Historical Women That Worked with Cars and Chambered Mufflers
March 22, 2018
Who are some historically significant women that played crucial roles in shaping the automotive industry?
- Florence Lawrence (turn-signals)
- Denise McCluggage (racing skills)
- Helene Rother (car designs)
- Bertha Benz (ingenuity)
- Charlotte Bridgwood (electronic wipers)
Rugged car parts like chambered mufflers that make up a large portion of the automotive industry are often flooded with the machismo of an allegedly male dominated environment. However, if we take a good look at history, many women have played important parts in the evolution of the car by making their own significant marks in terms of a variety of fronts, including car parts such as the chambered muffler.
This March is International Women’s Month, this is a time where we celebrate the importance and big roles that women have had and will always have in our lives and throughout history. The stories of these women who helped shape today’s automobiles show the strength of women when it comes to overcoming adversity. Here are a handful of the automotive industry’s most influential women:
Florence Lawrence
Florence was born in 1886 and throughout her life was a genuine auto enthusiast. Historically speaking, she was the first public movie star. If that’s not impressive enough, after witnessing a roadside accident, Florence took siege of the general public’s frustrations on this hazard, and invented the very concept of turning signals that we still use today.
Denise McCluggage
Denise is as diverse as it gets on several domains –she was an American journalist author and photographer. In those realms alone during the 1950s and 1960s, women were seen as a joke in the different industries. Denise really made a name for herself when she became a full time racecar driver and won the Grand Touring category at Sebring in 1961 –driving a Ferrari 250 GT!
Helene Rother
Helen was a German born refugee during the ravages of World War II. She moved to America and became the first female car designer for General Motors. Her distinctly stylish and colorful designs for both exterior and interior propelled her into working with the biggest names in the American car manufacturing industry. She was a well-respected figure that launched her own brand name, eventually metamorphosing into the iconic AMC.
Bertha Benz
Bertha is one of the main seeds that gave birth to the formidable car company that is Mercedes-Benz. Her personal feats include completing the first long-distance car journey in 1888, and executed the world’s toughest car test. Bertha was very much well known for her tech-savviness and mastery of even the mist intricate of car repairs –while under pressure!
Charlotte Bridgwood
Charlotte, who developed the first automatic windscreen wipers, never received full credit for the innovations that she made in terms of the ‘fully-realized’ automotive vehicle. She also never received the just financial compensation that her work truly deserved – as a woman, she became victim to the viciousness of large car corporations.
Key Takeaway
These women remind us that car parts like the chambered muffler are not just for men to work on. The stories of these strong women remind us to consistently work on uplifting women in today’s world; to overcome the perils of sexism.
The evolution of car parts like chambered mufflers show us that women can indeed be better than men on a variety of sectors –a great reminder as we celebrate Women’s Month.
