During the 1980s I was working in the creative department at McCann-Erickson on the Buick account. Although the import market had been promoting smaller vehicles for a least a decade, American manufacturers were hesitant to enter the compact car market. Buick, especially, was known for its rather large vehicles; in the classic film Annie Hall, Woody Allen’s character Alvie proclaims, “there’s a spider in your bathroom the size of a Buick.” Thus when the 1984 Skyhawk was introduced, the smallest vehicle in the Buick lineup, I thought a unique strategy would be to cite it as the perfect vehicle for short people. As someone who is barely 5’ 2”, I was tired of sitting on cushions to see over the steering wheel or propping pillows behind my back to reach the clutch in behemoth American cars. However, my idea was quickly shot down; perhaps the popular Randy Newman 1977 hit with the lyrics “short people got no reason to live” influenced the creative director’s decision. Or more likely it was because promoting a sporty vehicle as appropriate for individuals of shorter stature, primarily women, was considered a marketing nightmare. At any rate, Buick, like the majority of US car makers, continued to sell the mantra “bigger is better,” which no doubt contributed to their eventual decline.
The 1984 Skyhawk ad that eventually ran. No short people mentioned!
Fast forward forty years, and the automotive site Jalopnik produces an article titled “The Best Cars for Short Drivers.” As auto writer Collin Woodard notes, “sometimes it feels like automakers just completely forget that short drivers exist, too.” The article goes on to provide a list of eleven vehicles that Consumer Reports deems suitable for the vertically challenged. The selection includes not only compacts, but also SUVs, minivans, crossovers, sports cars, and luxury sedans. Woodard explains how each vehicle has the capacity to adjust for shorter drivers, particular in seating and steering wheel positioning. The vehicles run the gamut of automotive needs, including functionality, affordability, roominess, and the elusive “fun-to-drive” vibe.
The Kia Soul. Recommended for the short among us.
Although I have owned a few larger vehicles to accommodate very big dogs, I have preferred smaller daily drivers since I purchased my first car – a Volkswagen Beetle – in 1970. I have stuck with VWs throughout the years and have owned a series of Golf GTIs and Golf Rs, which are easy to park, a blast to drive, and fit my smaller body perfectly.
2025 VW Golf R Black Edition – Just my size!
Yet despite the positive spin on cars that accommodate a slighter frame, the Jalopnik comment section leaves no doubt as to how the automotive population feels about these cars. As one poster snarkily remarks, “Old lady cars are great for short people. Who knew?” As the comments suggest, although cars have adjusted to accommodate all body types, including that of the smaller driver, the disparaging attitude toward women and cars remains, sadly, the same. Proclaims another Jalopnik reader, “short people got no reason to drive.”
The Society of Automotive Historians Banquet has traditionally been held each October in Hershey, Pennsylvania, where the organization was founded over 50 years ago. It took place in conjunction with the AACA [Antique Automobile Club of America] Eastern Division Fall Meet, a massive antique and classic car show, swap meet, and flea market held on the expansive grounds of Hersheypark.. This year, for the first time, it was decided to move the banquet to the historic Durant-Dort Factory One in Flint, Michigan. The Durant-Dort Factory One was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1978. Considered the birthplace of General Motors, it is where visionary William C. ‘Billy’ Durant made his first fortune in the horse-drawn carriage business with his business partner Josiah Dallas Dort during the late 1800s. After falling into disrepair over the next century, the building was purchased and restored by GM in 2013; the goal was to preserve an early cornerstone of the global auto industry in Flint and create a modern meeting and exhibition space.
SAH President Kevin Kibbutz welcomes the banquet guests (Photo by John M. Galloway for General Motors)
As it turns out, the Factory One operations manager is the current SAH president, who generously welcomed the organization into this incredible edifice for this special occasion. Moving the banquet to Flint provided an opportunity for Midwest SAH members, as well as those who work during the week, to attend, many for the first time. Somehow, as I didn’t volunteer nor was I asked, I was put in charge of the banquet. This resulted in nearly one year of freaking out, as I had never in my life been responsible for an event of this size. However, eventually it all came together and it turned out to be a lovely weekend of fun, camaraderie, and celebration.
Attendees touring the Sloan Museum (Photo by Mary Elton)
I arranged for a number of automotive-centric activities over the weekend for those coming to Flint. The first was a special tour of the Sloan Museum History and Automotive Collections by Curator of Collections Malcolm Cottle. A video program was offered in the Durant-Dort Carriage Company Building across the way from Factory One. Before the banquet, the Kettering Archives opened its doors for a tour of its impressive collection, guided by interim Director of Library Services Dawn Winans. On Sunday, folks were invited to attend the Golden Memories Car Show on the Flint Cultural Center grounds. While I was uncertain as to whether folks would be interested in these offerings, each was very well attended. In fact, one of the award winners drove his 1954 Nash Ambassador from Milwaukee to the Awards Banquet so that he could enter it into the car show the following day.
Me announcing the Benz Award Winner (Photo by John M. Galloway for General Motors)
The Factory One conference space was an incredible venue for the banquet. The audio and visual capabilities were outstanding, and the members enjoyed socializing among the antique vehicles and vintage signage. As for the guest speaker, I convinced Jim Secreto, a retired automotive photographer I worked with over 40 years ago on the Buick account, to give a presentation focused on his automotive advertising art collection. The audience seemed truly engaged and Jim seemed to be enjoying himself.
Jim Secreto speaking on the history of Detroit automotive advertising art (Photo by John M. Galloway for General Motors)
Although I hadn’t slept for many nights before the banquet, the weekend turned out to be a success. However, as I take over the reins of the SAH presidency later this year, one of my first actions will be to delegate the awards banquet to someone, anyone, else.
In 2014 I wrote an article – “Women Auto Know: Automotive Knowledge, Auto Activism, and Women’s Online Car Advice”– which addressed the growth of women’s car advice websites. The sites, I noted, were developed as a response to the poor treatment women traditionally received at automotive dealerships and service establishments. Although women influence nearly 85 percent of new car sales, their experience at automotive dealerships differs significantly from that of men. Not only are women subject to sexist and patronizing behavior from automotive personnel, but they often wind up paying considerably more for automobiles or automotive services. Women’s car advice websites became popular during the early years of the Internet as a source for automotive knowledge and the acquisition of negotiation strategies and skills.
Some twenty years later, women are now taking to social media to seek automotive advice and report poor service to thousands, if not tens of thousands, of online followers. As an aging boomer who is admittedly not fluent in social media, I came upon this phenomenon while looking at automotive feeds to which I subscribe. One of those is Motor1.com, a global digital media company specializing in automotive content, providing car news, reviews, buying guides, and premium videos for car buyers and enthusiasts. One of the features that kept popping on my feed was an almost daily report of the car buying or service experiences of TikTok users. It appears that the Motor1.com staff looked to TikTok for interesting car stories to relay to its reader base. TikTok users are heavily concentrated in younger age groups, with the 18-24 and 25-35 brackets representing the largest segments. What is particularly noteworthy about the automotive experiences reported is that nearly all of them came from women.
This should not, after all, be surprising. The automobile’s longstanding association with masculinity has discouraged women from becoming too familiar with cars. Consequently, it has put the female driver at a disadvantage when attempting to purchase or service an automobile. However, despite the lack of an automotive education, women today are much more forthright about addressing this deficiency. Unlike their male counterparts, who are often reluctant to admit they are unknowledgeable or uninformed about cars, women know what they don’t know. Thus they are using social media to become more informed, to ask whether they have been treated fairly, to find solutions to automotive problems, and to acquire the tools to fix an issue on their own.
In 2014 I wrote, “Although women’s car purchases nearly equal those of men, women continue to experience inferior treatment in most US auto dealerships and service establishments. Dealers often take advantage of women’s uneasiness with the negotiation process to intimidate the female consumer and charge her more than men; service centers profit from women’s presumed lack of automotive knowledge and technological expertise as they pressure female customers to finance unnecessary repairs. Despite women’s increased purchasing power, gender inequities in auto service and repair ensure that women remain on unequal footing when entering the automotive showroom.” As exhibited by the TikTok stories on Motor1.com, these problems continue to persist over 20 years later. However, much like the generations before them, today’s tech-savvy young women have taken matters into their own hands. They have called upon social media to draw attention to the issues not only women, but all young people face and in the process, have become empowered as car owners and consumers.
Being the ‘first’ in any endeavor represents a breakthrough moment – someone or something has crossed a boundary that had not been crossed before. The celebration of firsts suggests possibilities – something that was once considered impossible or off-limits can now be achieved. However, acknowledgement as a groundbreaker also carries the weight of expectations. An individual’s success or failure can influence how others in the same role or field are perceived. While this phenomenon exists in all fields of endeavor, it especially relevant for those whose “firsts” challenge existing power structures and societal norms. Although attention to female automotive firsts may diminish the achievements of those who follow, the determination and tenacity of women who were able to succeed in a culture in which they were not welcomed should not be disregarded. As Nanette Braun, of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women, exclaims, “as long as women face barriers, it’s important to celebrate first-time achievements to show other women that such accomplishments are possible” (qtd in Morgan).
Joan Newton Cuneo – first female star of motorsports
It is not surprising, therefore, that in automotive history, many of the celebrated women are ‘firsts.’ Bertha Benz was the first person, man or woman, to engage in a long-distance, internal-combustion-engine, automobile trip. Alice Ramsey was the first woman to drive across the US in an automobile. The ‘first female star of motorsports’ was a title bestowed on Joan Newton Cuneo for her racing acumen. Other female racers have also been honored as firsts – Louise Smith is regarded as the ‘first lady of racing;’ Betty Skelton was known as the ‘first lady of firsts.’ Janet Guthrie was the first woman to qualify at Indianapolis; Lyn St James was the first woman to be awarded the Indy 500 Rookie of the Year. Not only was Sarah Fisher the first woman drive for her own team, but was the first female owner to earn an IndyCar victory. The first woman to win an IndyCar race was Danica Patrick. Due to her record breaking accomplishments, Shirley Muldowney is often referred to as the ‘First Lady of Drag Racing.’ The three Force sisters – Ashley, Brittany, and Courtney, hold a collection of drag racing firsts. Other firsts include Nellie Goins, the first African American woman to succeed in Funny Car racing, and Cheryl Linn Glass, the first Black woman to race professionally.
Betty Skelton ‘First Lady of Firsts’
Female firsts are also noted in the auto industry. Helene Rother was the first woman to enter the field of automotive interior design at General Motors. Audrey Hodges Moore is recognized as the first full-time designer at an automotive company. The first female industrial designer at Studebaker was Helen Dryden. Betty Thatcher Oros was the first female exterior automotive designer on record. In more recent history, there is no more prominent ‘first’ than Mary Barra, the first woman to serve as CEO of a US automotive manufacturer. Whatever their automotive endeavor, these female firsts stood out as exceptional. They were women that through daring, perseverance, and a little bit of moxie, broke barriers and emerged victorious despite incredible odds. Exceptional women in history, notes Helen Antrobus, are those who lived and worked outside the stereotypical gender norms of the time. They are those “who subverted the conventional role of women, who shouted loud enough to be heard” (56).In automotive history, they are celebrated as pioneers, female heroes, and invaders of the male domain. They appear as long distance adventurers, auto industry interlopers, and motorsport legends.
Cheryl Linn Glass – First Black Female Professional Racer
However as a category of female success, the ‘exceptional woman’ both hinders and helps how women are considered in automotive history. The exceptional label can imply rarity rather than equality; it can suggest an individual’s accomplishments are unusual because of her gender, thus reinforcing the idea that success is the norm for men but not for women. It can give the impression that what a particular woman has accomplished cannot be easily duplicated by others; that she is, in fact, an anomaly, an outlier, a recipient of extraordinary circumstances, relationships, opportunities, coincidences, or luck. It can reinforce gender stereotypes, upholding the idea that women don’t belong in certain areas, and that those who succeed must be ‘special’ rather than talented or learned or skilled; any shortcomings can be generalized as evidence that ‘women aren’t suited’ for the role. It can be condescending, as though the person’s gender is more noteworthy than what she has accomplished. It can isolate rather than normalize, thereby slowing broader acceptance and inclusion.
Audrey Hodges Moore – first full time female automotive designer
However, the importance of female representation in automotive history cannot be underestimated. Research focusing on women’s participation within male-dominated environments repeatedly demonstrates how one woman’s success can serve as motivation and inspiration for those that follow (Lockwood et al). Asking “Do Female ‘Firsts’ Still Matter” in the US judicial system, Frick and Onwuachi-Willig note how the firsts of female judges all over the nation not only held important symbolic meaning for the advancement of women, but also “helped to change societal perceptions about who is and should be a judge” (1531). Female representation is considered crucial to the retention and recruitment of women in male-centric STEM fields. Write Drury et al, “female role models assist in both of these efforts by improving women’s performance and sense of belonging in STEM” (265). One of the barriers that perpetuates women’s exclusion from Formula One, argues O. Howe, is a lack of ‘representation and (in)visibility” (454). The younger generations need to “see it to be it,” Howe argues. “If a team were required to have a woman on their team, it could provide inspiration for the next generation of women race drivers […]” (460).
Helene Rother – first female designer at General Motors
Research, notes Forbes contributor Margie Warrell, demonstrates that “role models have an amplified benefit for women due to the gender biases, institutional barriers and negative stereotypes women have long had to contend with across a wide swathe of professional domains.” As Warrell concurs, ‘”seeing is believing”. In terms of automotive history, attention to the firsts of exceptional women has the potential to inspire young women to think about a future as a designer, engineer, racer, owner, or even, perhaps, CEO.
Helen Antrobus. “Anonymous was a Woman: Collecting Cultures at the People’s History Museum.” Anonymous Was a Woman: A Museum and Feminist Reader, ed. Jenna C. Ashton (Cambridge: Museums Etc Limited).
Benjamin J. Drury, John Oliver Siy, and Sapna Cheryan. “Do Female Role Models Benefit Women? The Importance of Differentiating Recruitment From Retention in STEM.” Psychological Inquiry 22 2011, 265.
Amber Fricke & Angela Onwuachi-Willig. “Do Female ‘Firsts’ Still Matter? Why They Do for Female Judges of Color.” 2012 Michigan State Law Review, 1531.
Olivia Howe, “Hitting the Barriers – Women in Formula 1 and W Series Racing,” European Journal of Women’s Studies 20, no. 3 (2022): 454.
Penelope Lockwood et al. “To Do or Not to Do Using Positive and Negative Role Models to Harness Motivation.’ Social Cognition 22 (4) 2004: 422-450.
Gwen Morgan. “The Missing Story Behind Women’s First-Time Accomplishments.” Fastcompany.com Jan 1, 2017
Margie Warrell. “Seeing is Believing: Female Role Models Inspire Girls to Think Bigger.” Forbes.com Oct 9, 2020
Our annual trip to the Minnesota State Fair took us home through Wisconsin where we had the opportunity to visit the Dahl Auto Museum in La Crosse. The museum was founded by the Dahl family, who have owned dealerships in the area since 1911, making them the eighth oldest Ford dealership in the country. The museum is attached to their current automotive compound, surrounded by other Dahl auto-related businesses. It is a small museum but very well executed; the exhibits are informative, attractive and well-maintained. There is a lot of historical information on the walls as well as on placards next to the automobiles. The cars are lined up pretty tightly in the museum; the staff member informed us that the 40 cars revolve as there is not enough space to put them all on the floor at once. The museum is dedicated to the history of the Dahl’s involvement with cars as well as the accompanying history of Ford Motor Company. The museum also includes an extensive collection of hood ornaments from various automotive brands.
In terms of women’s representation, it is found primarily as consumers through advertising, symbols in hood ornaments, stereotypes, and as historical markers. There is also one interesting car story attached to a pink 1957 Thunderbird convertible.
1957 Ford Thunderbird convertible, passed down from one Dahl woman to another
The car was originally purchased by Henry Dahl’s aunt Loraine in 1957 and has been in the family ever since. It resurfaced in 2013 when it was restored and presented to Andrew Dahl’s wife Jamie at her 40thbirthday party which took place in the museum. The car is driven only in the summer; it is normally displayed in the museum during the winter months.
Another car of interest was the 1911 Ford Model T ‘Mother-in-Law’ Roadster. The car got its name due to the single spare seat added between the rear fenders. Because the seat was isolated from the passenger and driver, and completely open to the elements, it was dubbed the ‘mother-in-law’ seat, no doubt due to the back-seat drivers jokes of the time. By the 1920s the extra rear seat was repositioned into the body of the car and was thereafter known as the ‘rumble’ seat.
Nash ‘Flying Lady’
The hood ornament collection included the Nash Flying Lady, created especially for the 1950 Airflyte by renown pinup artist George Petty. In the creation of this ornament, Petty combined the popular Petty girl with Airflyte styling. The real life model for the hood ornament was Petty’s daughter Marjorie Petty-Macleod. As noted in Curbside Classic, ‘Nash struck a marketing coupe with Petty’s involvement, and brought some of that known Petty Girls glamour into Nash.’
Other ‘feminine’ hood ornaments in the collection included the 1920s Windswept Girl, the 1926 Butterfly Lady Swirl, the Packard Goddess of Speed, 1920s Diving Nymph, and three versions of the 1950s Cadillac Flying Lady.
Electrics for women
The promotional materials in the museum included a number of ads for electric vehicles that featured women. Women were considered the perfect market for electric cars due to the automobile’s cleanliness, slower speed, and limited range. However, after the introduction of the internal combustion engine, women decided they too wanted to go further and faster which led to the eventual failure of electrics. Ford ads for the Thunderbird and Mustang on display also featured women as consumers and drivers.
I had made a point of visiting the Dahl on this trip. There were a number of posts during Women’s History Month which featured female automotive innovators, such as Florence Lawrence, who developed the auto signal arm extension that influenced the development of turn signals, Mary Anderson who patented the windshield wiper, Charlotte Bridgwood who improved on Anderson’s design by adding an electric component, Helen Rother, the GM designer who was the first hired in such a capacity in Detroit, and Margaret Wilcox, the original designers of the automobile heating system. Unfortunately, as I discovered, the spotlight on these industrious women was apparently limited to the month of March.
The Dahl Auto Museum was a pleasant diversion on the drive home. There are some beautiful cars, much historical information, and a very helpful and knowledgeable staff member to answer visitor questions.
As legends go, in the late 1960s, a young woman by the name of Mary Kay Ash approached a Lincoln dealership to request a custom car to help promote her growing cosmetic business. When rebuked by the dealer, who told her to go home and get her husband, Ash took her business to a Cadillac dealer across town. She asked for, and received, a custom new Cadillac in a color to match the blush of her compact. When, after seeing the gleaming Cadillac, a number of Ash’s sale directors requested pink cars of their own, an idea was born. Beginning in 1969, the top five Mary Kay sellers each year were rewarded with a brand new, blush-colored Cadillac Coupe de Ville. The tradition – through model changes and various shades of pink – has continued for over five decades. For 2025, the iconic Mary Kay Cadillac is going electric; top salespeople are now offered a pink pearl Cadillac Optiq, the first fully electric vehicle awarded by the cosmetic company. The automobile’s current advertising themeline – ‘Drive Your Ambition’ – cleverly combines the personal motivation of Mary Kay and its representatives with the prestige and affluence associated with the Cadillac brand.
Mary Kay’s Pink Cadillac program has always been somewhat controversial. Critics argue the Mary Kay model and allure of the Cadillac mask a structure that resembles a pyramid scheme. Others find the color of the car problematic; the pink hue stereotypically marks the luxury automobile as a ‘woman’s car,’ a label that is devalued in masculine car culture. The longstanding association between pink and femininity also suggests adherence to traditional gender roles, which conflicts with contemporary notions of business acumen and female empowerment.
However, supporters view the pink Cadillac as a symbol of women’s financial independence and success. To Mary Kay champions, the pink Cadillac is not a symbol of feminine submissiveness; rather, the flashy automobile represents women’s achievements in the business world, a culture long dominated by men. The Mary Kay organization is often commended for inspiring women’s entrepreneurship in a landscape that has historically presented barriers to female advancement. As for the pink-is-for-girls association, Ash brilliantly coopted the stereotype and transformed it into a recognizable and valuable brand identity. The automobile has a longstanding association with male identity and power; by rewarding associates with Cadillacs that are uniquely pink, Ash transformed a masculine symbol into one of female empowerment.
The Cadillac has always had cultural significance, particularly among those who held a less-than-dominant position in American society. During the 1950s and 1960s, if a woman drove a Cadillac, it was assumed a man purchased it for her. A woman behind the wheel of a pink Cadillac, earned through hard work, perseverance, and a bit of moxie, would stand out as someone who had made it at a time when female success in any endeavor was difficult to attain.
Certainly there is something ultimately intriguing about the Pink Cadillac. To Aretha Franklin, the pink Cadillac served as a self-propelled ride to romance on the ‘Freeway of Love’. Bruce Springsteen also wrote a song about it, expressing his admiration for the car while wondering just what a woman could be doing in it. Of the new EV version, Jalopnik journalist Logan Carter writes, ‘I’m happy to see that the most driven cosmetic-wielding Capitalists now have the option to go all-electric without compromising their allegiance to Mary Kay.’ As for the women who drive them, the pink Cadillac shows the world they are successful, ambitious, and empowered. They are, in the words of Springsteen, ‘cruising down the street, waving to the girls, feeling out of sight’ in a shiny, ostentatious, and hard-earned Pink Cadillac.
Yesterday I had the pleasure of presenting at the Studebaker Museum Speaker Series in South Bend, Indiana. The event is held once a month in the museum’s Wiekamp Auditorium. The presentation topics vary widely, often touching on both South Bend and automotive history. I was asked to speak on the rather broad topic of women and the automobile. Since I am currently working on a book project focused on women’s representation in automotive museums, I thought it would be an appropriate subject for the talk. As I was putting the presentation together, I made sure to include Studebaker artifacts whenever possible, an effort that did not go unnoticed by the audience.
There was a nice crowd in attendance, mostly seniors from the area, as well as a few fellow SAH members. Women made up a good portion of the audience, which I was surprised and pleased to see. Although I am pretty nervous in these situations, the presentation went pretty well with only a few glitches. The audience seemed interested in the topic; the women in particular asked good questions and came up to speak to me afterward. They appeared appreciative that my project focused on women, something that in the context of automobile culture they rarely experience.
I left not only relieved that the presentation was over, but also gratified that the topic resonated with so many women in attendance. This positive response served as a form of gratification that I am on the right track with this project, as well as a little encouragement to keep moving forward.
Many thanks to the Studebaker for providing me with this great opportunity to present my work.
As a longtime Volkswagen fan, I recently discovered a book on its history that garnered a little bit of positive attention when it was published in 2012. In Thinking Small, an “auto” biography of the Volkswagen Beetle, Andrea Hiott traces the trajectory of the famous auto from its conception as the “people’s car” in Nazi Germany to its emergence as an anti-establishment icon in 1960s America. While the book is ostensibly about the strange car, Hiott also focuses on the people who made it happen – Ferdinand Porsche, whose imaginings served as the inspiration for the Beetle’s eventual production, Heinrich Nordhoff, the German Industrialist who created the positive environment for its manufacture, and Bill Bernbach, whose advertising campaign created the American market for the little German car.
As Hiott notes, the Beetle, initially launched in 1938, was not an instant success. Although as an automobile it had little in common with the Model T, Nordoff, after taking the Volkswagen reins in 1947, adopted Henry Ford’s business philosophy to the struggling German car. In the introduction of the Model T, Ford’s objective was to manufacture an affordable car for “everyman”; the tycoon’s famous “$5 a day” promise to automotive workers assured that the people who built the cars could also afford them. Under Nordhoff’s guidance at the Wolfsburg VW factory, workplace conditions improved and benefits to workers increased; consequently, the reliable and affordable Beetle grew increasingly popular with the masses, eventually becoming the “people’s car” that Porsche had originally imagined.
When the German car came to the United States, the funny-looking little car became the foil to the big, brash behemoths coming out of Detroit. The Bug was embraced by the counter culture; it became the car of choice for strapped-for-cash college students and members of the Woodstock generation. As one of those broke college kids, I purchased my own Beetle in 1970; it was one of dozens that could be found on Detroit’s Wayne State University commuter campus. Although I was hardly the anti-establishment type, as a Detroit native growing up in a community of autoworkers, the VW parked in my driveway no doubt marked me as a “traitor” in my neighbors’ eyes. However, as someone who aspired to work in advertising, VW’s marketing strategy, created by the advertising stars at Doyle Dane Bernbach, convinced me that I was driving the coolest car on the planet.
The last Beetle that evolved from Porsche’s original design, manufactured in Mexico, drove off the production line in 2003. However, affection for the funny little car never really died. In 1994, at the New American International Auto Show, the retro-inspired New Beetle concept car was unveiled. The production model arrived in 1997, “just in time to catch a wave of nostalgia and surf in all the way to sales success’’ (McAleer). The New Beetle was initially met with great enthusiasm and attained modest sales numbers. However, the retro version was not without controversy. Although, Hiott asserts, it was embraced by the hipster generation, descriptors such as “cute,” “playful,” and “fun” led to the New Beetle’s perception as a “chick car,” which was believed to turn off potential male buyers.
The chick car, as I defined in a 2012 article, is a small, sporty car designed for men but appropriated by women for their own use. They are affordable, quick, nimble, easy to handle, and most importantly, “fun to drive.” The chick car is the antithesis of the “woman’s car”, a sturdy and practical vehicle – i.e. station wagon, minivan, small SUV – used to transport kids and cargo. As I discovered, to the women who drive them the chick car represents personal freedom, independence, agency, and a sense of empowerment.
During the height of the chick car’s popularity, Terry Jackson of Bankrate.com wrote, “Carmakers recognize the powerful influence women have today in the auto marketplace while they simultaneously have to avoid sending a message to men that they shouldn’t be caught dead driving these cars.” While automakers welcome the female consumer, the “chick car” label creates a good amount of anxiety and concern among them. Car manufacturers are uneasy when automobiles become associated with femininity and the female car buyer.
Automakers responded to chick car dilemma in a number of interesting ways. Volkswagen “beefed up” the offending car to be more masculine. As auto writer Doron Levin wrote, “VW has attempted to ‘male up’ the New Beetle over the years by adding a turbocharger to the engine and a spoiler to the rear.” In 2012, VW introduced a “bigger, less ‘cute’, and sportier Beetle” in an attempt to ditch the “girl” car image and attract more male buyers (Healey).
Apparently the efforts to masculinize the little car were unsuccessful. As Anthony Capretto argues, “People weren’t able to move past this image, and these and other factors caused sales to drop substantially by the end of its life.” Whether or not the car’s downfall can be explained by its association with the woman driver seems an easy out as there are still plenty of “chick” cars – e.g. Mini Cooper, Miata – on the road in 2025. Regardless, in 2016, VW discontinued the nameplate after its nearly 80 years of existence.
Published in 2012, Thinking Small ends on an optimistic note. As Hiott wrote, “the car is still an object we want to love. Its story is still being written” (424). While the New Beetle is no longer being manufactured, it is has gained new appreciation among the collector set. As McAlleer exclaims, “More than a decade after the New Beetle left showrooms, it’s starting to become a choice for younger enthusiasts. […] because it’s such a whimsically adorable design, seeing a modified New Beetle can’t help but put a smile on your face.” Although Hiott couldn’t predict the car’s ending, she exhibited an astute understanding of the car’s effect on generations of drivers.
My 1970 Beetle
As a previous owner of two Beetles – 1970 and 1979 Super Beetle cabriolet – I have a strong affection for the odd little car. And after learning of the Bug’s early struggles to gain footing in post war Germany, its unlikely emergence as a cultural icon in the United States, and its stint as a popular albeit controversial chick car, I have a new appreciation for the Beetle’s history and its incredible sustainability over nearly 8 decades. Although this post comes over 10 years too late, I would recommend Thinking Small to anyone who has ever had a bit of a love affair with the Volkswagen Beetle.
Capretto, Anthony. “It’s Time We Gave the Volkswagen New Beetle the Respect it Deserves.” CarBuzz.com 19 Dec 2024.
Healey, James R. “2012 VW Beetle Gets Bigger, Ditches ‘Girls’ Car’Image.” USA Today. 10 Apr. 2011.
Hiott, Andrea. Thinking Small: The Long, Strange Trip of the Volkswagen Beetle. New York: Random House, 2012.
Jackson, Terry. “Top Five Chick Cars.” Bankrate.com. 1 Nov. 2007.
Levin, Doron. “Are You Man Enough to Drive a Chick Car?” Bloomberg News. 18 Apr. 2006.
Lezotte, Chris. “The Evolution of the ‘Chick Car’ Or: Which Came First, the Chick or the Car?” Journal of Popular Culture 45/3 2012.
McAleer, Brandon. “Volkswagen’s New Beetle is Finally Growing its Own Following.” Hagerty.com 24 Jan 2025.
One of my tasks after joining the Society of Automotive Historians was to form a relationship with a university with an automotive presence. The objective was to share knowledge and resources; the SAH hoped to establish a home base with a renowned Michigan based research institution to both store and share its considerable publications, records, and archives. After investigating a number of possibilities, a partnership was formed with Kettering University in Flint, Michigan. Kettering, formerly known as the General Motors Institute [GMI], prides itself as one of the country’s premier STEM institutions, ‘known around the world for educating great and successful leaders, entrepreneurs, innovators, engineers, scientists, and business people.’ In return for the storage of its archives, the SAH proposed a number of educational opportunities for Kettering University students, which included funding a travel grant to conduct research at the Kettering Archives.
Dr. Eaglin’s first book
The first SAH/Kettering Travel-to-Collections Grant was awarded earlier this year to Jennifer Eaglin, PhD, an associate professor of history at Ohio State University. A native of Ann Arbor, Dr. Eaglin’s interest in cars came through her father. As she noted, it is hard to be from Michigan without some automotive connection. Dr. Eaglin used the grant to conduct further research for a current book project – ‘Auto Americas: An Hemispheric History of the Automobile.’ After a week at the Kettering Archives, Dr. Eaglin presented her research to a group of Kettering faculty, students, staff, and interested guests. Two SAH members, myself included, made the trip to Flint for the presentation.
Dr. Eaglin’s past projects include her first book which focused on ethanol as a source of alternative energy for Brazilian automobiles. Eaglin’s body of work moves beyond the United States to consider automobility as a collective Western hemisphere experience to incorporate all the Americas. Her research questions for this particular project include what makes the American experience collective; how did the auto industry expand in similar ways across the Americas; how did these experiences differ; how does understanding this this process explain the Western Hemisphere’s continued disproportionately heavy dependence on automobiles in the 21st century compared to the rest of the world. While United States automobility is centered primarily on cars, Eaglin’s more expansive approach changes the focus to more universal modes of transportation such as buses and trucks.
As someone who is interested in the woman-car connection, I was especially thrilled to see that a female scholar was the initial SAH/Ketttering Travel to Collections Grant recipient [although I had nothing to do with the selection]. Although Dr Eaglin’s work is not focused on gender in any way, it is encouraging to have someone in her position conduct research that focuses on the automobile. For generations, the field of automotive history has been dominated by male scholars. As an individual who not only researches but teaches automotive history, perhaps Dr. Eaglin will inspire a new generation of scholars – young women and men – to further the practice of automotive history research.
As a nod to the beginning of summer, the auto writers at Jalopnik asked readers to report on their favorite summer car pastimes. The responses varied from historical sightseeing, night drives with the top down, aimless adventuring, trips to nude beaches, and driving to high elevations with the hope that an old car’s air conditioner doesn’t conk out. My own summer auto travels are not as exciting; however, living in place that is cold much of the year, driving during the blessed summer months is always fun no matter where I am going.
Driving the Miata to the Dairy Queen
Years ago, as a recent divorcee with an unreliable car, my earliest road trips were to a metro park within an hour’s drive. It was there I met my sister [also newly single] as we spent hot Michigan afternoons slathered in Coppertone working on our city tans. Once I remarried, the car served as transportation to summer destinations, primarily vacations ‘Up North’ along Lake Michigan. After we retired, our obsession with baseball led to various stadium road trips, first checking all of the major league ballparks off our list before starting on those of the minor leagues. Perhaps our best road trip was in a rented Mustang convertible, driving through the southwest United States on Route 66. We also used our vehicles to transport bikes to rural paths and downtown Detroit for ‘Slow Roll‘ nights. And our 1999 Miata was and remains the perfect ice cream trip car.
1971 Dodge Challenger owned by one of my favorite interviewees
When I began my academic interest in woman and cars, my trips became more purposeful. Interviewing women for my dissertation and subsequent book took me to car shows all across the state and beyond. I spent many an afternoon at parks and parking lots, searching for women who would talk to me about their cars. As I am naturally timid, this was an often stressful situation. However, the enthusiasm which women greeted me dispelled much of my anxiety as I found most relished the opportunity to go on and on about their love for whatever vehicle they were driving. When I embarked on a project focused on women in autocross, my summer routes took me to airport runways and school lots. Through the deafening noise and exhaust fumes I spoke to enthusiastic and engaging women about their involvement in motorsports. Although I never had the nerve to join them on the track, I enjoyed watching the women as they veered around cones, worked on the track, or gathered in groups on the grid to engage in prerace dances.
Exhibiting my ’49 Ford at Motor Muster
As I now live in a location where I am in walking distance of just about everything, my driving is somewhat limited. However I still enjoy taking my classics – 1949 Ford and 1967 Shelby – to local car shows. Each provides a unique driving experience, always accompanied by honking horns and thumbs up as I make my way on two lane highways [no freeways for these cars]. It is one of the best parts of summer.
It’s been a cool spring in Southeastern Michigan, but summer weather appears to be on the horizon. As the warm temperatures arrive, I look forward to an automotive summer of road trips, car shows, and ice cream.
