Automotive Blogger

True Story: An old friend of my mother’s once had a choice between buying her son, who had a scholarship to a toney music school, his very own harp or paying a mechanic to rebuild the engine in her car so that she could drive it. She was an amazing mother, and opted to buy the harp, then spent several weeks taking the bus to and from work while she also attended an automotive class at the local community college and learned how to rebuild the engine herself. She had to endure a lot of teasing from the mostly male students in the class.

She died of Ovarian cancer several years ago, but I always think of her around this time of year, and so, in her honor, for this week’s Women on Wheels, we’re spotlighting Lori Johnson, whom we learned about from our friends at AskPatty.

Lori runs “Ladies, Start Your Engines,” a hands-on automotive repair class just for women, which not only teaches women how to do basic auto work, but also gives them a sense of empowerment and confidence. I think this is really cool, because all drivers, male and female, should be able to do basic repairs.

According to the website for Ms. Johnson’s class, it was originally a co-ed class, but it became women-only when she noticed that women were reluctant to ask questions. She changed the tenor of the class, and with the basic repair, also taught her students how to feel more confident when talking to mechanics about their cars.

Ms. Johnson has over twenty years of automotive experience, and we think she sets an example for every woman (and man) on wheels. I think my mother’s friend would have liked her.

Not every woman on wheels is racecar driver, biker chick, or automotive executive. Sometimes a woman on wheels is the woman who drives your cab. For this week’s Women on Wheels, we introduce you to a pioneering group of women cabbies…in Senegal.

It’s a common misconception that the ban on women drivers in conservative, presominantly Muslim countries is because of religious law, but last month, a new program launched in Senegal proved that to be a fallacy. How? Well they’ve started a new program called “Taxi Sister,” which was inspired by President Abdoulaye Wayde.

Taxi-Sister, which is regarded as the first such program to be offered in any country with a 95% Muslim population, was the result of a deal between a local car retailer, and a government fund to help female entrepreneurs get their starts.

According to Senegalese local paper Le Soleil, the First Lady Vivian Wade presented the ten brand new cars to their new drivers, the first of what will ultimately be 2,000 female taxi drivers by 2008. The women have been put through martial arts training in preparation for any difficult clients, and will only work during daylight hours (7 AM - 7PM local time), to ensure their safety. They will also wear an official uniform of yellow shirts and red pants, making them easy to spot in any crowd.

The cars will be supplied by Espace-Auto. Their managing director, Serigne Mboup, told Le Soleil, “”(Male-female) parity should not be just a slogan, it must be applied in the economic sphere. Women must go on to attack male-dominated professions,”

And what do the actual drivers think? Sophie Diouck, one of the first Taxi Sisters, told reporters, “”The task will be difficult in the sense that we are young women. But we will give it our best to rise to the challenges.”

For this week’s Women on Wheels, we’re waxing nostalgic, and reminding you of American cultural icon Rosie the Riveter, who represents the six million women who worked in manufacturing plants producing everything from munitions to jeeps and tanks during World War II.

Most people think of Rosie as a fictional character created for advertising posters, with her flexed muscle and WE CAN DO IT cheer urging patriotism, and standing for the American war effort, as well as feminist sensibilities, but there was actually a real Rosie.

Her name was Ms. Rose Will Monroe, and she was born in Pulaski County, Kentucky in 1920, moving to Michigan during the war. She worked as a riveter at the Willow Run Aircraft Factory in Ypsilanti, MI, building B-24 and B-29 bombers.

As well, Monroe starred in a promotional film about the war effort, and was featured in a poster campaign.

Today, women work beside men on factory floors, as well as in design studios, though they are still underrepresented in the boardroom. Spare them a thought the next time you’re sitting in your 2008 Ford Mustang, spare a thought for some of the first women to ever work at a Ford plant…and for Rosie the Riveter, one of our most famous women on wheels.

We’ve been doing a lot of writing about racing in our non-blog work, so for this week’s Women on Wheels Wednesday, we want to talk to you about Stephanie Mockler, who was presented with the 2007 Kara Hendrick award in July’s “Women in the Winner’s Circle” celebration. It was presented to her by USAC president and CEO Rollie Helmling.

Mockler hails from Westfield, Indiana, and is the daughter of USAC racing veteran Warren Mockler, who was one of a scant few drivers to win both the Turkey Night Grand Prix and the Hut Hundred Midget classics during his own career, but she’s carved a niche all her own, with a career that includes three victories in the Regional Midget competition, and two in the Ford Focus series. The only other female driver with five career wins in the USAC is Audra Sasselli, of Fresno, CA.

Stephanie’s other career highlights include a 2005 runner-up finish in USAC’s Midwest Ford Focus Midget Series and, in August of that year, leading Alison MacLeod and Erica Santos past the checkered flag at the Indianapolis Speedrome Ford Focus feature, making it an all-female podium sweep. In 2006, in her second National Midget Series start, she finished third at the Indianapolis, IN O’Reilly Raceway Park’s “Night before the 500″ classic.

Ms. Mockler was only one in a star-studded array of female drivers from various branches of motorsports who were honored at July’s luncheon, and her award honors the memory of one of USAC’s most accomplished female drivers, Kara Hendrick.

Fine clothes. Fabulous shoes. Fancy cars. Many fashionistas love them all, and fashion designer Vivienne Westwood is no exception. The English designer is collaborating with famous English automaker Bentley Motors on the former’s new exhibition, opening tonight at Milan’s Palazzo Reale. This is the touring version of her exhibit, which was first presented in London at the Victoria & Albert Museum.

The bond between Bentley and Westwood was on display as well at an exclusive event in Düsseldorf, during Germany’s Fashion Week, and celebrated a partnership based on similar appreciation of bold lines and personal flair - two elements that are crucial in high performance cars, as well as high fashion clothing.

At the Italian event, Bentley Milano will be showing off a bright yellow version of their 1992 Continental convertible, as well as providing Ms. Westwood with a Bentley Continental Flying spur for her in-town driving as well as offering her the experience of riding in their most recent cabriolet, the Continental GTC.

The exhibition represents the second such collaboration for these two quintessentially British names. The first was a show last year, “Vivienne Westwood Shoes 1973 – 2006” held at another Milan-area location, the Castello Visconteo Sforzesco in Vigevano. This year’s event, which coincides with the opening of Women’s Fashion Week in Milan will close at the end of Men’s Fashion Week, in February of next year.

The Bentley Continental GTC that Westwood will ride in at least once during her time in Milan, comes with a price tag of roughly $190,000.

We’re always on the lookout for interesting Women on Wheels, whether they’re NASCAR drivers, members of the automotive industry as businesswomen, or just fascinating enthusiasts. It’s this latter designation that we feel describes Linda R. Moore.

In 2003, Ms. Moore was planning a month-long solo motorcycle trip around the southwestern United States. Life got in the way, and her plans had to be rearranged, but in 2005 she did make a motorcycle journey from California’s Silicon Valley to a point deep in the heart of Texas, and, as if that wasn’t enough, she wrote a book about the experience.

Ms. Moore’s book is called A Little Twist of Texas, and you can read excerpts of it at her website, which also has a link to her blog, and shares many more of her adventures.

We applaud the spirit of Linda Moore, and all women on wheels.

Italian-born Giovanna Amati was the last female driver - and one of only five, total - to have entered a Formula One world championship.

Born into a moneyed family, Amati’s childhood was a more exciting than most - she was kidnapped for ransom at one point, and bought a Honda motorcycle when she was fifteen years old, then hid it from her parents for two years.

Her professional racing career began in 1981, and over the next four years, she would win several Formula Abarth races before moving up to the Italian Formula Three in 1985, where she would continue her success. In 1987 she moved up again, to Formula 3000, but her best result in six seasons was only a 7th place result in both Europe and Japan.

When Amati landed the second seat slot in the ailing Brabham Formula One team for the 1992 Grand Prix season, it was pretty obvious that money and publicity were the driving factors behind the appointment. She had no experience to speak of in Formula One cars, and all three of her qualifying attempts were unsuccessful. She was subsequently replaced by Damon Hill.

Since 1992, Amati has continued to drive, placing 3rd in the SportsRacing World Cup SR2 class championship in 1999. In addition, she writes columns and does television commentary for Italian motorsports.

It doesn’t have the same warm, friendly feel as Ask Patty, but eleven-year-old WomanMotorist.com has the slick appeal of a print mag, despite its availability exclusively online.

According to the site, they are the “oldest and largest consumer automotive magazine for women,” and while they are pretty loaded with ads, they also have many articles, and a good bank of reviews of cars and trucks. As well, there are forums which allow for interaction, and a chat interface as well.

The site also has special sections for information on car shopping, travel safety, and racing.

That’s not a double headline, really. This week’s Women on Wheels is actually the organization Women on Wheels, a group devoted to female motorcycle enthusiasts.

Their mission statement is:

To unite all women motorcycle enthusiasts for recreation, education, mutual support, recognition, and to promote a positive image of motorcycling.

I have to admit that I’m not a particular fan of motorcycles, having seen too many friends with serious leg injuries because of bike accidents, but if you are going to ride, being a well informed rider is the way to go.

WOW, as the organization is sometimes known, was started in 1982, in California, but it now has members and chapters all over North America, with over 3500 members ranging in age from their teens to their eighties.

Their website has information on how to join, as well as section on memorials, event listings, and information about their bimonthly magazine, “The Wheeler.”

This week’s Woman on Wheels is Lorraine Schultz, founder of the Women’s Automotive Association, International (WAAI).

Ms. Schultz started the organization to help the development of women as leaders in the automotive industry, and is currently the “ambassador at large” of AskPatty.com, a website devoted to given women a safe place to ask questions about cars - everything from how to fix problems, to how to approach car dealers.

According to her bio at AskPatty.com, Schultz began her automotive industry career with the acquisition of an interest in the Detroit Model Bureau, which supplied talent for various auto shows. She next became the executive director for the AutoLeather Guild of America, where she spent 19 years, traveling all over the world as part of her job.

In 1999, Ms. Schultz was instrumental in the return of the Automotive Hall of Fame Distinguished Service awards being presented to women, for the first time since 1945.

In addition to working with AskPatty.com, Ms. Schultz is the executive director for the WAAI, and a member of the Board of Directors of both the Automotive Hall of Fame and Ferris State University.

Quick question: Who was the first woman to drive for NASCAR?

If you answered “Sara Christian” you either paid attention to the title of this post, or you really know your racing history.

Inducted into the Georgia Automobile Racing Hall of Fame in 2004, Christian was only part of NASCAR in 1949 and 1950, but there are a lot of key events associated with her name.

To start, she won the title Woman Driver of the Year from the United States Drivers Association in 1949. That same year, she drove in NASCAR’s first race at Charlotte Speedway on June 19th 1949, after placing 13th in the qualification race, driving a #71 Ford that her husband, Frank Christian, owned. She let fellow racer Bob Flock drive it for part of the race, after the engine in his own car died on the 38th lap. The Ford overheated, but Flock finished in 14th place.

Three weeks later, Sara’s competitors in the second race at the Daytona Beach Road Course included Louise Smith and Bob Flock’s sister Ethel Mobley. She finished 18th of 28, but her presence marked the first time three women drove in the same race, and the first time a married couple competed in a NASCAR race. (Her husband Frank finished sixth, in his only start.)

Two months after that, Christan faced Mobley and Smith again, and that race - the fourth at Langhorn Speedway, became the LAST race to include three drivers. It was also the first time a woman achieved a top-ten finish, and the winner of the race, Curtis Turner, invited Sara to share the victory lane.

In her last race, the only one she entered in 1950, Sara placed 14th at Hamburg Speedway in New York.

Sara Christian died in 1980.

Last Thursday, July 26th, Indianapolis Motor Speedway played host to the fifth annual “Women in the Winner’s Circle” luncheon. The event, which began in 2003, just one event sponsored by the Women in the Winners Circle (formerly Lyn St. James) Foundation (WWCF) , a non-profit organization that also sponsors driver development and diversity programs, an educational program, and advocacy for women in motorsports.

While the point of the luncheon is to raise funds for the Foundation’s activities, there are also honorees and awards. This year, they included Harold Matthews who was presented with the Opportunity Award in recognition of his support of Brittany Frosh, a mini-sprint racer, and Denise McCluggage, a journalist, author, and racing driver who received the Mildred Marcum Pioneer award.

To date, the WWCF, which sponsors include NASCAR and USAC, has trained more than 230 female race-car drivers and contributed to Girls, Inc, as well as other charitable organizations.

[WWCF Website]

Do you have suggestions for women involved with the automotive or racing industries who should be profiled? Leave them in comments.