Liz Turner
  • Welcome
  • Woman Driver Blog
  • Top stories
    • Mario Andretti interview
    • WOMAC 2017
    • Getting connected in Melbourne
    • Fitting a baby seat
    • Haggling Academy
    • Men vs Women - the stats
    • First Mustang owner was a gal
    • Emma Peel vs Alice Morgan >
      • Jade shows me how it's done
    • Western Group Driving Day
    • Transport for four babies
    • Women lose advantage
    • Sam flies high
    • Jo Price beats the boys
    • They bought any car Dot Com
    • Fast women
    • E-types on film
    • In which I bought a car
  • Car Reviews
    • Mercedes B-Class
    • VW Golf SV GT 2014
    • Renault Twingo 2014
    • Audi A3 Cabriolet
    • Jaguar F-type
    • Fiat 500 Goes Large
    • Putting Paceman through its paces
    • Mazda6 and Concorde
    • Jaguar Land Rover Experience Day
    • VW up! - city car in the country
    • Joining the MX-5 Club
    • VW Driving Day
    • Face-lifted MX-5
    • Review: VW Golf 2013
    • SMMT Test Day 2012
  • Portfolio
    • Communications & PR
    • Beauty & the Dirt
    • UK newspapers
    • New York Post
    • Consumer magazines
    • Customer magazines
    • TV and radio
    • FortyOneSix Goodwood website
    • Books
    • Editorial Services >
      • Immediate Media Branded Content
      • Planet Sputnik
      • Tillergraph
      • Social Publishing Project
      • Paradigm People
  • Galleries
    • My cars >
      • Metropolitan
      • Volvo 1800 S
      • 1941 Chevrolet
      • Eunos Roadster (Mazda MX-5)
    • All-New Discovery at Gaydon
    • Silverstone Classic 2016 >
      • I-PACE launch
    • Hot rods at Pendine 2016
    • Hot rod heaven 2013
    • Classic Motor Show 2014
    • Goodwood Revival 2014
    • Beaulieu autojumble 2014
    • My favourite hotels
    • Bonhams Auction Goodwood 2014
    • Women in motoring history
    • Riding with BTCC Champ
    • Pink c'est chic!
    • Bond girls' cars
    • Women in Car Advertising
    • The woman driver onscreen
    • Disney without kids
    • Sweeney!
    • Geneva Show 2013 Gallery
    • Goodwood Revival 2012
  • Contact
  • Jaguar I-PACE launch

Women just love muscle

10/28/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
Power Under Her Foot (Women Enthusiasts of American Muscle Cars) by Chris Lezotte McFarland & Company ISBN 978-1-4766-7016-4 Available on Amazon and book shops
Two British friends of mine, below, didn't have to wait patiently like many women in Chris Lezote's book – they've been driving muscle cars since their twenties.
Picture
Sarah Bradley and her beast. Image courtesy of Paul Harmer www.paulharmer.com
UK motoring journalist Sarah Bradley says: "My 1969 Plymouth Road Runner, with its 383 cu in V8 is big, loud and in-your-face, and its elegant yet muscle-bound styling is sheer perfection."
Picture
Jenny Griesel above, in her 1969 Chevy  Camaro, says of driving muscle cars: “It’s different and cool. A big thing is the sound, it’s great when a V8 has just started and tickin’ over, oh yeah, and speed, that power - awesome.”

Jenny enjoys a good burn-out – you can hardly see her Plymouth Cuda, below:
Picture
Or entertaining the crowd in her Pontiac Formula 400, below.
Picture
This Superbirds shoot for Classic & Sport Car will be treasured in my memory forever. I have to admit I was happy to let the owner perform this burn-out. But I did get to drive one the yellow one at 103mph down a private desert road. Zowie.
Picture
Chris Lezotte interviewed 88 muscle-mad ladies living around the American mid-west for her book Power Under Her Foot (Women Enthusiasts of Muscle Cars). Chris has worked as a copy writer and art director on Buick account, and lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan where I spent four extremely enjoyable years.
   I didn’t think muscle cars were my thing until I visited the extremely generous owner of an impressive collection just outside Palm Springs. I was there for a feature on the Plymouth Road Runner Superbird for Classic & Sports Car magazine with snapper Andrew Yeadon. As the wonderful chap handed me key after key to compare his Mach 1 Mustang, 383 ‘Cuda Convertible and Charger R/T with Police Interceptor package (as featured in the Bullitt car chase), before we even got to the sublime Superbird, I heard the roars and rumbles, felt the power and fell under the spell.
   The voices of the female owners in this book speak of joy freedom, power and empowerment. When men talk about their cars, they tend to reel off the numbers, eager to talk about the horsepower, the tyres and the shocks. These women talk about relationships, and how their car makes them feel. Chris takes her title from a 1968 Plymouth Satellite owner who said: “When I’m in my car I feel free, no stress and so much power under my foot, I can’t get enough of it.”
   There’s often a wistfulness, because most had to wait until their 50s – some until their 70s – to get behind the wheel, for many reasons Chris sets out to explore.
   The evocative reminiscences of their teenage days take the reader back to the golden era of cruising and racing on Detroit’s Woodward Avenue, where engineers from the Big Three auto manufacturers often rolled up to give hot rodders a sneak peek of their next cars, to get their reaction and maybe learn a few tips from the street. Girls who got to borrow a car from a brother or boyfriend were lucky. Most simply watched or rode along.
   Cindy who remembers a Mustang she coveted as a teen: “I wanted to buy it so bad, but I wouldn’t even presume that that would have been appropriate.” Jean, now the proud owner of a 1964 ½ Mustang, used to cut pictures out of magazines and paste them into a scrapbook. Adrienne, who now owns a Plymouth Barracuda says: “They told us you’re not supposed to be in it [the scene] girls aren’t supposed to interested in cars and engines.”
   I found the voices of these women compelling, appearing as quotes throughout the books, or as picture captions of proud owner and car. Each quote tells a story, some joyous, but many tinted with blue.
   These women did what was expected of them. They ran homes, worked as teachers, therapists and real estate agents and drove kids around in minivans. But once the kids could look after themselves, and they got a bit of money, they realised their dream.
   Or there was Helen from Sioux City Iowa, who was discouraged from getting a 2003 red Mustang convertible by her controlling husband. Once her divorce came through, she not only bought the car, but had the hood decorated with flames and the slogan “Super Bitch”.
    Now I’ve been a bit naughty here. I made up all those names because I found it hard to feel emotionally involved reading about a 48-year-old massage therapist, a 65-year-old retired interior decorator, or a 55-year-old CPA. (What is a CPA?). Some of the ladies Chris interviewed preferred to remain anonymous, but I feel an alias would have helped readers identify with them, and get to know them as they are clearly quoted in several different chapters.
   The book has its roots a university thesis and feels like it. There’s a lot of methodology, repetition and proof points. Chris observes that these middle-aged gas-guzzler-owning ladies from the mid west tend to be socially conservative (N.S.) She also asserts that the advertising industry had a machiavellian strategy to push women into family cars “as a means to construct women’s driving experience as less than their male counterparts” and keep muscle cars for men.
   Working in the advertising and marketing world as Chris did and I still do, I’m surprised she believes those mad man had any agenda other than flogging cars. Personally I believe society pushes people into roles - advertising only reflects and reinforces the social norms.
   As now, the wonderfully patronising ads Chris includes in the pages try to make female buyers feel better about owning that minivan. The Aerostar “can haul kids to school in the morning and turn around and tow a two-ton boat to the lake at night”. Yeah, right. Or AMC’s ad proclaims “She doesn’t mind the Pacer Wagon’s unique wide design makes it look a little different. That’s the way a woman with her own style likes to look.” (The Pacer became the wrong kind of icon as the car in which Wayne and his crew get their heads down to appreciate Bohemian Rhapsody in Wayne's World.)
   In a lot of cases, owning a car has improved the social life of the women Chris spoke to. Margie (not her name) a retired teacher, never drove her husband’s 1994 Z/28 Camaro while he was alive, but found that driving it helped her adjust to life without him and have fun, often inviting friends for a ride. She says: “I just feel so good, especially on these beautiful nights to be out with this car.”
   Others enjoy the social side of attending events and local meets. Kids think Gran is cool if she picks them up in a muscle car. Some have met first or second husbands through the scene, or feel the shared enthusiasm makes their marriage stronger. Susan is thrilled her loving husband has restored a Road Runner for her.
   The final chapter concludes: “Ownership of a muscle car, the women collectively argue, provides the opportunity for a different, more exhilarating driving experience. It encourages female motorists to try new things, participate in racing and track days, develop new skills, take challenging road trips and test their limits. It helps to change perceptions of a woman driver from passive to passionate.”
   The book aims to fill a gap in the automotive record, which concentrates on men. It does that, and makes a powerful case that given the opportunity, women get a real kick out of owning a muscle car.
   To me, and my car-crazy friends, that comes as no surprise. A bigger question, which needs continuing scrutiny is why it would be surprising. Owner of a 1969 Plymouth Roadrunner, UK motoring journalist Sarah Bradley says: “I both love and loathe the fact that – even in today's supposedly more enlightened times – people still do a double-take when they see a woman behind the wheel."
   It would also have been interesting to talk to those women who attend club meetings with their husband but find he’s always at the wheel. Or the women who lust after a Shelby Mustang, a sports car, an M-series BMW or anything regarded as a ‘boys’ car’ but still feel it would somehow be wrong, or too self-indulgent, or who don’t want heads to turn. Society has moved on, but in terms of the car (and the TV remote) women are still not equal.













0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Woman Driver

    This blog is by a woman driver, for everyone to read

    Archives

    December 2019
    September 2019
    March 2019
    October 2018
    July 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    May 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    August 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012

    Categories

    All
    1001 Dream Cars
    101-year-old Woman Driver
    1930 Packard
    1934 Model 40 Special Speedster
    1968 Buick Century Cruiser
    2013 Lincoln Mkz
    2013 Mazda6
    2013 Viper
    65 Year Old Bike Racer
    Accessories
    Addison Lee
    Agatha Raisin And He Quiche Of Death
    Alfa 4C Spider
    Alfa Spider
    Anne Cecile Itier
    Anne-Cecile Itier
    Anne Hope
    Art Of Animation Resort
    Aston Martin Atom
    Auctions
    Audi A3 Cabriolet
    Audi A6 TDI Concept
    Audi Rs 6 Avant
    Autonomous Cars
    Auto Show
    Avalon
    Ayrton Senna
    Baboons
    Baby Seats
    Beaulieu Autojumble
    Beccy Gordon
    Bentley
    Biba At Goodwood
    Bmw I8 Spyder Concept
    Bond Cars
    BTCC
    Buick Y Job
    Buying A Car
    Buying Cars
    Car Maintenence
    Cars Movie
    Car That Drives Itself
    Celebrity Car
    Chevrolet
    Chevrolet Volt
    China Auto
    Chinese Grand Prix
    Chris Hemsworth
    Citroen Berlingo
    Citroen DS3 By Benefit
    Classic Car Insurance
    Colours
    Concept Cars
    Concorde
    Corvette
    Coty
    Courtesy Car
    Cute Doggies
    Damian Lewis
    Dan Gurney
    Danica Patrick
    Daniel Craig
    Denise Van Outen
    Desiré Wilson Racing Driver
    Disney
    Dodge
    Dorothy Levitt
    Do Women Love Their Cars?
    Drink Drive Awareness
    Drive A Supercar
    Economy
    Ecovelocity
    Electric Car
    Environment
    Exotic Driving Experience
    F1
    Facebook Campaign
    Febreze
    Female Racing Driver
    Ferrari 458 Italia
    Fiat 500
    Fiat 500l
    Fisker Karma
    Flying Car
    Ford Fiesta St
    Ford Ka
    Ford Model T
    Ford Mustang
    Formula 1 Women
    Fuel Consumption
    Fuel From Water Audi
    Future Technology
    Future Transport
    Geneva Show 2013
    Gerry Judah Interview
    Golf
    Goodwood
    Goodwood Revival
    Goodwood Revival 2012
    Goodwood Sculptures
    Great Women Drivers
    Green Car Show
    Green Motor Show
    Haggling Academy
    Her Majesty The Mechanic
    Honda Civic Tourer
    Hon Mrs Victor Bruce
    Hotels
    Hybrid
    Hyundai I30
    In-car Entertainment
    Infiniti Ev Concept
    Insurance
    Jaguar
    Jaguar F Type
    Jaguar F-type
    Jaguar Xf Sportbrake
    Japanese Classics
    Jensen Button
    Jodie Kidd
    Joe Pepitone
    Jon Lord
    Kids Test A Car
    Lamborghini Gallardo LP570-4 Superleggera
    Lana Del Rey
    Land Rover Experience
    Let Her Drive
    Lets Race 2014
    Lewis Hamilton
    Lightning Gt
    Lights
    Madonna
    Male Passengers
    Maria De Villota
    Marie Reilly Pepitone
    Matt Neal
    Mazda MX 5
    Mazda MX-5
    Mazda Mx-5
    Men Vs Women Drivers
    Mercedes-Benz Drivers
    Mercedes Concept Style Coupe
    Mercedes Sl65 Amg V12 Roadster
    Messerschmitt
    Mg
    MG Magnette
    Michele Mouton
    Mini Cooper D
    Mini Cooper S Convertible
    Mini Cooper S Paceman
    Mini D
    Mini New
    Mini Roadster
    Mitsubishi Asx
    Mitsubishi I Race Car
    Mom Buys Car For Son
    Mopar Graphics
    Mx 5
    MX-5
    New Technology
    New York
    New York International Auto Show
    New York Post Auto Show Preview
    Nico Rosberg
    Nissan
    Nissan Juke
    Nissan Qashqai
    Parking
    Pat Moss-Carlsson
    Pikes Peak
    Pink Cars
    Planet Sputnik
    Problems With Partners
    Ram 1500
    Range Rover Evoque
    Range Rover Evoque Convertible
    Range Rover Sport
    Renault Clio
    Renault Twingo
    Renault Twizy
    Renault Zoe
    Rent Your Neighbour's Car
    Retro Bicycle
    Road Rage
    Road Test Vw Range
    Robert Downey Jnr
    Samuel L Jackson
    Saudi Women Drivers
    Scarlett Johansson
    Scooters
    Sean Diddy Combs
    Shirley Muldowney
    Smokey & The Bandit
    Soy-based Seats
    Srt
    Stars And Cars
    Sue Baker
    Sustainability
    Sweeney Cars
    Teenager's New Car
    Terrafugia
    Terry Gilliam
    Test Track Experience
    The Avengers
    The Staves
    Toyota
    Toyota Avalon
    Toyota Aygo
    Traffic
    Truempg
    Vauxhall Cascada
    Victoria Beckham
    Viewt
    Viper Srt
    Vw Beetle Cabriolet
    VW Golf SV GT
    VW Up!
    Walt Disney World
    Wgmw Driving Day
    What Car?
    Win A Sat-nav
    Womac
    Women
    Women In Motor Industry
    Women In Motoring

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.