• January 27, 2017

January 27: Special Exhibit: A Woman’s Touch

January 27: Special Exhibit: A Woman’s Touch

January 27: Special Exhibit: A Woman’s Touch Automobile Driving Museum

The Automobile Driving Museum’s next exhibit, “A Woman’s Touch”, opens January 27th, 2017. The purpose of this exhibit is to recognize the impact that women have had on the automobile industry from the inception of the automobile to modern times. These women have been drivers, inventors, CEOs, writers, designers, race car drivers, and models.

“A Woman’s Touch” will portray the history of women in the automotive industry, the key players of yesteryear and today, the Sirens of Chrome and using women in advertising for car sales, and the role of the Automobile in the Suffrage Movement.

The exhibit will include:

  • Shirley Muldowney’s restored 1977 World Champion Top Fuel Dragster and a meet and greet with Shirley (date TBA)
  • President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt’s 1932 Plymouth Town Car by Brewster
  • 1886 Benz Patent Motorwagen replica in which Bertha Benz drove the first long distance drive
  • Jean Peters 1955 Packard Caribbean Convertible – a gift to her from Howard Hughes
  • 1914 Saxon representing the Saxon driven by Alice S. Burke during the Suffrage movement
  • 1955 Nash Rambler representing the interior design by Helene Rother
  • An interactive map showcasing the first woman (Alice Huyler Ramsey) to drive across the United States and the 125 city, 10,700 mile, 178 days Suffrage movement drive of Alice S. Burke and Nell Richardson.

The exhibit will run through May 31st, 2017.

Pictured above: Wilma Russey, the first NYC taxicab driver, 1915, in her trademark leopard skin stole and hat.

Bertha benz and motorwagon

Bertha Benz, the wife and business partner of automobile inventor Karl Benz, was the first woman to drive a car over a long distance. She drove her Benz motorwagen 66 miles in 1888.

Alice_Ramsey_ggbain.03065_a

Alice Ramsey was the first woman to drive coast-to-coast in the US. Her 1909 road trip took 59 days!