Each year, the Society recognizes significant contributions to the publishing, documentation, and preservation of the worldwide history of the motor vehicle.  Awards are given for publishing in print (books, articles and magazines) and non-print media (film, video, audio, websites, etc.).

In addition, awards are made for papers authored by undergraduate and graduate-level students at educational institutions. Service awards are presented for the preservation of archives and for exemplary service to the cause of automotive history. Nominations are received in the spring of each year and awards are presented at the Society's annual meeting, held during October.  See the right sidebar of this web page for previous year award recipients.

2013 SAH AWARD NOMINATIONS SOUGHT

CARL BENZ AWARD

The Carl Benz Award recognizes excellence in the presentation of automotive history appearing in a periodical. All commercial, club and academic periodicals are welcome to be nominated. An author or publisher is welcome nominate his or her own works or works in their respective publication. Members and non-members alike can nominate a work.

At least one complete copy of the original periodical must be sent with color copies of the complete article, for a total of six. The article must have appeared in a publication with an on-sale date within 2012. Multi-part article need to have at least one installment published with a 2012 on-sale date. Any multi-part article with an installment appearing in a publication with a 2013 on-sale date must wait until next year for nomination but all parts would be eligible at that time. The Benz Committee Chair reserves the right to accept or reject any nomination based on suitability or compatibility with the award.

Please send all nominations by April 15, 2013 to:

Don Keefe, Chair
Benz Award
178 Crescent Rd.
Fairport, NY 14450-1206
585-489-9826
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 E.P. INGERSOLL AWARD

The E. P. Ingersoll Award is given for the best presentation of automotive history in media other than print. Video documentaries, oral histories and sound recordings, websites, cell phone and tablet apps, computer software and art are eligible for consideration. Nominations for this award must be made by April 15th, 2013 to:

Tom Jakups Chair
37 Wyndwood Road
West Hartford, CT 06107
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FRIEND OF AUTOMOTIVE HISTORY

The prestigious lifetime Friend of Automotive History award recognizes an individual who has made a profound individual contribution to the automotive history community and the historical record. Nominations should be sent by April 15, 2013 to:

Leslie Kendall, Curator
Petersen Automotive Museum
6060 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
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JAMES J. BRADLEY DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD

Have you helped a Librarian Lately? You can-- with a nomination for the James J. Bradley Distinguished Service Award! Every year, the Society of Automotive Historians honors the work of libraries and archives whose mission is to preserve motor vehicle resource materials.

The nomination is due August 1, 2013. The award will be presented at the SAH annual banquet at the Hershey Country Club on October 2013 during the AACA Eastern Fall Meet at Hershey, PA.

To nominate a deserving library or archives, complete the Bradley Award nomination form and email it to Judith.Endelman@gmail.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Don't worry if you can't fill out all of the form. Do as much as you can. The 2011 winner was the Jaguar Heritage Trust in Coventry, England. A list of previous Bradley Award winners can be found on www.autohistory.org.

Bradley Award committee members include Ed Garten, Mark Patrick, and Jim Wagner.

Judith E. Endelman, chair - email any questions about the award to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . 

NICHOLAS-JOSEPH CUGNOT AWARD, ENGLISH

The Nicholas-Joseph Cugnot Award, English is presented each year for the book which best advances the understanding of the history of the automobile in the English language in the previous calendar year—2012. Nominations should be sent to the Chair, Doug Leighton by April 15, 2013 at his email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

NICHOLAS-JOSEPH CUGNOT AWARD, NON-ENGLISH

The Nicholas-Joseph Cugnot Award, Non-English is presented each year for the book which best advances the historical understanding of the history of the automobile in a language other than English in the previous calendar year--2012. Nominations should be made to the Chair, Arthur Jones, by sending books to the address below to arrive by June 15: 

Arthur Jones
504 South 26th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19146-1009 
USA
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RICHARD AND GRACE BRIGHAM AWARD

The Richard and Grace Brigham Award is presented to the automotive history magazine that represents a most exemplary editorial, graphic or historical content published in the previous calendar year--2012. Nominations should be mailed by April, 15, 2013 to:

Jack Juratovic
712 Novak Lane
Big Rapids MI 49307 

RICHARD SCHARCHBURG STUDENT PAPER AWARD, 2013 

In order to encourage research and writing effort among university students in the area of automotive history, the Society confers its annual award for the best student paper in the auto history field. The award is named for Richard Scharchburg, the late Professor of History at Kettering University, eminent automotive historian, and past president of the Society of Automotive Historians. Persons submitting papers must be enrolled at educational institutions (upper-class undergraduate or graduate level) at the time of submission. This competition is international in scope, but papers must be in the English language.
Papers already published or scheduled for publication will not be accepted.

Manuscripts should not exceed 10,000 words, and should be double-spaced.
An abstract is requested. Judging criteria include clear statement of purpose and testable hypothesis, accuracy and thoroughness of research, originality of the research, documentation, quality and extent of bibliographic resources, and writing style. Diagrams, graphs, or photographs may be included. Submissions are to be electronic, in Word
1997-2003 format or pdf files only, to the e-mail address below.

Possible subjects include but are not limited to historical aspects of automobile companies and their leaders, regulation of the auto industry, financial and economic aspects of the industry, the social effects of the automobile, highway development, environmental matters, and automotive marketing, design, engineering and safety.

A cover letter should be included stating the student's address, school, program, advisor, and stage in studies. The student should indicate how the paper submitted will relate to his or her professional future.
Submissions must e-mail dated by June 10, 2013. All papers submitted will be acknowledged.

Upon recommendation of the judges, the winning paper will considered for
publication in the Society's Automotive History Review. The award
consists of a plaque and a cash prize of $500.00.

Submissions should be sent to:
John A. Heitman, Ph.D., Chairman, Student Awards Committee
Department of History
University of Dayton
300 College Park
Dayton, OH 45469-1540

Tel: (937) 229-2803
Fax: (937) 229-2816
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