Shortly after the official start of winter, Curbside Classics ran a story titled “The Cars in Our Neighborhoods in the ‘50s & 60s – Winter Edition.” The article featured a number of mid-century photos from northern US neighborhoods that pictured cars in, on, and sometimes covered in snow. The photos brought to mind my own childhood in Detroit during the 1950s and 1960s, when snowy days were much more frequent than they are today. When I think back it is always impossible to imagine how those big, heavy, rear-wheel drive automobiles managed to get anywhere when there was snow on the road, particularly since Detroit residential streets were never plowed. I remember the two-rack ruts that eventually formed down the middle of the street; oncoming cars would have to somehow maneuver around each other and the snow-covered cars parked along the curb. Often the street would freeze over after a quick thaw, turning into a makeshift skating rink. While some of us put on our skates, boys in the neighborhood would grab on to the rear fender of a passing car for a slippery joy ride down the street. As Detroit Public School students relied on public transportation, there were no official ‘snow days;’ we were expected to get to school as long as the buses were running. During the big snow storm of 1965, I boarded my usual bus to Cass Tech High School in downtown Detroit. After arriving over two hours later, I was told that school had been canceled; I thus caught the next bus back home and spent what was left of the rest of the day exploring the snow drifts with friends.
Detroit snow storm of 1965
I was thankful for modern automotive technology, all-wheel drive, and winter tires when I entered graduate school at the age of 60, as I had a nearly 80-mile commute from rural Ann Arbor to Bowling Green, Ohio. Fortunately the route was almost all freeway, so I didn’t have to worry too much about two-rack ruts. There were some nights during the winter semester, however, where I encountered snowstorms either going to or coming from the BG campus. The high Toledo overpass from northbound I-75 to US 23 was especially scary as I couldn’t stop imagining myself skidding into the guardrail and plummeting into the traffic below. However, I was determined to not let fear take over; my Audi A4 with all-wheel drive, manual transmission, and winter tires was stable on the road, and got me through some rather hazardous driving conditions. On particularly bad nights I would just plant the car behind a long hauler and follow its tail lights all the way home. I am proud to say that I never missed a class due to the weather. My professors would often mention to my much younger cohorts that if I [old age implied] could make it to class in bad weather conditions, there was no excuse for their absences.
1974 Detroit snowstorm
Now that I live in downtown Ann Arbor and can walk pretty much everywhere, I don’t have to deal with adverse weather conditions nearly as much as in the past. But every time there is a snowfall, I am hopeful that I can call on my past Detroit driving experiences to make my way – carefully and cautiously – along Michigan’s snowy roads.
Jean Jennings, the former editor-in-chief of Automobile magazine and a pioneering woman in automotive journalism, passed away in December at the age of 70 from complications of Alzheimer’s disease.
‘Bob’ at Westminster with handler Kelly Leonard
I first met Jean not at an automotive event, but rather a dog show. She and her husband Tim were the proud owners of Bob, a champion Chesapeake Bay Retriever who when not in the conformation ring was Tim’s hunting companion. My husband knew Jean from his time working on the Mazda account; as I had just begun my research into women and cars he thought we should become acquainted. Active in the purebred dog world, my husband and I would run into Jean and Tim at various dog events where the conversation was not about cars, but rather about Bob’s chances in the Best of Breed ring. Bob’s big moment came at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York when he made the first ‘cut’ in a fine class of champion Chessies.
Tim & Jean shopping for a new ‘dog’ vehicle
Jean entered the world of automotive journalism when it was very much an exclusive male fraternity. As the only girl in a family of six children, Jean no doubt understood that the way to make a place for herself among the good old boys was to be tough, outrageous, knowledgeable, and ‘one of the guys.’ Throughout automotive history, women have been required to develop unique strategies in order to be accepted and respected in the masculine world of cars. Thus rather than draw attention to her gender, Jean joined her male contingent to swear, drink, tell dirty jokes, and smoke cigars. She won over fellow auto writers and enthusiasts through her hard work, self-promotion, and engaging storytelling. Jean brought a new style of writing to what was, at the time, a rather conservative automotive establishment. Longtime friend and Automobile co-worker Kathleen Hamilton tells the New York Times, ‘it was enthusiast writing, and she brought adventure to the car-world reader.”
Jean was the first woman to lead a major monthly car magazine. Under her leadership, Automobile became the first car publication to win a National Magazine Award. Jean was also a popular television guest; she appeared on Oprah [where she taught Ms. Winfry to change a tire] as well as the Tonight Show with fellow auto enthusiast Jay Leno. After leaving Automobile, Jean continued to write freelance articles and authored a blog – Jean Knows Cars – for a number of years until her memory began to fail her. Wherever she went, Jean was always easily recognizable by her outlandish hats and larger-than-life personality.
In her later years, Jean and her husband Tim became very involved in raising money for charities like the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and the University of Michigan CS Mott Children’s Hospital. Her pet project was Caden’s Car Show, a private event where patients and their families could get up close and personal with a variety of cool cars on display. I was proud to take my 1967 Ford Shelby to one of Caden’s Full Throttle Events, established to raise funds for the Mott Congenital Heart Research and Pediatric Heart Transplant Units.
I had always hoped to interview Jean for an article on women in automotive journalism, with plans to eventually submit it to an academic journal. Unfortunately, other projects took precedence and by the time I was ready to begin it was too late. While I did not know Jean well, I had tremendous respect for her talent, success, fearlessness, as well as the inroads she created for women in auto journalism. She was one of a kind, and as noted in obituaries of a plethora of automotive sources, she will be greatly missed.
Shortly after the presidential election, Andy Kalmowitz of Jalopnik argued that Gen Z bros have been ‘sucked into’ an ideology in which proving manliness is paramount to their collective identity. They accomplish this, writes Kalmowitz, through the use of demeaning language, as well as through the accumulation of material goods that ‘project a machismo aesthetic to everyone around them.’ One of the more telling ways this is accomplished, he contends, is through the acquisition of a very large truck or SUV. While such a purchase is intended to confirm ones masculinity, as Kalmowitz notes, ‘it just lets everyone know you’re not secure in your manhood.’ Kalmowitz’s solution is to get your massive male body behind the wheel of a minivan. While driving a monstrous pickup or SUV might suggest one swings a certain way politically, a minivan simply marks a man as someone who ‘values practicality and usability,’ and ‘who doesn’t mind taking the kids to school or soccer practice.’ In short, a man who owns a minivan is one who is comfortable in his masculinity and doesn’t need to advertise it through the vehicle he drives.
1985 Plymouth Voyager
This is a rather unique and courageous position to take. Since women first expressed interest in automobility auto manufacturers and marketers have determinedly directed the female motorist toward the practical ‘family’ vehicle. While men are often encouraged to purchase automobiles that reflect power and performance, women are expected to drive a safe, reliable, and functional automobile that reinforces the gender-appropriate roles of wife and mother. The gendering of the automotive experience was instigated soon after the introduction of the gasoline-powered automobile in the early twentieth century as a solution to the growing problem of women’s automobility in American society. Fearful the increased power and range of the gasoline-powered automobile would encourage women to drive faster and further – and away from domestic responsibilities – the slow and sedate electric vehicle with limited range was positioned as eminently more suitable for the woman driver. After the Second World War, automakers continued to rely upon the cultural assumption that women’s ‘unchanging biological natures’ resulted in a gender-wide preference for sensible, sound, and dependable cars perfectly suited for the transportation of kids and cargo (Scharff 116). In 1983, Lee Iococca introduced the Plymouth Voyager; its tremendous success firmly associated the the minivan with motherhood. As Cindy Donatelli argues, the timing of the minivan introduction coincided with Ronald Reagan’s ‘family values’ campaign, often considered a backlash against the second-wave feminist visions of the 1960s and 1970s. As a ‘lifestyle enabler,’ the minivan, purposefully and aggressively identified with women by automakers, marketers, and the media, reinforced the notion that women bear primary responsibility for housework and childcare.
1990 Dodge Caravan advertisement
Automakers have occasionally attempted to sever the longstanding and stubborn connection between the minivan and motherhood. In 2017, Chrysler called upon comedian Jim Gaffigan to promote the Pacifica as a vehicle for cool, considerate, and caring dads, leveraging Gaffigan’s real life persona as a father of five. Driving a Pacifica, exclaims Gaffigan, is ‘good for my dad brand.’ However, in 2021, comedian Kathryn Hahn was behind the wheel as a ‘soccer mom’; in 2024, advertising targets the ‘Boy Mom’ and ‘Dog Mom’ as potential Pacifica consumers. While women are making the shift to small SUVs [61% of small SUV owners are women], it appears that Chrysler has reverted to longstanding, stereotypical tropes to hopefully rekindle women’s interest in the once ubiquitous family hauler.
Jim Gaffigan Chrysler Pacifica commercial
As an auto writer, Kalmowitz is no doubt aware of the female shift to small SUVs, and is thus taking the opportunity to reclaim the minivan as a man’s vehicle. Kalmowitz admits that Chrysler lent him a Pacifica Hybrid Pinnacle with a full battery and gas tank ‘to do with as I pleased for a week.’ However, the tone of his review suggests he was both surprised and delighted by the vehicle’s utilitarian qualities, as well as its ability to transport him and five of his closest buddies ‘with all of their luggage for a weekend away from the city.’ Yet what is most important to Kalmowitz is that the minivan serves many of the same important functions as a ‘anti-social massive pickup truck or SUV’ without its adverse political connotations.
2024 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid
In 1992, urban planning scholar Martin Wachs wrote, ‘despite the universal appeal and use of the automobile, it remains one of the most ‘gendered’ aspects of American urban life’ (86). Such engrained historical and cultural automotive associations – men and pickups, women and minivans – are difficult to dismantle. Kalmowitz is to be commended for his efforts to not only challenge such stereotypes, but as an auto writer and influencer, to promote a ‘minivan’ masculinity that promotes community, environmental awareness, good times, and fatherhood.
Donatelli, Cindy. “Driving the Suburbs: Minivans, Gender, and Family Values.” Material History Review 54 (2001): 84-95.
Kalmowitz, Andy. “Minivans and the Myth of Manliness”. Jalopnik.com 28 Nov 2024.
Scharff, Virginia. Taking the Wheel: Women and the Coming of the Motor Age. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1991.
Wachs, Martin. “Men, Women, and Urban Travel: The Persistence of Separate Spheres.” The Car and the City: The Automobile, the Built Environment, and Daily Urban Life. Martin Wachs and Margaret Crawford, eds. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1992. 86-103.
Participating in academic conferences is not only a great opportunity to present one’s work, but leads to encounters with other scholars with similar interests. While presenting at the Popular Culture Association National Conference a number of years ago, I was included on a panel with Katherine Parkin, a professor of social history at Monmouth University. Parkin had just published Women at the Wheel: A Century of Buying, Driving, and Fixing Cars, which went on to win the Emily Toth Award for best book in women’s studies and popular culture. Since we were both writing about women and cars, we had a lot to talk about. While my scholarship is primarily limited to that topic, as a historian Parkin writes on a variety of subjects; her research interests include the history of women and gender, sexuality, advertising, and consumerism. Parkin is often sought after to engage in various projects; however, as both a teacher and researcher she does not always have the time to accept all of the invitations. To my good fortune, Parkin has passed on some of those projects to me. These have included a book review, a chapter in a book on the history and politics of motorsports, and the most recent, an introduction to Limousine – a recently published book of award-winning photographs by Kathy Shorr.
The photographs in Limousine were taken in 1988, shortly after Shorr graduated from the School of Visual Arts in New York. For this project, Shorr became a limo driver for nine months, working for the Crystal Limousine Company in Brooklyn. Unlike the majority of Brooklynites who did not possess driver’s licenses, eschewing the automobile in favor of public transportation, Shorr grew up a car girl; she purchased her first car – a Buick Skylark – while still a teen. Thus the decision to select a limo for this project came naturally to Shorr as it satisfied her love of driving while the vehicle served as a studio on wheels. As I write in the intro, “The limo’s posh interior served as a private space for personal conversations, boisterous drinking parties, and more than a few romantic interludes. While the limousine served a practical purpose, it also transmitted messages about those who rode in it. Shorr’s passengers called upon the limousine to construct new, albeit temporary, versions of themselves, captured forever on black-and-white film.” The photos in this collection are extraordinary, effectively capturing a place in time and the people who inhabited it.
I truly enjoyed working on this special project. Shorr was a delight to work with and peppered our conversations with engaging and often humorous car stories. I am so proud to be a part of this amazing endeavor, and am honored that I was selected to write the introduction. Of course it wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for a chance meeting with Katie Parkin at PCA. So thank you to Katie and Kathy. I am forever grateful for the connections I have made in this third act of my life.
The National Women’s Studies Association Conference is one I’ve always wanted to attend but never had a project that fit into its conference themes. I always suspected the subject of women and cars was not quite serious enough to be included. However, this year an opportunity arose which I just couldn’t ignore. For the first time, the NWSA welcomed the Popular Culture Interest Group. The topic selected by the group for this year’s program – “What was I Made for: Barbie and the Goals of Feminist Media” – hoped to address both the promotion and criticism of the Barbie film as a feminist text. As noted in the program, “the conflicted response to the film opens up a space for conversation around the intertwining of feminism and media.”
Conference materials
My past scholarship includes an article on the role of the automobile in the woman’s road trip film; I have also written about the Barbie car and its influence on a young girl’s emerging sense of self. Thus when the idea for this panel was proposed, I thought it might be an opportunity to call upon both of these papers to consider how the four main vehicles in Barbie – the Corvette, GMC Suburban, Chevy Blazer EV, and GMC Hummer Pickup – serve to underscore the feminist overtone’s in Gerwig’s screenplay. As the conference was being held in my hometown of Detroit, it seemed as though karma was on my side. So I submitted an abstract and was delighted when it was accepted.
The panel, which was originally composed of four presentations, approached the topic from various directions. The first was to explore the similarities of the female protagonists in Barbie and Poor Things in relationship to continued issues surrounding women’s oppression and objectification. I was the scheduled as the second presentation; the third focused on the Barbie shoes, investigating the stiletto and Birkenstock pair as emblematic of two conscious and complementary paths through the world. The final centered on using Barbie as a pedagogical source, with consideration of the ways the film can be used in political imagining.
T-shirt worn at the presentation
Unfortunately the panel did not go as smoothly as anticipated. Both the session leader and first presenter dropped out; the stand-in leader was unavoidably late and since her computer was to be shared, the panel had a delayed start. But my own presentation went well and although there wasn’t time for questions at the end, I was able to engage with my fellow [and much younger] presenters and a few interested folks in attendance.
Although I had written about the cars in Barbie in an earlier blog, preparing for the presentation allowed me to explore the topic more extensively. Consequently, I believe I have the beginnings of an academic paper, which will keep me busy for the months to come. While I am always hesitant to present at conferences due to my age and halting presentation style, I always come away impressed and inspired by the young scholars around me. The environment at women’s studies conferences is invariably warm and supportive; I have always found feminist scholars to be especially encouraging and kind. The atmosphere at the 2024 NWCA Conference was no exception; I’m grateful I had the ability and opportunity to participate, finally, this year.
This past weekend was the 8th Annual Michael Argetsinger Symposium on International Motor Racing History, held at Watkins Glen International Speedway media center. Unlike the past two years, I was on the organization team and was also a presenter. As usual there were a mixed bag of presentations – some were fascinating and others less so. There are papers on just about every motorsport interest so it makes sense that some would appeal to me more than others.
The most inspiring presentation of the weekend was that of the keynote speaker, legendary racer Lyn St. James. I had just recently finished her book so while some of the stories she told were familiar, I was intrigued by many of the experiences she had originally left out. Lyn and I are from the same generation, so I was particularly moved by the influence of the women’s movement on her progression from racer to women’s racing advocator. Her recollections of conversations with Billie Jean King in the quest to promote women’s sport were especially compelling. I had brought my copy of Lyn’s book with me to the symposium; she signed it with the most inspirational message. It was quite an exciting day.
My presentation was scheduled on the second day. It was a lengthier repeat of the talk I gave earlier this month to the Silverstone on the history of women-only racing. It went pretty well; I had many good questions from the audience and the women in particular seemed to appreciate it. Some of the men, not so much.
The weekend is filled with other activities that provide an opportunity to network and socialize. As this is my fourth time at the conference [second presenting] I am starting to feel more comfortable. My introduction as the Society of Automotive Historians Vice President also gives me an air of legitimacy in the room.
Although I returned exhausted [a 6AM flight will do that], the weekend was ultimately a fulfilling one. I was able to present to a knowledgeable and interested crowd, mingle with a bunch of like-minded motorsport enthusiasts, and received words of encouragement from a racing legend. How cool is that!
Hershey, Pennsylvania holds a special place for the Society of Automotive Historians. On October 11, 1969, a group of individuals convened at the offices of the Antique Automobile Club of America in Hershey to establish the SAH. The primary objectives of the newly formed organization were to preserve automotive history, rectify errors in historical records, facilitate information exchange among members, and explore and record the history of all types of self-powered vehicles worldwide. Since its inception, the SAH has endeavored to foster research, documentation, and publication of automotive history by bringing together scholars, collectors, and enthusiasts with similar interests.
Over the past 50 years, SAH members have made a yearly October pilgrimage to Hershey to collaborate and connect with fellow auto history buffs. Held during the Hershey Fall Meet in the massive parking lot of Hershey Park, the club get together takes place among auctions, an enormous swap meet, car shows, and other auto-related events. The SAH has its own tent, participates in the AACA Library Yard Sale and Book Signing event, and holds its annual awards banquet at the Hershey Country Club. In past years, the activities have scaled down a bit, as folks find it more difficult to make the trip.
I have been attending Hershey since I first joined the organization about seven years ago, missing last year due to a last minute home emergency. This year, as I was somewhat physically restricted due to a fractured elbow, my husband came along to help with the driving. Although he is not a historian, he is a certified car nut and enjoyed spending two days exploring the swap meet while I attended to club business. As one of the few females in an historically masculine organization, and also as a painfully shy individual, I have made my way carefully and cautiously among the mostly male membership. But I have worked hard and my efforts have been rewarded, as I was elected vice president last year. Each time I attend an SAH event I feel more comfortable and enjoy engaging in conversations with such knowledgeable folks. As awards chair I presided over the banquet and didn’t make too many mistakes. The only mishap during the trip was that I wound up in emergency with my husband who fell in the Hershey parking lot and required stitches in his head. So glad he came along to help! But it was an enjoyable few of days; the weather was great, the company engaging, and as always, I learned a lot from an amazing group of learned and enthusiastic automotive historians.
Earlier this year I received an invitation to speak at the #GirlsWill2024 motorsport initiative sponsored by the Silverstone Museum. The Silverstone Museum, located at the iconic Silverstone Circuit in Northamptonshire, UK, is devoted to the past and present of British motor racing, and includes exhibits, legendary cars, and stories of British racing heroes. It is only fitting, therefore, that a month-long program aimed at increasing gender diversity in motorsport take place at this renowned, racing-centric institution.
To celebrate the growing number of female motorsport fans, the Silverstone has set aside the month of October to promote and bring attention to the rising interest and enthusiasm for women in motorsports. Planned activities and programs include educational and career workshops designed to highlight career possibilities as well as guest appearances from sporting stars and motorsport authors. STEM and racing, as well as sponsorships and driving, are the topics of a talk given by Barbie ambassador and Porsche Sprint Challenge GB driver Caitlin Wood. The varied and exciting roles within Formula 1 are the subject of another day’s program; additional October events include hands-on activities to assess reaction skills, as well as a look at the inside world of Formula 1 ‘from paddock to pitlane.’ Information about eSports, karting, and sports broadcasting is also part of the month’s agenda.
Katharine Worth, a PhD candidate now working as a Collections and Research Officer at the Silverstone, was familiar with my work through our joint participation in the Argetsinger Motorsport Symposium. She asked that I speak on the history of women-only racing [From Powder Puff to W Series: The Evolution of Women-Only Racing] which had been published in a UK volume on the history and politics of motorsport. While I had originally hoped to attend the event in person, a fractured elbow [ouch] prevented me from making the trip. But with Katharine’s technical help, and her consideration for the time difference, I was able to make the presentation virtually without mishap. The presentation went smoothly [I hoped those in attendance could understand me through my Midwest American accent] and I tried to answer audience questions to the best of my ability. I was quite honored to be asked to speak at this event and I only hope it was well received. Such programs are so crucial for raising awareness and enthusiasm for motorsports in young girls. The Silverstone is to be commended for creating and maintaining the impressive and important #GirlsWill motorsport initiative.
On a trip to the California Automobile Museum last spring, I chanced upon an exhibit focused on women in lowrider culture. “Rucas y Carruchas: Ladies in Lowriders” celebrated the contributions of women in the lowrider community. The collection of colorful, spectacular cars was accompanied by photographs, videos, artwork, as well as personal stories that spoke of family, community, friendship, heritage, and the meaning of lowriders to the women who own them. As someone interested in the connection between women and cars, the exhibit piqued my interest. Upon investigating the matter a little further, I came upon a number of online articles and reports focused on the rise in female lowrider clubs and communities in the Latino communities in the Southwest United States. What makes this news exceptional is that lowrider culture has long been the province of men, a practice handed down from fathers to sons, from one generation to another. While women have always been part of lowrider culture, it has been primarily in the role of passenger, girlfriend, or a scantily clothed photographic model. However, as I discovered, women have become increasingly involved in the culture as creators and drivers, forming their own clubs, and challenging the male dominated nature of the lowrider scene.
To the uninitiated, the lowrider is a customized domestic automobile – preferably a 1960s vintage Chevy Impala – painted in one of many spectacular and iridescent “candy” colors – bright pink, green, orange, deep purple, or red – highlighted with metal flake coatings, and finished with up to 18 layers of clear lacquer. The car bodies often serve as canvases for elaborative paintings of religious icons, cultural symbolism, the zoot suited pachuco, and shapely women. Lowrider interiors are often elegantly upholstered and intricately detailed in lush fabrics. However, while the lowrider is often recognized and admired for its aesthetics, the lowrider’s defining style is the lowered body that hovers mere inches from the pavement. This appearance is often achieved through the removal of rear shock absorbers and a pile of sandbags in the trunk; however, more sophisticated vehicles rely upon hydraulic technology to raise and lower the massive body frame. While the American hotrod of the white working-class male is most often associated with power and speed, bajito ysuavecito – “low and slow” – epitomizes the lowriding culture. The lowrider is meant to be seen; consequently, as Brenda Bright writes in “Heart Like a Car,” owners of lowrider vehicles “drive these beautiful, luxurious roadway spectacles very slowly, literally taking over the road and forcing other drivers to ‘deal with’ their slow, deliberate driving style” (583).
Attendees of a lowrider exhibition, wearing Zoot suits of the Mexican American subculture known as Pachucos (AP Photo/Andrés Leighton)
The lowrider subculture has a long and embedded genealogy in Mexican-American culture. It originated in the “car-saturated prosperity” of post World War II America and has remained integral to Chicano cultural identity into the twenty-first century. While hot rods and drag racers were the white male working-class vehicles of choice, Mexican-Americans proceeded in the opposite direction and created the lowrider. Young Chicanos appropriated the domestic automobile – which symbolized American values of independence, freedom, and social mobility – and reinvented it for their own use.
Lowrider customization is a form of work in which the Chicano takes a great amount of pride. As Ben Chappell writes, “Lowriders join industrial objects with craft, endowing them with new significance. With reference to Mexican-American history, the investment of a car with symbolic value and manual labor (as well as folk mechanical engineering) with prestige is a posture of resistance to a ‘community identity’ that labels Mexican-Americans as cheap labor” (637). The Chicano community demonstrates its pride not only by cruising “low and slow,” but also through participation in regional car shows and “hopping” competitions. These events provide an opportunity for the Chicano lowrider to demonstrate creativity, artistic skill, as well as technological ability.
Dueñas Lowrider Club
While some women remain participants in conventional lowrider culture, there are others who have broken away to establish new female and family focused lowrider communities. They have appropriated many of the culture’s longstanding traditions and practices while creating new spaces for like-minded female enthusiasts. These clubs and communities have become sites for creativity, invention, friendship, and family. Of the solidarity found in the lowrider community, one member declared, “you have all the pressures of going to work, coming home, but you know with the club sisters, we find time and manage to go out; they’re a very big support system for myself. We treat each other like family.”
Whereas traditional lowrider culture was centered on the connection between fathers and sons, women have expanded the generational focus to promote not only their own participation, but most importantly, to encourage that of young girls. As a founding member of the Dueñas Club in California explained, “It’s really important that us mothers, us women, show support for our girls. It’s nice to be able to do things with your daughter that she’s also going to love. You know showing my daughter the ways, embracing the culture, the love, and just really being influenced.” Many of the girls begin their immersion into lowrider culture with bikes. As a young member remarked, “I’m involved because my mom, she’s part of the car club, and then over time, I started going with her to the car shows, bike shows, and I was thinking to myself I want one of those. You see your creation come to life, and everything that you’re planning, it just makes you feel really good.” When these young girls become adults, they often follow in their mother’s footsteps. Angel Romero, founder of the all-women’s car club Duenas, spoke of her mother’s influence. As she recalls, “Back then, we didn’t see a lot of women driving lowriders. People would joke that the lowrider was my boyfriend’s or Daddy’s ride. […] We got into this lifestyle and culture very differently from most people. It wasn’t our dad or a male role model who taught us about cars. It was our mom.”
The women who participate in lowrider culture view their vehicles not only as spectacular machines, but also as canvases on which they can express their creativity, culture, and identity. In the “Rucas y Carruchas” exhibit, for example, the collection was accompanied by photographs, videos, artwork, and personal stories written in notebooks and scribbled on scraps of paper. Personal artifacts were often strategically placed around the cars, which offered a glimpse into the lives and dreams of the women who owned them. This practice begins in girlhood; in online club photographs, bikes are often surrounded by a young girl’s important possessions.
Women in lowrider culture are getting recognition in local and national news sources. Lowrider magazine, dubbed the movement’s “bible” by readers worldwide and is considered the source for the latest in everything lowrider, published a special edition in October 2024 dedicated to ‘women shaping the culture’ in honor of women’s history month. As noted in an article in Motor Trend, “Historically, depictions of women in Lowrider magazine were often limited to models on the hoods of cars. This limited-edition revival highlights the women behind the wheel who have fought for their place as drivers, builders, mechanics, painters, and welders in a male-dominated world.”
For generations, lowrider culture has evolved as an important site of collective and individual identity formation among Chicano fathers and sons in the southwestern United States. In the twenty-first century, women within these locations have embraced the historical, cultural, and creative components to construct new female-centered communities focused on friendship, family, and a shared passion for the iconic lowrider automobile.
Bright, Brenda. “Heart Like a Car: Hispano/Chicano Culture in Northern New Mexico.” American Ethnologist. 25.4 (1998): 583-609.
Chappell, Ben. “Lowrider Style: Cultural Politics and the Poetics of Scale” in Cultural Studies: An Anthology. Michael Ryan, ed. Malden MA: Blackwell, 2008.
Figueroa, Fernanda and Melissa Perez Winder. “Lowriding is More Than Just Cars: It’s About Family and Culture for Mexican-Americans. 15 Oct 2024. APnews.com 15 Oct 2024.
Good Morning America. “Meet the Moms and Daughters of this All-Female Lowrider Community.” 8 Feb 2024. Video.
Romero, Angel. “How an All-Women’s Lowrider Club Formed in the Heart of Silicon Valley.” 27 Sep 2024. kqed.org
When I joined the Society of Automotive Historians a number of years ago I was one of the very few visible female members. Consequently, I wanted very much to impress upon the mostly male organization that I could be of value to the club. I took on a number of positions and tasks in order to ‘prove’ myself. I soon took on what was known as the “Bricks and Mortar” working group, with the goal of establishing a permanent home for the organization’s archives. With the help of my fellow panel members, this was achieved. The award books are now in the research stacks of the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum in Auburn, Indiana. And a partnership with Kettering University [formerly General Motors Institute] in Flint, Michigan resulted not only in a storage facility for the SAH archives, but also the establishment of a travel grant for student researchers and historians.
I was also put in charge of the Awards Committee. The SAH awards are the signature event of the organization. Each year awards are given out for the best automotive history books [in both English and LOE categories], publications, articles, media other than print, and student papers. Recognition is also given to museum archives and individuals whose efforts have furthered automotive history in some fashion. Each of these award categories has a panel that works all year to determine the winners. I oversee this committee by collecting and directing the nominations, prodding the award chairs to make decisions in a timely fashion, and presenting the awards at the SAH annual banquet.
Last year I was elected SAH Vice President with a whole new slew of duties. I also joined the group that helps organize one of the club’s annual conferences. The Michael Argetsinger Symposium on International Motor Racing History is held each fall at the famed Watkins Glen International Speedway in Watkins Glen, New York. To put on this symposium, the SAH partners with the IMRRC [International Motor Racing Research Center], also in Watkins Glen. This year I volunteered to physically put together the program for the upcoming event. While it was more work than I imagined, it was also a great learning experience. As I learned by editing the biographies, the folks who present at the Argetsinger are a varied and fascinating bunch. Scholars, armchair historians, former racers, students, archivists, librarians, engineers, and professors are just a few of the occupations and positions represented. The symposium format also incorporates Zoom presentations, which allows individuals from all over the globe [Britain, Australia, Italy, Spain, Germany] to participate as well.
The presentations encompass a wide variety of topics and points of view. Not only are the familiar NASCAR and Formula One racing series covered, but papers on more obscure racing venues and vehicles are also on the program. Women in motorsports, racing and nation, and motorsport journalism are discussed as well. This year, legendary racer Lyn St James will be offering what will no doubt be an inspiring keynote address. I will be presenting my paper on the history of women-only racing to a new and critical audience. Because I put together the material, I received a sneak preview to the upcoming event and am excited for what is in store. I look forward to looking and learning from this esteemed group of scholars and historians who will discuss their work and provide insight into the state of automotive history today.
For those interested in ‘attending’ the Argetsinger symposium, the two-day [November 1 & 2, 2024] event will be livestreamed and recorded. Information on access is available at the IMRRC website.
