10 women who changed the automotive world

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The car we know today was not even invented in 1893, when American mechanical engineer Margaret Wilcox (1813-1896) patented the world’s first heating system for use in an automobile. Wilcox’s design consisted of a combustion chamber located under the car and a piping system that diverted water heated by the engine to the bottom of the cabin. The system prevented the windows from fogging up and kept the interior pleasantly warm – air conditioning systems still operate on the same principle today.

A woman’s interest in a technical object such as a car did not suit the Parisian male world of the turn of the century. And so, Anne d’Uzès (1847-1933), Duchess of the Veuve Clicquot champagne dynasty, had to obtain the so-called “Premier Certificat de Capacité féminin”—a kind of female driver’s license—before she could drive on the streets of France. With the Delahaye Type 1, Paris can’t be sure. Literally unsafe: he was immediately fined 5 francs when he “raced” a motor vehicle at 13 km/h in the Park Bois de Bologne. Probably the first buses in the world!

In August 1888, his wife Bertha (1849–1944) and their two sons set off in a three-wheeled vehicle from Mannheim (Germany) to Pforzheim, 100, to advertise the patented motor car #3 owned by Carl Benz. kilometers south (D). The 12-hour tour, with mostly unpaved roads and a stop at a pharmacy—after all, there was no gas station yet—would later go down in the history books as the first long-distance drive by car. Thanks to this pioneering success, later versions of the motor vehicle were given third gear and more effective brake pads.

After California physician June McCarroll (1867-1954) was involved in an almost fatal accident in 1917 with a truck driving too far to the left on her way to work, she soon realized that a dividing line between the lanes could prevent the incident. First, the US authorities blocked it. But after McCarroll started a campaign with a women’s association on his own initiative and quickly drew a median part of the road, the bureaucracy changed and McCarroll’s idea was legalized.

British racing driver Dorothy Levitt (1882-1922) was already a role model when she was active, and tradition is said to have taught the then Queen of Denmark Alexandra (1844-1924) how to drive. In her book The Woman and the Car, the journalist, author and activist recommended that other women look behind them and use a hand mirror while driving. The idea did not go unnoticed in the automobile scene: Ford realized its safety potential and became the first manufacturer in the world to install rear-view mirrors as standard on all models from 1927.

Florence Lawrence (1886-1938) wasn’t just a finicky actress, starring in over 300 films throughout her career. She was also an avid car driver and collector with a talent for invention: He optimized his cars many times over—for example, with a sign indicating that he swayed before turning to show direction. The idea for the indicator was born! The precursor to the brake light came later: Lawrence developed a stop sign that automatically turns off when the driver brakes.

French racing driver Odette Siko (1899-1984) competed in the 24-hour Le Mans (F) four times in the 1930s, and in 1932 she finished fourth overall, becoming the best-placed woman in the famed endurance race. almost 80 years. Beginning in 1937, Siko continued to set records as head of a four-man women’s racing team, setting 25 stupendous endurance records with her colleagues, including the 10-day long-distance ride of over 30,000 kilometers in which the team competed. She reached an average speed of 140 km / h on the 3.6-liter Matford -V8 engine. Some of his endurance and speed records still stand today.

Clärenore Stinnes (1901-1990), one of seven children of German industrial magnate Hugo Stinnes, took part in a car race for the first time at the age of 24. As a result, Stinnes won 17 races, almost all men’s, in just two years, becoming Europe’s most successful female racing driver. In May 1927, he embarked on a two-year world tour with two technicians, a photographer, and his two wire-haired terriers, Billy and Lilly, where he became the first person to circumnavigate the globe in a standard PW. , an Adler Standard 6 and covered almost 50,000 kilometers in total. Your adventure was even filmed in 2008, with the title: “Miss Stinnes traveling the world.”

In 1981, French woman Michèle Mouton (71) was the first woman to achieve an overall victory in a World Rally Championship race at the San Remo Rally (I) in an Audi Quattro. Despite three wins the following year, he narrowly lost to racing legend Walter Röhrl (76) at the 1982 World Championships. However, she is considered the most well-known and successful rally driver alongside German racing driver Jutta Kleinschmidt (60), who was the first and only woman to win the overall standings in the Dakar Rally.

When she took office in 2014, she was the first woman to head one of the three major US automakers: Mary Barra (61), CEO of General Motors (GM). He started at the GM professional academy at the age of 18 and is now responsible for 155,000 employees worldwide. She was named the world’s most influential business woman by Fortune in 2015, and was ranked sixth among the world’s most powerful women by Forbes in 2020. Two years ago, Barra announced that by 2035 all GM cars will be fully electric and pure combustion engines will be phased out.

Source: Blick