 On May 21st of the year 1902, two ladies decided to make a short tour from a place near Dover to Chandler's Ford in Hampshire, a distance of about 155 miles. The car they drove was a 1-year-old, much used Serpollet steam car. I must admit that I've read their story, which was published in The Autocar of June 28th, with increasing amazement. In their story, the author stresses mainly their troubles, but she adds: “I should like to say that from start to finish we most thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, and found even the breakdowns even amusing and also most instructive.” The first trouble was a puncture, and as the ladies hadn't experienced this before, they had to phone (!) to Tunbridge Wells for assistance, causing a delay of 3 hours. You might think, well, what else to expect from ladies? But then read the story about the next troubles: when the fire suddenly went out, they found that an oil tube had given away. Not having a spare part, they had to disconnect the automatic oil pump and connect a flexible tube directly from the oil tank to the fire. They got the car working again, but one trouble followed the other: they had to fix a leaking throttle and next the automatic water pump. A leaking valve, however, was too much, also for the local engineer, so they had to wire for help from London. The rest of the journey went all well, but during the last part of the journey, the valves started leaking again and thus the car had to be towed the last mile. The trip had taken them three days, but the return trip a week later took only two days without too much trouble. Total cost of the trip: £6, 6s., 7d. The story was told as if it was something you just do, but I wonder who would have the guts now, and also, who would have the skills these days to fix what our ladies did more than 100 years ago? Two years later The Car Illustrated published the poem La Chauffeuse, of which the first verse goes like this: Erstwhile my Delia hardly knew The kitchen poker from a screw; Her ignorance of science, too, was quite colossal. Tout ça est changé! How her zeal – Since first she handled steering wheel – For deeper knowledge makes me feel A mere old fossil! The poor husband lamented on for 6 more verses, but the truth was of course that the genie was out of the bottle. And although men have continuously tried to put the genie back in, they will not succeed. It is time for you, lady drivers, to show coming Sunday (at the London to Brighton run) that you are cast from the same mold as our two ladies above. Show them you're just as good, or maybe even better drivers than your male opponents. Bon allumage! Words and photos: Ariejan Bos |
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Two Ladies lead the way for all the ladies this Sunday with a Steam Car
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