Belt up and enjoy this 365-day ride as you cruise past the most momentous motoring events in history. Packed with fascinating facts about races, motorists and the history of the mighty engine, this is a must-visit web site for any car enthusiast.

On This Day

Monday 16th January 1905

115 years ago

The Sunbeam Motor Car Company Ltd was registered in Wolverhampton, England with John Marston as Chairman and Thomas Cureton as Managing Director. The first new car to be produced by Sunbeam Motor Car Company was based on a Peugeot; it ws fairly popular from its 1906 introduction, with ten produced each week. A chief engineer who had worked at Humber was appointed, resulting in more local production and less outsourcing. This new engineer, Louis Coatalen, started Sunbeam's racing program, which increased popularity; he also added a new touring car based on racing vehicles. Production was interrupted by World War I, but afterwards Sunbeam saw a number of sales and racing successes, including 1922 and 1925 speed records (134 and 151 mph, respectively). Sunbeam was the first British car to win a Grand Prix race. In 1920, Sunbeam merged with Darracq of France, which had recently purchased Clement-Talbot (a company set up to import French Clements) to form a new company, STD Motors (also including a spring maker, commercial vehicle maker, and dynanometer maker). The company also manufactured aero engines in World War I and 647 aircraft during World War II. The company went into receivership in 1935 and was purchased by the Rootes Group, which continued to use the Sunbeam marque until 1976 when new owners Chrysler rebranded the vehicles.