few years early.
The American Grand Prize was 1908
Indianapolis International Sweepstakes 1911Spanish GP 1913 (but this was a reliability trial)
Italian GP 1921
Belgian GP 1925
German GP 1926 (for sports cars)
RAC British GP 1926

Only those in red have a near continuous history

To which I would add:
Australian GP 1928
Of course it is only since 1985 that it has been part of the F1 world championship but the era of the 50's and 60's there was a lot of international competition with current F1 cars taking part.

[thebear]

June 18, 1935
Rolls-Royce is registered as a trademark.

[thebear]

Part 1 of the MASERATI "BIRDCAGE" story.

To be continued . . . . .

[thebear]

A history of the 1963 Corvette "Grand Sport".

This LINK has extensive documentation and should you follow the hyperlinks at the bottom of each page you will have several HOURS reading material. . .