THE WOMAN AND THE CAR

Ladies' Mirror, Volume 3, Issue 3, 1 September 1924, Page vii (Supplement)

THE WOMAN AND THE CAR

THE VOGUE OF THE LIGHT CAR—THE EVERINCREASING KINGDOM OF MOTORDOMTHE SELF-STARTER—WOMAN’S FRIEND IN NEED-CARS DESIGNED FOR WOMEN—OVERSIZE TYRES—CARRYING GOLF CLUBS RALLY it is not surprising to hear that, despite a certain depression in business affairs, a great motoring season is expected. No doubt a certain number of owners have discovered that they cannot run powerful and costly cars, but it is too often forgotten that a small ear makes but a moderate demand upon the purse, while the fascinations of the pastime are so well understood that many will forego actual necessities to enjoy them. Particularly have women discovered how much happiness and freedom is represented by the possession of a good “two-seater,” and I am not surprised to bear that the makers of smaller models varying in price between £250 and £SOO receive most of their inquiries nowadays from would-be women motorists. These little cars make but a rare call upon the mechanical ingenuity of their owners, and a great deal of pleasure at a relatively small cost can be obtained by their manipulation. They open the “far horizon” as surely as does a carriage of fifty horse-power, and it is even possible that those who drive them derive more gratification from the pursuit than others who boast of more splendid possessions. Physical Strength and the Car Apropos this multiplication of women amateurs at the wheels of little cars, we note an article in a contemporary which deplores the purely physical development which often attends the pursuit of games in our day. Women golfers, says the writer, women who play lawn tennis, who ride astride, who motorall are “masculinised” in a way that is deplorable. Monstrous muscles, over-developed figures and unnatural enlargement of the limbs are the marks of a race no longer feminine, but wearing, as Sergeant Buzzfuzz would have said, “the shape and aspect of a man.” Whatever be the truth of the contention where the active sports are in questionand that we have no intention to discuss—-it is quite certain that unusual physical strength is not necessary to the woman motorist, and that many of the cleverest drivers have been physically among the frailest. Especially is this the case since every car worth its name has been fitted with a self-starter and there is no longer need to go out into the roadway to set the engine going. In the bad old days, when we had to traipse in the mud and often to swing a starting handle, which needed a man’s strength to turn it at all, the possession of a car of any considerable horse-power was useless to a woman. Happily, all this kind of thing has gone into the ewigkeit, and nowadays starting presents no terrors. No Heavy Controls for Women When a woman goes to buy a small car, she should stipulate for a trial, during which she may learn the extent of the claim it will make upon her physical strength. She needs especially to be sure that the gear levers operate smoothly, and that no tricks, requiring a certain amount of force, have to be performed to change from one speed to another. This may not trouble us on short town runs, possibly, but we shall find it exceedingly wearing upon a long day’s run, and a ear so defaulting can never he a pleasure to its owner. Similarly, it is absurd for a woman to have to drive a machine fitted with monstrously heavy pedals and a clutch mechanism which requires real strength to depress. These faults are characteristic of certain small models of the day, and they are serious enough to render such types taboo. A woman needs everything to be as light and easy as it can be made with safety, and while there is no comfort in a. little pedal per se, the large flat variety may properly require but a slight effort to depress them, while the gears should always be so fitted that mere strength has nothing to do with their manipulation.

The Car Built for Women There was a great deal of talk at the end of last year about the possibility of a car designed and built by some enterprising firm especially for woman’s use. Unfortunately, we have heard little of it lately, and it would seem that the majority of manufacturers has the mere male in its eye, whatever the class of car it is building. This would not matter so much if men were at the pains to make the driving-seat adjustable, but when it is not adjustable a woman must resort to cushions and other undesirable contrivances to get any kind of comfort at all. In other respects, also, we see this masculine bias, especially where the small car is concerned, and while it is true that the interiors of the larger saloons and cabriolets are often luxurious enough, the smaller models appear to be built largely for “sportsmen” and those who pretend to despise the little adornments which help a woman upon a journey. All of which seems to say that a fortune awaits the man who will build a coupe wholly for woman’s use and will remember her limitations and her needs from the beginning. Large Tyres on Small Chassis While Ave are talking of those ears which are owned and driven by women, it is impossible to forget the important subject of covers and tubes. Many a season’s motoring has been ruined by a car which is undertyred, and Ave are acquainted with no outlay which is so well repaid as that upon covers large enough to carry without risk of frequent bursts and punctures the chassis Ave decide upon. We are of the opinion that an owner is nearly always right in fitting to her chassis a cover one size larger than the makers recommend. The comfort ensured is quite remarkable, and the freedom from worry more than worth the slight extra cost entailed. All, indeed, who suffer from tyre troubles should think first of this obvious remedy. Golf Clubs on Cars Very many women are motoring to the links just now, and some of them find the storage of their golf clubs not a little troublesome. One word of caution is wisely uttered, and it refers to the practice of strapping the clubs flat upon the luggage platform at the rear of the “two-seater.” This is an unwise thing to do, for we have known instances where the clubs have been shaken on to the high road one by one —and even the whole bagful left behind. If clubs are to be carried on a luggage grid the straps of their own bags should he used, and the bags themselves should always possess a hood, which can be firmly strapped down to ensure that the precious implements of inefficiency are not scattered upon the whole high road.