Five pioneering women in automotive history you may have not heard of
With International Woman’s Day upon us once more, let's take a look back at a few pioneering and groundbreaking women in automotive history. Some you may have never heard of before.The automotive world has very much been male dominated, but over the decades, there have been pivotal woman who have challenged the status quo and have shown that they have just as much passion, power and skill to make a real difference. Whether be through innovation, entrepreneurship, journalism or racing, there are many inspiring stories that many of us may have never known about. Here are just a few of them.
Florence Lawrence - The movie star who invented the turn signal
Silent film actress Florence Lawrence is widely considered to be the first-ever movie star who in 1914 also happened to invent a vehicle turn signal which has influenced the ones we use today.
Lawrence was very fond of motoring and fixed and improved the cars she owned in a time where the world was changing the way it moved.
"A car to me is something that is almost human, something that responds to kindness and understanding and care, just as people do,” Lawrence told a reporter in 1920 when driving had become a symbol of women’s liberation. "The average woman does her own repairing. She is curious enough to investigate every little creak and squak of her car, and to remedy it."
It wasn’t an easy road for the silent movie star turned automotive inventor though.
Shirley ‘Cha Cha’ Muldowney – The drag racing superstar
What does it take to be a truly great drag racer? Natural ability? Grit? Fearlessness? Focus? An individual’s sheer will to overtake adversity? Any one of these attributes could be the answer.
When a sportsperson embodies all of these qualities, they are bound to make a significant mark on history. Enter Shirley Muldowney – a woman who dazzled fans with her skill, silenced opponents with her defiance, broke world records like finishing line tape, and literally went through fire (on several occasions) to become one of drag racing’s most respected competitors of all time.
Getting the chance to compete wasn’t always an easy ride for Shirley. In spite of her wins, she was beset by gender discrimination at every turn. But refused to be dragged down.
Bertha Benz – The boss behind Benz
The most significant theft of a husband’s car by his wife happened in 1888, and it forged lasting legacies for both parties.
Bertha Ringer was 23 when she married Karl Benz, who would go on to be credited with the invention of the automobile (and the luxury carmaker that bears his name). But not many people know that it was Bertha who made it all happen.
In 1888, Bertha unsuccessfully encouraged Karl to take the Patent-Motorwagen No. 3 out for a spin to show people what he’d been tinkering with. When he refused to do more than a short test drive and insisted his creation needed to be absolutely perfect before it could be shown off, she took matters into her own hands.
Denise McCluggage – Car loving journalist, author and driver
Ground-breaking journalist. Pioneering author. Passionate photographer. Expert skier. Athlete. Teacher. Traveller. Unrelenting equality activist.
Denise McCluggage was all of these things, but it seems history will best remember the Kansas native for her trailblazing career as a race car driver – America’s ‘First Lady of Racing’, to be precise.
Denise’s love of cars was sparked in childhood, in 1933, at the sight of a Baby Austin 7 parked outside the McCluggage family home. Though Denise’s request to Santa for a Baby Austin of her own went unfulfilled, the six-year-old was not deterred. The wheels of destiny were in motion, and she was fated to follow her drive for automobiles to its most exciting possible conclusion: racing.
A woman of immense talent in many fields, Denise took an indirect yet impressive road to racing.
Hellé Nice - Grand Prix racing pioneer
She might not be a household name, but Hellé Nice spent the early years of the 20th century ripping up the rule book and changing the game for women in motorsports.
Before iconic performances on the race track – like the time in the 1930 Grand Prix when she crossed the finish line backwards, claiming third place – and earning the Women’s Land Speed Record title, Mariette Hélène Detangle grew up in a small village outside Paris.
In the 1920s and ’30s, she raced against male drivers in over 75 Grand Prix circuits, rallies and hillclimbs across Europe, South America and the United States. “It’s all I ever ask for,” she told French newspaper L’Intransigeant in 1930, “just to show what I can do, without a handicap, against men.”
Read the full story about Hellé Nice here.
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