Special thanks to the History Channel
and other web sites dedicated to the history of different forgotten parts of the history of the automobile
My own comments in Italics...not the views of the History Channel

The Ford Motor Company introduced the continuous moving assembly line on this day. Ford's new assembly line could produce a complete car every two-and-a-half minutes. The efficiency and speed of Ford's production lines allowed the company to sell cars for less than any competitor. The efficiency allowed Ford to pay higher wages...allowed or forced. The job was tedious and mind numbing Sociological problems
Sociological work has explored the social alienation and boredom that some workers feel because of the repetition of doing the same specialized task all day long.[1] Because workers have to stand in the same place for hours and repeat the same motion hundreds of times per day, repetitive stress injuries are a possible pathology of occupational safety. Industrial noise also proved dangerous.
More Form Wikipedia>>

Now on the flip side of this higher wages for mind numbing work the workers were paid well enough to be able to fianally afford the proper drugs to numb the mind further. So thanks to Henry Ford for Starting the Drug culture.

The Detroit Steam Motors Corporation announced the Trask steam car, a favorite project of automobile distributor O.C. Trask. A steam-driven automobile had reached the world-record speed of 127.66mph in 1906, causing a steam-car craze that lasted through the 1920s. The last steam-powered cars in the U.S. were made in 1926.
More about all sorts of Steam powered cars>>

A wopping run of 5 years..as good as the AMC Pacer. I think now if you marketed a steam powered car you could sell millions as long as they had an onboard Capuccino machine!!!
I can just see the "Starbucks 500"

December 1, 1963

Wendell Scott wins

Wendell Scott took first place in the Grand National race in Jacksonville, Florida, becoming the first black driver ever to win a NASCAR event.
He initially worked as a taxi driver, and learned to be a mechanic in the Army during World War II. After returning home, he worked as a mechanic, and in the evenings sometimes delivered moonshine.
more from Wikipedia>>

So now it is clear, he learned to drive fast delivering Moonshine and he learned how to go around in circles driving Taxi while telling his fares he was going the most direct route.

The first working V-8 engine was patented in France by French engine designer Leon-Marie-Joseph-Clement Levavasseur. The engine block was the first to arrange eight pistons in the V-formation that allowed a crankshaft with only four throws to be turned by eight pistons. Today, V-8 engines are extremely common in automobiles that need powerful motors.
In 1902 Léon Levavasseur took out a patent on a V8 engine which he called Antoinette after the young daughter of his financial backer, and from 1904 installed the engine in a number of speedboats and aircraft which were also called "Antoinette", as was the company that built them. In 1909 one of these aircraft tried but failed to cross the English Channel.[3]
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I have heard that like This French dude naming the engine after a little girl, Mercedes is also named after someones daughter....flattery overules once again.

The last Pacer is produced by the American Motor Company between 1975 and 1980. The bubble-topped Pacer was a reasonably popular economy car, though its Jetson-styled body attracted flack from car critics and stand-up comedians alike. More recently, the Pacer gained attention as the mighty roadmobile piloted by Garth of Wayne's World.
Its initial design idea was started in 1971. The car's unusual rounded shape with massive glass area greatly contrasted with the mostly boxy, slab-sided models of the era. The Pacer's "jellybean" body style is a readily recognized icon of the 1970s.
Car and Driver magazine noted that "AMC said it was the first car designed from the inside out. Four passengers were positioned with reasonable clearances and then the rest of the car was built around them as compactly as possible."[1]
Designed to appear futuristic, the shape was highly rounded with a huge glass area, and was very unusual for its time. Road & Track magazine described it as "fresh, bold and functional-looking".[2]
more from Wikipedia>>

So is this something we should celebrate? I think the big problem is that the win on Sunday sells on Monday would have been huge for an aerodynamic bombsell such as the pacer...just think of the races...

Automobile tycoon Henry Ford set sail for Europe on this day in 1915 from Hoboken, New Jersey, aboard the Ford Peace Ship. His mission: to end World War I. His slogan, "Out of the trenches and back to their homes by Christmas," won an enthusiastic response in the States, but didn't get very far overseas. Ford's diplomatic mission was not taken seriously in Europe, and he soon returned.