Pioneering Lady Racing Driver By Brenda Williams At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

Dorothy Levitt, a daring lady who loved adventure, challenge and speed was one of Britain's pioneer women automobile racers. She first shocked British society in 1903 when she entered the Southport Speed Trials and won in her class. She was the first woman to even compete in an auto race and a working woman at that. Dorothy was employed as a secretary at that time. Were it not for mechanical problems she would have won a gold medal driving her De Dion car in the Hereford 1,000 mile trial. She drove an 80hp Napier at the annual speed trials at Brighton in 1905 and won both her class and the Autocar Challenge Trophy.

In 1906 Levitt entered a speed trial in Blackpool driving a six cylinder Napier. When her recorded speed was 96 mph she earned the description of "the fastest girl on earth." She established another women's record in the Shelsley Walsh Speed Hillclimb. This time, driving 50hp Napier, she accomplished the climb in 92.4 seconds. This broke, by about three minutes, the record that Miss Larkins had previously set. Dorothy was twelve seconds faster than the winning male driver and her record stood for seven years. In 1905 she drove a De Dion-Bouton round trip from London to Liverpool, establishing a record for the longest drive completed by a female driver.

Levitt had become involved with automobiles through the encouragement of Selwyn Edge, the owner of a dealership who also raced cars. She was competent both as a mechanic and driver. Edge considered Dorothy his leading driver and when he ran his 24-hour challenge at Brooklands he entered two other Napiers in addition to the one he drove. He tried to enter Dorothy as a driver but was unsuccessful as Brooklands refused to accept women drivers even one with the backing of Edge. So she then took one of his cars to Europe and began to compete there where she continued her winning streak. She won her class in France competing in the Gaillon Hill Climb. Again in Germany she won an award in the Herkomer Trophy Trial.

In addition driving, Levitt was also an activist and a writer. Both innovate and creative, she is credited with the invention of the rear view mirror. In her efforts to encourage other women to drive, she published a book entitled 'The Woman and the Car.' She advised women to carry a mirror and stated, "The mirror should be fairly large to be really useful and it is better to have one with a handle. Just before starting take the glass out of the little drawer and put it into the little flap pocket of the car. You will find it useful to have handy, not only for personal use but to occasionally hold up to see what is behind you." It would be another seven years before manufacturers installed review mirrors on cars.

In addition to being beautiful and daring, she also had a sense of humor as reflected in her writing. In one entry she states: "Bear in mind that when riding or driving a horse, it is only partly under your control as it has a brain. With a motor-car, you are on your own." Some of her humor still holds true today for both men and women as reflected in her opinion about cars, "There are scores of makes, good, bad, and indifferent."

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