Mazda captures the checkered flag to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 23, 1991, beating favored cars from Mercedes-Benz and Jaguar and becoming the first Asian automaker to win the legendary and oldest sports car endurance race.

Henry Ford and a group of investors formally launch Ford Motor Co., Ford's third attempt to create an automaker, in Detroit on June 16, 1903.

Charles Duryea is granted a patent on June 11, 1895, for "Improvements in Road-Vehicles," the first gasoline-powered car in the U.S., which he and his younger brother Frank developed.

Congress votes to impose a temporary 1-cent-a-gallon federal tax June 6, 1932, to reduce the deficit amid the Great Depression. It was authorized by President Herbert Hoover and scheduled to expire in 1934.

U.S. light-vehicle deliveries slipped 0.3 percent in May, but the robust pace of sales -- 17.4 million -- offered a sign of hope as the industry barely missed posting its first monthly gain of the year.

Bobby Unser, a three-time winner of the race, drove the car, a 20th-anniversary edition of the Trans Am.

The law went into effect May, 21, 1901, and restricted cars to 12 mph in Connecticut cities and 15 mph in the state's rural areas.

The last Chevrolet Corvair built by General Motors -- a Gold Monza coupe -- comes off the assembly line at the company's Willow Run, Mich., assembly plant on May 14, 1969.

The first Saab 900 convertible rolls off the line at Valmet Automotive, a coachbuilder in Finland, on May 7, 1986.

U.S. auto sales dropped 2.3 percent last month, with the Detroit 3 and Toyota posting lower volume while Nissan, Honda and Hyundai managed gains as the industry failed to record its first increase of 2019, even with the help of an extra selling day.

Dodge Brothers is sold to Dillon, Read & Co., a leading New York investment bank, on April 30, 1925. Terms of the deal were staggering for the day -- $146 million plus an additional $50 million that was to be given to various charities.

General Motors, fighting to survive and stave off bankruptcy, says on April 27, 2009, that it will phase out Pontiac -- a brand once synonymous with performance, speed and sex appeal -- by 2010.

The Acura Concept TL debuts at the 2003 New York auto show on April 16, 2003, previewing the third-generation, 2004 TL sedan. The Concept TL was several inches shorter and smaller than the outgoing TL production model to generate a sportier sedan with a tighter package.

Chevrolet plans to unwrap the next-generation Corvette, featuring a midengine layout for the first time, in July. GM President Mark Reuss, who also heads the automaker's global product development programs, posted an image of the eighth-generation Corvette -- the C8 -- on his Facebook page late Thursday.

Mitsubishi Motors' SST Spyder open air concept sports car -- hinting at the next-generation Eclipse -- makes its world debut April 9, 1998, at the New York auto show.