#Car show girl models driver

When she later tried to sell the rights, detractors argued “the driver would be distracted by operating the device” from inside the vehicle. Mary Anderson applied for a patent in 1903, even before Henry Ford’s Model A had been manufactured. And it set the scene for the importance of test drives. (Can you say, first brake linings?) And the best part: Benz reportedly made the trip to prove a point to her business partner and husband, Carl.Ĭarl Benz was having a tough time marketing his invention.īertha’s trip, under the guise of her taking her sons to visit her mother, proved the brand that would eventually become Mercedes Benz had a future.

#Car show girl models install

She drove the route in a horseless carriage, unblocking a fuel line with her hat pin and enlisting the help of a cobbler to install leather linings on the wooden brakes when they began to fail. What can we learn about history through women and cars?Īnd that brings us back to Bertha Benz and Mary Anderson. “They’re not the prettiest,” said Herrera, “But they are very rare.” Herrera said this year she was most looking forward to seeing the vehicles from a Prowlers Club - a retro sports car that resembles a Plymouth PT Cruiser from the early 2000s.

It’s not a beauty contest, of course, said Herrera.Ĭontestants are mostly judged on the authenticity of their costume and on their answers to lighthearted questions about pin-up culture or perhaps their favorite actress of the era, she said. The winner performs meet-and-greet duties at the museum throughout the year and hosts the contest next year. There was rockabilly music by the aptly named Hot Rod Trio, performances by the Rusty Rhythm Club Dancers and shout-outs from DJ Dynomite Lola.Īnd what vintage car show would be complete without an homage to the historic pin-up culture? Every year, the Zimmerman includes a contest to crown Miss Z-ADM, said Herrera. In addition to the requisite car rally outside, the museum offered an all-woman lineup inside. The event eventually outgrew El Camino College and in, 2017, the auto museum took over.Ĭontroversial Harvard Westlake sports center headed to LA City Council debate The automobile museum in El Segundo has been putting on the event during Women’s History Month since 2015 when Pati Fairchild, a shop class teacher at El Camino College, first conceived it.įairchild’s idea was to create a first-of-its-kind car show by women, for women, said Marisol Herrera, Zimmerman’s executive director in an interview before the weekend.

It’s those pioneering women in the car industry and their modern-day counterparts who were celebrated on Saturday, March 11, at the Zimmerman Automobile Driving Museum’s annual Women ‘N Wheels event. And, without Mary Anderson, we might be climbing out of our vehicles to clear away rain from windshields.īenz, in 1888, became the first person to drive an automobile a significant distance - 66 miles.Īnderson, in 1902, created the first working windshield wiper blade. If it wasn’t for Bertha Benz, the ubiquitous brand Mercedes Benz may have driven off the proverbial cliff.