On February 7, 1958, the Dutch truck manufacturer DAF introduced its first passenger car, the DAF 600, in Amsterdam.

The car is remembered for having a continuously variable transmission – the “Variomatic” transmission, a novelty for the time but proved, over the course of the next 20 years, to be a successful design for the company and an inspiration to today’s automakers.

Two events in the month of December converged to have a lasting effect on the history of the automobile – Charles Goodyear died in 1860, but on December 20, 1868, Harvey S. Firestone was born in Ohio.

It was 90 years ago, on December 12, 1925, that the Milestone Mo-Tel opened in San Luis Obispo, California – the world’s first “motel,” quite literally.

On Thanksgiving night in 1934, with no football on television, Gilmore Stadium in Los Angeles played host to the then-emerging sport of midget auto racing, and the Turkey Night Grand Prix was born.

Though lesser cars have come and gone, lost to their geopolitical environments, or left in the dust by the competition, the Camaro and the Challenger are still kicking it today.

On September 19, 1970, 45 years ago, the Ford Pinto made its debut.