Lore holds that the first automobile race took place after the second automobile was built. The historical record, however, shows that nearly a century lapsed from the invention of the self-propelled motor carriage to the first documented race, which took place 150 years ago this month.

Or so argues steam-car researcher Karl Petersen. Several years ago Petersen, a steam-car builder himself, happened upon a brief mention of Isaac Watt Boulton‘s involvement in a race that passed through Manchester, England. Boulton was already well known as a steam-car — or more appropriately, road-locomotive — pioneer, but the race itself was not well known, so Petersen went digging for more information.

Read the full article here.

_{Not the 1867 racer. Image courtesy Grace’s Guide.}