Since its appearance in the late 1890s, motor-racing has been seen as a masculine sport. But even at the beginning, there were women who stood out for their passion for speed as much as their knowledge of the “horseless carriage”.
Dorothy Levitt was a woman who was ahead of her time. She was a multihyphenate – the first British woman racing driver, holder of the world’s first water speed record and women’s world land speed record, accomplished motor-boat driver, excellent horsewoman, a driving instructor to royalty, a journalist, and an author. To that we add – trailblazer.
Dorothy Levitt: The Trailblazer
What she gave us: Rear-view mirror
Dorothy Levitt lived fast and died young. But in her short 39-year life, she pushed the boundaries of what women can do in the motoring world at the turn of the 20th century.
Ostensibly, she started driving because of a publicity stunt. Her boss at the car company where she was working as a secretary wanted to draw attention by putting a woman behind the wheel – a rare sight in those days. She not only picked up the prerequisite driving skills, soon she was setting speed records while learning all about the intricacies of the automobile.
Levitt who enjoyed writing, kept a diary of her exploits. An extract from September 1904 went: “Light Car Trials. Successful. Drove small De Dion, 8 horse-power. Entirely alone. No mechanic attended to car. Did everything myself. Had non-stop for five days but small difficulties on sixth and last day.”
Dorothy Levitt (photo)
A year later, she established a record for the longest drive achieved by a female driver – by driving from London to Liverpool and back over two days.
In October 1906, Levitt broke the world women’s speed record. Another extract from her diary went: “Broke my own record and created new world’s record for women at Blackpool. Ninety horse-power six-cylinder Napier. Racing car. Drove at rate of 91 miles per hour. Had near escape as front part of bonnet worked loose and, had I not pulled up in time, might have blown back and beheaded me.”
In between such escapades, Levitt somehow managed to squeeze in time to author a book, “The Woman and the Car” (published 1909). The book contained many useful tips on driving and servicing your own car. For example, she noted that “the details of an engine may sound complicated and look ‘horrid’, but an engine is easily mastered.”
>>READ: The driving force of women in automotive history
Rear-view mirror
In her book, she also advised putting a hand-mirror in a convenient place when driving. This was for “repairing one’s complexion” after a drive and to “hold it aloft from time to time to see behind while driving in traffic.”
Thus, the idea of the rear-view mirror came about, and manufacturers made it a standard feature in automobiles from 1914.
Unfortunately, Dorothy Levitt disappeared from the public eye after her book was published and she was found dead alone in 1922 at the age of 39. Nonetheless, in a very short time, she had left behind a lasting impact in the automotive world.
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“There may be pleasure in being whirled around the country by your friends and relatives, or in a car driven by your chauffeur; but the real, the intense pleasure, the actual realisation of the pastime comes only when you drive your own car.”
– Dorothy Levitt
Sources:
Main photo: Credit
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