Yvonne Simon

Yvonne and her co-driver Regine Gordine at the 1951 Monte

Yvonne Simon was a versatile French driver who showed skill in both sportscar racing and rallying in the 1950s.

She raced Ferraris at Le Mans twice, in 1950 and 1951. Her first attempt, partnering Michel Casse in Luigi Chinetti’s 166 MM Berlinetta, ended with an empty fuel tank on lap 25. However, a second run in the same car in 1951 gave her and Betty Haig a 15th place, third in class.

Her two Le Mans entries came in the later part of her career, which had begun in the 1930s. Among her earliest achievements was a second place in the 1937 Paris-St. Raphaël Rally driving a Hotchkiss Grand Sport. She was only 20 years old. Two years later in 1939, she won the all-female event outright, in the same car. A few months earlier, she had won her first Monte Carlo Rally Coupe des Dames, driving the Hotchkiss with Suzanne Largeot and starting from Athens. This was her third attempt at the Monte, after failing to finish the 1937 event in a Matford and co-driving Louise Lamberjack’s Hotchkiss to eleventh in 1938.

Among her other notable pre-war rally results was a seventh overall in the 1939 Criterium Paris-Nice, in the Hotchkiss.

She began circuit racing not long after her rally debut, in 1938. She and her rally team-mate Suzanne Largeot entered the Paris 12 Hours at Montlhéry, driving a Simca belonging to Yvonne. They were eighth overall, second in the 1100cc class.

Her earliest win was in a ladies-only race using Renault Juvaquatres. It was held at the Péronne circuit as part of that year’s Picardie Grand Prix. Yvonne defeated Hellé Nice to win. She entered one other women’s one-make race that year at Comminges, but the result is not known.

As soon as motorsport recommenced after the war, Yvonne was back in action. She shared a Delahaye with Germaine Rouault for the Spa 24 Hours in 1949 and was eleventh overall, first in the 4000cc class. The car was probably Germaine’s.

It seems to be about this time that Yvonne got to know Luigi Chinetti. She raced against him in that year’s Spa 24 Hours, which he won. In 1950, she started racing his Ferrari 166 MM. It is sometimes credited as Yvonne’s own car, but its chassis number, 0042M, remains the same.

Her first race in this car was the Circuito de Porto, in which she was fourth overall and won her class. She also competed in the Rouen and German Grands Prix, although the results are not forthcoming.

In the same car, she won a 3-litre race in Nice and finished the Mille Miglia, 90th and seventh in class with Alberico Cacciari. Later in the year, she was sixth in the Circuito di Senigallia.

She even drove the Ferrari in the Paris-St. Raphaël Rally and was second overall. Rallying was far from forgotten: she had already finished second in the women’s standings in the 1951 Monte Carlo Rally in a Simca. The Ferrari made another unlikely rally appearance in the Rallye du Maroc, held in the Atlas mountains. Yvonne and Alberico Cacciari were 19th.

Entering a different Ferrari herself, she had another go at the Senigallia race in 1952, but did not finish. She was also eighth in the 1952 Reims GP and thirteenth in the Bari GP. This car was another 166, but had a Zagato body. For the St. Raphaël Rally, she drove a Renault 1063 and posted the first of three consecutive wins.

The same car and driver combination won the 1953 Paris-St. Raphaël, ahead of class winner Paola della Chiesa’s Lancia Aurelia.

1953’s racing season was meant to start with the Mille Miglia, but the Fiat 1100 that Yvonne was scheduled to share with her St. Raphaël rival Paola della Chiesa did not make the start. A couple of months later, a last outing in the Ferrari led to an eleventh place in the Monza Grand Prix. Most of Yvonne’s major races this year were in Italy; she raced another Ferrari in her only attempt at the Pescara 12 Hours in August, sharing with a driver called Giarelli.

Her biggest home race of the year was also the major debut of her new car, a 745cc Panhard Monopole. She was fourteenth in the Reims 12 Hours with Jean Hémard in this car. Early in the season, it had proved itself a decent rally car with the first of two St. Raphaël wins.

In 1954, driving the Monopole, she was fourth in the Nimes GP, just behind Elie Bayol. She entered the Reims 12 Hours again with Jean de Montrémy in the same car, but they crashed out.

The same car and driver pairing attempted the Bol d’Or in 1955. The race was held at Montlhéry over 24 hours and they were tenth, second in the 750cc class.

This was Yvonne’s last major circuit race. She continued in rallying for another couple of seasons and won her final St. Raphaël event in 1957, driving the Panhard.  

She died in 1992, at the age of 75.

(Image from http://www.kwa-kwa.pl)

Lia Comirato Dumas

Lia Comirato Dumas was the undisputed queen of the Mille Miglia, having entered the Italian classic eight times between 1936 and 1949.

Her best finish was second in 1948, driving a Fiat with her husband, Alberto. It was one of her last attempts at the race. They were also fourth in that year's Coppa d'Oro delle Dolomiti, in a Stanguellini.

The Comirato-Dumas’ first car was a Fiat Balilla 508C with berlinetta bodywork, built in 1935. It was a fairly modest car with a one-litre side-valve engine and 34 bhp. In their first Mille Miglia, they were fourteenth overall and second in the 1100cc class, behind the similar Fiat of Milton Biagini and Arcangelo Periccioli. The car was likely tuned and prepared by Fioravante Zanussi.

It was probably Alberto’s second Mille Miglia in the car, but Lia’s first time.

The same car and driver combination tackled the 1937 Miglia, but they did not finish for reasons unrecorded.

Lia’s next car was a modified Fiat 1100, called the “Fiat Comirato 1100”. This car was not successful in the Miglia either; it failed to finish in 1938 and 1940. Heavily customised with a narrower profile and less bodywork than a standard 1100; it was the subject of complaints by rival drivers who tried to claim it was illegal.

After the war, Alberto was the first to resume his motorsport career. He raced a Fiat 1100 in 1946, but Lia did not take the wheel herself. She returned in 1948 for another Mille Miglia, finishing eighth in another Comirato-built Fiat referred to as the “Fiat-Comirato Speciale.”

This new special was Lia’s car the 1949 Miglia, which she did not finish. The car was entered for the 1950 event, but did not make it to the start.

Her last Mille Miglia was the 1952 edition. She and Alberto drove a Siata Daina Gran Sport, another Fiat derivative. They were 66th and fifth in the 1500cc class.

Lia sometimes participated in other races in Italy, still driving with her husband. Between 1948 and 1950, the couple entered three editions of the Coppa d’Oro delle Dolomiti. The first two times, they drove the Stanguellini, in which they recorded a fourth place in 1948. In 1950, their car was another “Comirato Speciale”, based on an OSCA this time. It was entered by the OSCA team and they were seventh overall.

Earlier, in 1938, she may have driven with Alberto in the Targa Abruzzi, in a Fiat 1100.

The only time that Lia competed outside Italy was in the Litoranea Libica, a 1000km road race held in the Italian territory of Libya. She and Alberto were 16th in the first running of this event in 1937, driving a Fiat 500. The race was run a second time in 1939 and the couple entered again in a Fiat, but their finishing position is not known.

Much about Lia’s life and career is not known. Even her dates of birth and death are obscure. Alberto, although a more prolific racer, is scarcely better documented. He is known to have come from Treviso so it is likely that Lia was also from there, although “Dumas” as a name suggests French ancestry.

It is possible that Lia entered some of the women-only rallies and hillclimbs that seem to proliferate in Italy at the end of her career, but entry lists are hard to come by. She did not compete outside of Italian territory, so it is unlikely that she took part in the Paris-St. Raphaël Rally.

(Portrait from http://www.automotivemasterpieces.com,  car image copyright Peter Kappeler)  

Ada Pace

Ada Pace was an Italian rally driver and touring car ace of the 1950s and 1960s. She went by the nom de course of “Sayonara”.

Ada was from Turin, which would be her home base throughout her career, and her life. She enjoyed sports growing up, and her earliest memories are of riding on her father’s motorcycle and sidecar. All of her early racing experiences were on two wheels, not four; Ada raced scooters in Italy from quite a young age. In 1947, she started racing her Vespa, in both circuit events and long-distance trials. It was in trials that she really excelled. After 1948, she rode for the works Piaggio team. She would continue in scootering on and off until 1953; she won two Ladies’ 125cc titles in 1952 and 1953.

The date and nature of her first steps into four-wheeled competition is not entirely clear. Some sources claim that her first race was in 1950, when she was 26. Little additional detail is offered, although Ada was said to be disappointed with her own performance, as well as the car’s. The race may have been at the Circuit Piazza d’Armi in Turin, where Ada did drive a Moretti early in her career, although some sources have her first car as a Fiat 1500. Speaking in 1990, she describes the Turin event as her first race, held in heavy rain, although she says it happened in 1953. She did own and race a 600cc Moretti in 1953, which adds credence to her own recollections (or the reporting thereof).

In 1951, she is said to have earned her first win. This is said to have come in a “Torino-San Remo race”. Her car was a Fiat 1500 6C. The nature of this event is unclear; it could have been a time trial rather than a mass- or group-start race, or even a regularity rally. I have been unable to find any official records of this event.

She definitely did race a Moretti in 1953, and was fourth in class in the Sassi-Superga hillclimb.

 The following year, Ada may have entered her first Giro Di Sicilia, driving a Fiat 1100. She is down as a starter, but her finishing position, if any, is not recorded. This is not certain, as another driver called Pace was active in Sicily at this time. Ada certainly did drive an 1100 at some point, but her car in 1954 was the little Moretti. She mainly raced locally, entering the Sassi-Superga climb again and a Coppa Michelin at Torino. She also became involved in the growing women’s motorsport scene in Italy, and entered both the Perla di Sanremo Rally and the Como-Lieto-Colle Coppa delle Dame, a hillclimb. She was second in class in Sanremo.

In 1955, she was fourth overall in the Coppa delle Dame, driving an Alfa Romeo Giulietta. Variations of this model would become her signature car. She also raced a Fiat 1100 in hillclimbs at Sassari and Corallo.

Her next major race was also her first overseas event: the 1956 Nürbrugring 1000km. For this, she teamed up with Gilberte Thirion, in an Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Veloce. Gilberte, an experienced international sportscar racer, was the entrant. They were sixteenth, and fourth in class.

The same year, Ada, driving solo and normally in the Giulietta, was becoming a regular figure in Italian hillclimbs and races. She was fifth in the Perla di Sanremo and third in the Coppa delle Dame, as well as scoring some highly respectable finishes in hillclimbs, and the Supercortemaggiore regularity trial. She even tried her hand at a conventional rally, the Rallye dei Rododendri, and was tenth overall.

1957 was the year that Ada really committed to four-wheeled competition, and began to race as a professional driver. She underlined her new role with an entry into the Mille Miglia, driving the Giulietta, solo. Unfortunately, she did not finish, stopping near Rome. Later in the year, a run in the Coppa Inter-Europa led to a finish, albeit as the last runner. The race was a one-make affair for Giulietta SVs, at Monza. In November, she did proportionately better in the Targa Florio; she was 48^th, out of 129 finishers. This would be the first of four attempts at the Sicilian classic. A season-ending Vallelunga 6 Hours was good for eleventh place.  

This schedule of major events was augmented with a busy calendar of domestic hillclimbs and rallies. These included the Perla di Sanremo, in which she won her class, and the Coppa Colle San Rizzo climb, which gave her a GT1300 class win. She ended the year as the Italian women’s GT champion.

She raced a Zagato version of the Giulietta SV in 1958, supported by the Racing Club 19 team, so-called because it consisted of nineteen drivers. She finished the Targa Florio on her second attempt, sharing the car with Carlo Peroglio and earning a fifteenth place. This year’s Targa was a race of high attrition, and it was an achievement to finish at all. The Vallelunga 6 Hours was a happy hunting ground for her, driving solo this time: she was third. She repeated her podium finish in the Coppa Sant Ambroeus at Monza, finishing third again. Her team-mate, Carlo Peroglio, was seventh, in a similar car. The Giro di Calabria was another good event for her; she was fourth.

That year, she took part in many hillclimbs, and won her class in the Stallavena-Bosochienesanuova event. This helped her to third in the GT1300 class of the Italian hillclimb championship. She retained her national Ladies’ title.

The Sant Ambroeus Cup was moved to May the following year. Ada entered the 1300cc GT race in the Giulietta, and was third again. A run in an Osca S1100 in the 1100cc sportscar race was not as successful; she did not finish. Three weeks later, she and Carlo Peroglio tackled the Targa Florio together for the second time, but did not finish. In June, Ada tried out a new Giulietta, a Speciale, and was fourteenth at Monza in the GT Grand Prix.

In a similar car, she contested the Mille Miglia, now run as a regularity trial. She and Piera Bertoletti were fifth overall, and won the GT1300 class. She managed another GT1300 win in her heat for the Vallelunga 6 Hours, but did not finish the final. She ran well in the Sestriere Rally, finishing second overall. This must have been very satisfying for her, as she dropped out of the previous year’s rally within sight of the finish.

In both the Osca and the Giulietta, she performed well in hillclimbs, including some long classic climbs such as the Catania-Etna event, in which she was sixth. Her best hillclimb moment came in the Veglio Mosso – Mosso San Maria climb, which she won in the Alfa. She was third in her class in the Italian championship at the end of the year, as well as defending her ladies’ crown, and adding the Italian ladies’ Sportscar title to her collection. In the overall Italian racing championship, she was runner-up in both the GT1300 and the Sport 1100 classes.

1960 saw a lot of change happening around Ada, but it seemed to bring out the best in her. She scored her first major race win in October, winning the Coppa d’Oro di Modena. Her car was an Osca 1100. She would later describe this car as her favourite. The same car gave her her career-best finish in the Targa Florio earlier in the year, an eleventh place. She was sharing the car with Giancarlo Castellina, and won the 1150cc Sports class.

Further excitement came from the furthest “away race” of her career. She was invited to Cuba for the Grand Prix, one of only a small number of “Western” drivers to compete there during Castro’s presidency. The race had begun in 1957, but this was the first edition to be run in Communist Cuba. She drove an Osca MT4 and was fifteenth. She also took part in the supporting Formula Junior race, making a rare single-seater appearance in a Stanguellini. She did not finish. Later in the year, she drove a De Sanctis FJ in the Pescara 12 Hours, but did not finish. She did tentatively enter another couple of single-seater races, but did not actually compete.

Once more, hillclimbs made up most of her sporting schedule, both in the Alfa and the Osca. She scored many class wins, and was second in class in the Italian hillclimb championship. A third ladies’ GT championship and a second Sports championship added to her tally, and she was runner-up in the 1150 category of the Italian racing championship.

In 1961, she spent much of the year competing under the name “Sayonara”. Much later, she claimed that this was to make it less obvious that she was a woman. During her early career, she experienced some quite open negativity. This sometimes came in the form of over-zealous scrutineering, based on complaints from other competitors.

She had intended to enter the Targa Florio again, in a works Osca, but this did not happen. For circuit racing, she normally used her Giulietta SV. Driving with Carlo Baghetti, she did not finish the Coppa Ascari at Monza, after a spectacular crash on lap 14, which sent the car rolling at 200mph. Ada escaped through a window just before it caught fire. The following month, she did much better in the GT Grand Prix at the circuit. She was seventh, and fifth in class. Breaking with tradition, she drove a non-Italian car in the Pescara 4 Hours: a Lotus XI, albeit Osca-engined. She drove with Roberto Lippi, but did not finish. Alone, she used the Lotus in some hillclimbs, finishing seventh in the Trieste-Opicina climb and winning her class. The Osca 1100 was her usual mount for hillclimbs, scoring some class wins.

It was back to Italian power for the 1962 season, although Ada expanded her car repertoire once more. She drove a Ferrari 250 GT in the GT Trophy at Monza, and was second overall. She was also second in two other events in the car: the Stallavena-Bosochienesanuova and Coppa Fagioli long-distance climbs.

Mostly, she drove a 1184cc Osca, in which she earned another outright win, in the Campagnana Vallelunga. She also had some outings in an Abarth-Simca. Her best result in this car was an eighth place in a GT race at Vallelunga. The Giulietta was sold towards the end of the year.

1963 was spent switching between the Osca and the Abarth-Simca, which she used in the Targa Florio. Driving the Osca, she was third in the Campagnana Vallelunga. This was her best result of the year. She was fifth in the Shell Trophy at Cesenatico, and managed some top-five class finishes in hillclimbs.

1964 was her last year of competition. She drove a Lancia Flaminia for HF Squadra Corse in the European Touring Car Championship, including the Spa 24 Hours. She shared the car with Claudine Bouchet at Spa, but did not finish. The car’s rear axle broke after just over five hours.Her best finish in the championship was eighth, at Zolder. She never really got to grips with the Flaminia and found it hard to drive. Driving for the same team, she drove a Lancia Flavia in the Polish Rally, but did not finish.

In her later years, she took to living alone with her menagerie of rescued dogs and birds. She occasionally appeared at historic races and rallies, although for the last few years of her life, she retired from public appearances. She died in November 2016.

This post would not have been possible without the research published by John de Boer.

(Image from http://www.aisastoryauto.it/)

Paola della Chiesa

Marisa Zambrini and Paola della Chiesa, (first and second left), pose for photos with their team-mates in 1954

Paola della Chiesa mostly drove in rallies in Italy in the 1950s. She was associated most with the Lancia Aurelia, and was very successful in the women-only events of the time.

This Italian noblewoman, from Turin, competed both before and after World War II, often alongside her husband, Luigi. She began racing after her marriage, having been introduced to motorsport by her husband. Prior to this, she had not had much interest in cars.

They entered the 1938 Mille Miglia together, driving a Fiat 1100 Sport, but did not finish. Paola was acting as a navigator, with Luigi driving. Not long after this, motorsport in Europe ceased for World War II.

Once peace returned to Italy, it took a while for races and rallies to get going again. It was not long before Paola and Luigi were active once more. “Shortly after the War”, Luigi pushed Paola to enter a Concours d’Elegance. In 1949, the two entered the Coppa della Toscana, known as the “Little Mille Miglia”, together, and were thirteenth overall. The make of their car is not recorded, but it may have been a Cisitalia 202, which Paola is known to have driven. She and Maria Teresa de Filippis both entered this race, and earned much press attention, not all of it related to their driving. Some media sources have them as team-mates.

By 1951, she was driving solo. She entered the Coppa d’Oro delle Dolomiti, driving an Ermini Fiat 1100, but did not finish.

In 1952, she began racing a Lancia Aurelia, which would become a favoured car for her for the next few years. In May, she won the first edition of the Rallye Femminile Perla di Sanremo, a women-only event. Her car was a 2500cc Aurelia B20. It was not just all-female rallies she entered this year; she also drove in the Alpine Rally, in the Aurelia, but had to retire with brake failure, a rare disappointing experience with the car. Luigi was her navigator that year, and was apparently so shaken by his experiences that he did not volunteer again.

1953’s motorsport season began with another win, in the Paris-St. Raphaël women’s rally. This was the first win for an Italian driver in the event’s history. Once more, she was driving the Lancia Aurelia, which proved more reliable this time. That year, she registered for a second attempt at the Mille Miglia, sharing a Fiat 1100 with Yvonne Simon, but they did not make the start, for undisclosed reasons.

Later, in 1954, she drove a Lancia Aurelia again, in Italy. That year, she was second in class in the Aosta-Gran San Bernardo hillclimb. Paola claimed that hillclimbs were her best events. In the same car, she won the Santa Margherita-San Lorenzo climb, a women-only event. This made up for the slight disappointment of second places in both the Paris-St. Raphaël and Perla di Sanremo rallies. For the Sanremo rally, she was driving an Alfa Romeo 1900, for a change. Her navigator this year was Marisa Zambrini.

In the Aosta-Gran San Bernardo hillclimb in 1955, she was fifth in the over 2500cc class, in the Aurelia. She was also second in the Alghero-Scala Piccada women’s hillclimb, behind Gilberte Thirion in a Mercedes. In a 1991 interview, she rated Gilberte as one of her most accomplished rivals. Her last big event seems to have been the Perla di Sanremo rally, which she won for a third time, driving her faithful Aurelia.

After that, Paola stopped driving competitively, although she still retained her interest in motorsport. Luigi died in the mid-1950s, and it must have been hard for her to carry on without him, and his support. She also said that she did not particularly like the increasing professionalism of European motorsport; she had thoroughly enjoyed the vibrant social scene that surrounded the rallies of the time. Unlike some female drivers, she liked the special attention that winners of Coupes des Dames received. In 1992, she claimed to have won over a hundred of these trophies, and the assorted prizes of jewellery and other items that went with them.

(This post draws on a 1991 interview with Paola, conducted by Donatella Biffignandi of the National Motor Museum in Turin. The original Italian text can be found here.)

(Image from http://lanciamarino.it)

Female Rally Drivers Around the World: Switzerland

Stéphanie le Coultre and Sonia Boi

Circuit racing is illegal in Switzerland, but it has some rallies, and an active rally championship based mainly in France and Italy. Swiss drivers also compete in other championships.

Stéphanie le Coultre - Swiss driver, active in major rallies since 2007. Her first car was a Citroen Saxo VTS, which she used in events in Switzerland itself and France. Her first finish in a major rally came in 2008, when she was 37th in the International Rallye du Valais, in Switzerland. In 2009, she entered the Valais rally again, but could not drive because her navigator, Sarah Dussex, was ill. After this, she exchanged the Citroen for a Fiat Abarth 500. When she shifted the focus of her rally activities to Italy, her results really started improving. In 2011, her best result was 19th, in the Rallye Antibes Côte d’Azur in France. She was also 34th in the Rally Appenino Reggiano. Mid-season, she entered her first IRC rally, the San Remo Rally, but did not finish. After a quiet season in 2012, where she changed car again, to a Suzuki Swift, and gained a new navigator, Sonia Boi, They attacked the Italian Suzuki Rally Cup together in 2013, driving partly for Team Nyonnais and partly for Butterfly Motorsport. Stéphanie’s best result was 17th in the Mille Miglia National Rally, fifth in class and ninth in the Suzuki Cup. Her best Suzuki Cup finish was eighth, in the Sanremo Leggende Rally. She was 34th overall. As well as rallying, she also competes in hillclimbs occasionally. In 2014, she did not do any driving, but navigated for Jean-Marie Renaud. She became a mother in 2016. 

Maude Crepin - Swiss rallyist active as a driver in French rallies since 2009. She began as a slalom driver, before entering rallying as a navigator in 2008. In 2009, she competed in four French national rallies in a Citroen Saxo, as well as hillclimbs, slaloms and even circuit racing. The following year, her programme extended to six rallies, still in the Citroen. She managed to finish some rallies, although she was still learning, and had problems with tyres. In 2011, she entered the Saxo into both gravel and tarmac events, with tarmac giving her a best finish of 37th in the Rallye du Gard. Her best gravel finish was 77th, in the Terre des Causes rally. In 2012, she was less active, but drove a Peugeot 106 in some French rallies, including the Rallye des Vins du Gard. She seems to have done some navigation in 2013. In 2014, she returned to the driver's seat, in the Swiss Rally Ronde del Ticino, and the French Rallye Terre des Cardabelles. She won her class in the French event, driving a Ford Fiesta. She was 67th overall. In 2015, she did some rallies in a Citroen Saxo, and finished the Fourme d'Ambert Rally in 100th place. She used the Saxo for one rally in 2016, the Terre des Cardabelles, but mostly drove a Peugeot 206. In this car, she had her best result, a 58th place in the Rallye National du Gard, fourth in class. In 2017, she did another rally in the Saxo, the Terre des Causses event in France. She was 65th out of 102 finishers. Another gravel outing in 2018, driving a Citroen DS3 R3T, ended in retirement. She entered the Rallye Terre de Vauclusebut dropped out on the second day with mechanical trouble.

Nathalie Golaz – Swiss driver who mostly competes in France. She began in 2007, driving a Peugeot 206 in France and Switzerland, taking on the Rallye du Valais in her first year. Her other cars have included a Toyota Yaris and a Peugeot 306. In 2013, she started to concentrate more on using bigger, Group N4 cars, such as a Subaru Impreza and a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6. She was quite effective with the Impreza in 2014, managing three Group N podiums in French regional rallies, and a fifteenth overall in the Ruppéen Rally. She was second in class. In 2015, she drove a WRC-spec Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9. Her best result was a 45^th place, in the Monts de Vaucluse Rally. She used the Lancer again in 2016, and scored her best finish of the season in it: 23rd in the Bourgogne International Rally. She also rallied a Citroen C2 and a Ford Fiesta in French national and regional rallies, with mixed results. After a long break, she brought out the Lancer again for two rallies in 2021. Her best result was a 50th place in the Rallye National de Bourgogne Cote Chalonnaise. Another outing in this event in 2022 gave her a fourth place, driving a Volkswagen Golf. Until 2010, she was also a co-driver for several different drivers, and this is how her rally career began, in 1996.

Laurence Jacquet - Swiss driver who rallied in Europe, particularly in France, in the 1980s and 1990s. She often drove a Renault 5 Turbo and it was in this car that she earned her first top ten, a tenth place in the 1990 Rallye du Valais. She won the French ladies’ championship in 1991, using the Renault 5 for a couple of rounds and then replacing it with a Clio. Her best result was an eighth overall in the Rallye du Limousin. In 1999 she did some events in a Peugeot 106, but appears to retire after that.

Michela (Micky) Martinelli - Swiss driver active in the 1970s and 1980s. She often drove an Opel Kadett or an Alfa Romeo. One of her most famous drives was her 27th place in the 1981 Targa Florio, in the Kadett. She competed in the Italian championship that year and appears to have won the Ladies’ prize, ahead of Pierangela Riva. At some point prior to this, she won the Swiss championship as well. She is now active again in historic events, often in Italy. In 2015, she was seventh in the Rally Storico dell'Appenino, driving an Opel Kadett. She continued in historic events with the Kadett in 2016. 

Iris Thurnherr – Swiss driver with single-seater and rallying experience. She raced in the German junior formulae in 2002 and 2003, before taking up rallying with the Suzuki Ignis Cup. A season in the Swiss championship followed. She changed to a Swift in 2007, for the Suzuki Rallye Cup. She scored some good class podium places in European rallies as part of the Cup and was usually the fastest woman. Her class-winning ways in the Ignis continued into 2008, with an N2 win on the Rallye Pays du Gier, and she was first in class, second in group and 15th overall on the Rallye Oberehe. This time, she was driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6 instead of the Ignis. In 2009, she continued with the Lancer, competing in German rallies, rallysprints, and the occasional circuit race. The situation was the same in 2010. Her best finish was third in the ADAC Rallye Oberehe.She drove in the Swiss championship in 2011, in an Evo VIII run by Emil Frey Motorsport. She was tenth overall, fourth in class, with a best finish of seventh, in the Rallye delle Valle Cuneesi.

Mireille Vidueira - Swiss driver who rallies almost exclusively in France. She has been competing since at least 2018. Her first car was a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX which she campaigned until 2021. The best result she achieved in this car was a thirteenth place in the 2021 Rallye National Monts et Couteux in the Rhone valley, an asphalt event. After this, the car was replaced by a Ford Fiesta in Rally3 spec, which gave her a sixth place in the Rallye Regional de Meuse at the start of 2022. She won her class in the 2022 Alps Rally Trophy. In 2023, she was ninth in the Chartreuse regional rally and won the French women's championship. A shorter programme in 2024 included the Central European Rally in Germany, her first WRC rally. She was 29th overall.

(Image from www.campioni.cn)

Nancy Mitchell

Nancy with the MGA

Nancy Mitchell was one of BMC’s squad of British lady rally drivers in the 1950s, and competed all over Europe. Although  her career never reached the heights of that of Pat Moss or Anne Hall, she was still a versatile and respected driver, winning two European Ladies’ championships. She was a professional in her sport for many years.

Nancy got a relatively late start in motorsport, at 31. Douglas Mitchell, her husband, bought her an HRG sports car, a rare Aerodynamic model, and their first event together was the Eastbourne Rally in 1947. They apparently won one of the awards, although it is unclear which one.

Between then and 1950, Nancy entered not only rallies, but hillclimbs, sprints, trials and circuit races in HRG cars, first the Aerodynamic, then a faster 1500. Her results are proving difficult to locate, but she is said to have driven in the Alpine Rally and Alpine Trial at least once, as a member of an HRG works team. Her season in 1950 was apparently curtailed, due to a family situation, but she did manage a seventh place in a Silverstone international meeting race, in the HRG.

In 1951, she appears on the entry lists for the RAC and Scottish rallies, finishing second in the 1500cc Open class in the RAC Rally. She was second in the Ladies’ Open class to Anne Newton, later Anne Hall. She also competed in the Paris-St. Raphaël event and was second in class. Away from rallying, she drove a Healey Silverstone in hillclimbs, including the Rest And Be Thankful event, in which she was tenth in class.

From 1952, Nancy really showed her versatility, using the HRG and a series of other cars, including a Sunbeam Talbot. In this car, she drove in the Monte Carlo and Alpine rallies. She did not finish the Alpine after losing a wheel, but seems to have finished the Monte, driving as part of an all-woman team with veteran Elsie “Bill” Wisdom and Sheila van Damm. On the track, she managed second places in races at Silverstone and Castle Combe, in the HRG, and a fifth place at Silverstone in an Allard.

As well as rallying, Nancy competed extensively in hillclimbs during the 1950s, using several different cars, including a single-seater Cooper 1100, in which she set a ladies’ record at Prescott in 1953. She is also known to have hillclimbed in Cornwall, and taken part in the Lands’ End Trial.

Her rallying year was also quite busy. She drove in another Alpine Rally, in a Ford Zephyr this time, and was 36th overall. In the same car, she was sixth overall in the Lisbon Rally, winning the Coupe des Dames. She apparently drove a works Standard in the RAC Rally and an Alvis on the Monte, but the results have been lost. 

In 1954, she drove the Zephyr again on the Monte, starting in Glasgow. She used the same car for the Tulip Rally, and was 50th overall, with Joyce Leavens on the maps. Later in the year, she entered the Stella Alpina in an Austin Healey, but retired after an accident. She may have won a team award in the RAC Rally in a Ford Anglia, but the result has been lost, although she is down as an entry in that car. In British domestic events, she apparently competed in several different cars, including a Morgan in the London Rally, and a Triumph TR2 in the MCC National Rally, and had her last outing in the HRG.

Her hillclimbing highlight this year was a Ladies’ Record at Shelsley Walsh, set in the Cooper. It was to stand for three years.

1955 saw her driving for Daimler, in a Conquest. She scored her best result in the Monte Carlo Rally: 17th, navigated by Lola Grounds. Among the other rallies she contested was the Tulip event in the Netherlands, in which she was third in the Ladies’ standings. Driving the Daimler, she also won two circuit races, a Ladies’ race at Goodwood and a scratch race at Silverstone. 

The most remembered part of her career, her time with BMC, began in 1956. Nancy usually drove MG models, and her rallying year began with a 59th place in Monte Carlo, with Doreen Reece and Susan Hindmarsh. Nancy and Doreen also drove a Magnette in the RAC Rally, and seem to have finished. During the summer, Nancy and Pat Faichney were 15th overall in the Alpine Rally, third in class, with a Coupe des Alpes and the Ladies’ prize. Their car was an MGA. Nancy also drove it in the Liège-Rome-Liège rallies, with Anne Hall, finishing 26th, with a Coupe des Dames. She always preferred to compete alongside other women. Her achievements were enough to win her her first European Ladies’ Rally title this year.

Away from pure rallying, Nancy and Pat Faichney also drove together in the Mille Miglia, in the MGA (a famous car, still extant, christened “Mabel”).  They were 72nd overall, and first female crew.

Nancy and “Mabel” continued to work together in 1957. Nancy was 16th overall in the Liège-Rome-Liège Rally, with Joan Johns, and 32nd overall in the Lyon-Charbonnières Rally, with Doreen Reece. She won the Coupe des Dames both times, leading to her second European Ladies’ championship.

She and Pat Faichney attempted the Mille Miglia again this year, in a Triumph TR3, but they did not finish. Nancy had not abandoned circuit racing either, and managed a fourth place at Silverstone in June, driving an MG Magnette.

By 1958, “Mabel” was no longer Nancy’s first-choice car. She stuck with an MG, another Magnette this time, for the Monte Carlo Rally, with Joan Johns, but seems to have been unplaced. In the Alpine Rally, she drove an Austin-Healey 100-6 and was twelfth, two places behind the Coupe des Dames winner, Pat Moss. She drove the same car in the Liège-Rome-Liège Rally, finishing 15th overall, sixth in class, and helping BMC to the team prize. Later in the season, she was driving a Riley 1.5 in the RAC Rally, skidded on ice and ended up down a steep drop. She was not seriously harmed.   

1959 saw a partial change of team for Nancy; she was part of Ford’s Ladies’ team, driving a Zephyr. Alongside Anne Hall and Lola Grounds, she finished the Monte in 78th place. During the summer, she and Anne entered the Alpine Rally, run as the Critérium International des Alpes, but a broken propshaft put them out. Going back to BMC power, Nancy and Pat Allison finished the Portuguese Rally, in 54th place, in an early rally Mini.

Her final year of competition came in 1960. Her major events were in her favoured mountain terrain. The Monte only brought a retirement for Nancy and Pat Allison in their Austin Seven, but the Alpine Rally, her last rally, went better. She and Rosemary Seers were 24th overall, second ladies’ team, in a Sunbeam Rapier.

After retiring from the circuits and the stages, Nancy did not abandon the motoring world. She was the motoring correspondent for Vogue magazine, conducting road tests of luxury cars, for several years. She was also involved in motorsport administration, as part of the BTRDA.

She died in 1996. Some of her cars have remained in her family, and have even been entered into historic events by her daughter, Sue Chapman, and granddaughter, Anna Chapman. 

(Picture from this article by John Sprinzel)

Annie Soisbault (de Montaigu)

Annie competing in the Alpine Rally in her TR3

Annie Soisbault competed in rallies and races across Europe, between 1956 and 1969. She had always been interested in sports from an early age, but her first love was tennis: she was one of France’s leading junior players of her time, winning seven titles. She continued to play professionally as a senior, and is meant to have used some of her winnings to buy her first sports car, a Delahaye.

Her first international event was the 1956 Monte Carlo Rally, in a Simca. Her role was as a “second driver”, more or less a back-seat passenger to Germaine Rouault and Louisette Texier. She remained on the back seat from Munich until the Ardeche, where the team struggled with heavy snow. Annie demanded a go at the wheel, and surprised her more experienced team-mates by setting some good times and passing several other drivers. However, her heroics were not enough to save them, and they were still unclassified.

In 1957, she took to the stages in her own Triumph TR3. The biggest rally she entered (and not strictly a rally) was the Tour de France, and she was 21st overall, driving with Michèle Cancre. There were 23 finishers that year. In the same car, she entered the Coupes de Salon at Montlhéry, and was eighth in her race.

In a Panhard Dyna belonging to her co-driver, Monique Bouvier, she also entered the Mille Miglia. They lasted a little over half of the distance, before a problem with a piston put them out.

She became a Triumph works driver in 1958, using a TR3. The story goes that the Triumph motorsport team were considering Annie or Pat Moss for a works drive. Annie told them that she was not interested in working with indecisive people, and they signed her forthwith. It is unclear how much truth is in this story. Annie had a talent for self-promotion; an example of this is her appearance in the promotional Shell film “Coupe des Alpes”, which featured some competition footage and some staged sequences, and was shown on television. She was also regarded by some of her peers as “difficult”.

That year, she seems to have finished the Monte Carlo Rally with Tish Ozanne, albeit unplaced. She also entered the Alpine Rally, but retired due to mechanical problems. The Tour de France was a happier hunting ground. She was fourteenth overall with Michèle Cancre.

In 1959, she continued with the TR3, coming to the UK for the RAC Rally. Co-driven by Val Domleo, she finished, but was unplaced. It had been a similar story on the Monte, although Nadège Ferrier took the co-driver’s seat. Once again, she did not finish the Alpine Rally. Her biggest result was her win on the Paris-St. Raphaël women’s rally, which contributed towards her European Ladies’ Rally Championship title. This award was not without controversy; Annie seems to have exploited a loophole in the rules about the number of female participants in an event for a Coupe des Dames to be awarded, non-starting on some rallies in order to deny Ladies’ points to Pat Moss, her main rival apart from Ewy Rosqvist, who was joint winner. This behaviour did not endear her to other competitors, or to observers. 

In more sportscar-oriented competition, she was thirteenth in the Tour de France, once more with Michèle Cancre as co-driver.

1960 saw her association with Triumph coming to an end. She failed yet again to finish the Alpine Rally, this time with Annie Spiers. Throughout her career, Annie preferred to work with other female drivers. This was true in both rallies and races. This year, she revisited her partnership with Michèle Cancre for the Tour de France, and was 16th. Their car was a Porsche 356B. Earlier in the season, driving solo, Annie had attempted the Coupes de Vitesse at Montlhéry, and was thirteenth in a Triumph. At some point during 1960, she travelled to Brazil for the Rio de Janeiro Grand Prix, and was seventh in a sportscar race, driving a Porsche 1600. This season, she also sampled single-seater racing in a Lola Formula Junior, which she used in some Formula Three races in France.

Increasingly, she favoured sportscar events and road races over stage rallying, and this seems to have been her main focus for most of the 1960s. She took part in the Tour de France on several more occasions, with a best result of sixth in 1963, driving a Jaguar, the same car in which she had failed to finish in 1962. She also scored her best result in the Monte Carlo Rally, fourteenth, in a DKW, with P. Gele, but seemingly as a navigator.

She was fourth in the 3000cc GT class the following year, in a Ferrari 250 GTO. Her overall position was fourteenth, and her co-driver was Nicole Roure. Driving a different Ferrari, an LM run by Ecurie Francorchamps, she was 18th in the Paris 1000km, driving with Guy Ligier. Her main car that year was a Porsche 904. In it, she was thirteenth in the Rheims 1000km, with Claude Dubois, and sixth in the Paris GP at Montlhéry. She is known to have entered the Dakar 6 Hours, but the result has been lost.

The Ecurie Francorchamps Ferrari was her main mount for 1965. In it, she entered the Monza 1000km, Spa 500km and Rheims 12 Hours, but did not finish any of them, due to mechanical failures and one accident, at Rheims. Her only good result came in the Paris GP, where she won the GT class in her own Ferrari GTO. In the same GTO, she also attempted a round of the French national rally championship, but did not finish.

She drove a Porsche 906 in 1966, staying in France this time. She is known to have entered the Coupe de Vitesse and the Coupe du Salon, but the results are not forthcoming. A scheduled appearance in the Paris 1000km did not happen. After this, Annie became very much an occasional racer, and concentrated on her professional role as managing director of an upmarket motor dealership, importing Aston Martin and other marques to France. The business belonged to her husband, the Marquis de Montaigu.

Her last major appearances were at the Mont Ventoux hillclimb. She had been a regular at the big climbs since at least 1960, having crashed her Ferrari GTO there in 1965. In ‘66, she was not among the major finishers, but did become the first female driver to average over 100kph, driving a Porsche 906. In 1967, she won the Ladies’ Cup in the same car. She retired completely from motorsport in 1969.

Annie was a fascinating character, a sporting adventuress more in the style of Hellé Nice and Kay Petre, than her contemporaries. She is famous for her pet cheetah, which she sometimes brought with her to rallies for photo opportunities, and for her reputation as a bonne vivante, who enjoyed the finer things in life. Her furious competitive streak was not enough to land her the overall victories of a Pat Moss or Rosemary Smith, but her media-mindedness ensured that she was noticed everywhere.

She died in September 2012, aged 78.

Thanks to members of the TNF forum for information.

(Photo from http://www.forum-auto.com/sport-auto/histoire-du-sport-auto/sujet343197-2800.htm)

Simone des Forest

Simone (right) and Odette Siko with the Triumph, 1935

Simone des Forest was a popular figure in her native France, and enjoyed a lengthy motorsport career, on both sides of the Second World War. Born in 1910, she was the youngest of the French ladies’ motor racing “set” of the 1930s, which included Madame Hellé-Nice and Anne Itier. She learned to drive at the age of twelve, at home, and at nineteen, was described by some sources as one of the first French women to earn a driving license.

Her competition career began very soon afterwards, in 1930. Her first event was a hillclimb at Baraque. In 1931, she is described as having entered a Paris-Vichy race, perhaps a road race, although no entry lists for this event, have come to light. It is quite probable that “Paris-Vichy race” refers to a stage of the Paris-St. Raphaël Rally. Some female racers of the time faced the disapproval of their families, but not so Simone; her mother is described as her co-driver from Paris to Vichy. Her mother was also her navigator for the Paris-Antibes-Juans-les-Pins rally in 1931, in the family Rosengart.

After a quiet couple of years, Simone reappears on the motorsport scene in 1934. She was talent-scouted by Charles de Cortanze for the Monte Carlo Rally, following her performances in a series of ladies’ races at Montlhéry, organised by de Cortanze himself. Simone partnered Fernande Hustinx in a Peugeot 301, starting at Bucharest. They won the Coupe des Dames and were seventeenth overall. Simone kept a detailed notebook, complete with skilful illustrations, of her journey, which has partly been published.

The following year, Simone teamed up with Odette Siko for the Monte. They were driving a Triumph and won their class. The pair may also have entered the Monte together again in 1937. At around this time, she also entered the Paris-St. Raphaël at least once, apparently in an Amilcar.

In 1937, Simone’s most high-profile activity was her involvement in the Yacco speed trials at Montlhéry, a series of record-breaking runs in a giant Ford-engined Mathis “Matford”. Yacco Oil had assembled an all-female team of Simone, Odette Siko, Claire Descollas and Madame Hellé-Nice, who were to attempt a string of speed and endurance records. Claire Descollas, who was nominally the team’s captain, and after whom the Matford, “Claire”, was possibly named, dropped out after the first day of runs, and the endeavour was also troubled by friction between Hellé-Nice and the rest of the team. Simone, the youngest of the four, did not see eye-to-eye with her more flamboyant and well-travelled colleague, and Odette Siko had to keep the peace. Nevertheless, despite these setbacks, the Yacco ladies’ team set 26 new records , some of which still stand.

Her activities between 1937 and the outbreak of war in 1939 are hazy: there are references to her finishing tenth in a French road racing championship, but little in the way of solid results. During the war itself, she worked as a truck driver for the Red Cross.

Unlike many of the French racers of the inter-war years, she recommenced motorsport after the end of the war, having escaped unscathed. In 1953, she entered her first Mille Miglia, at the age of 43. She and Annie Bousquet were driving a Renault 4CV, and were 282nd. There are photographs of Simone standing next to a 4CV, alone, in circulation, and she may have used this car in rallies, or in regional races. Later in the year, she teamed up with Elyane Imbert, driving a Porsche 356 Super 1500. They entered the Spa 24 Hours and Nürburgring 1000km during the summer, but were disqualified from both races. In the German event, this was due to receiving outside assistance.

Simone apparently remained active in motorsport until 1957. After that, she retired, concentrating on running her own driving school, which was established in 1950. As well as motoring, she took an interest in flying, and qualified as a pilot. Her airborne activities may account for some of the gaps in her competition record, on both sides of the war.

After her death in 2004, at 94, she lives on in French culture. The popular expression “En voiture, Simone!”, said to indicate the start of some action or another, refers to Simone des Forest, after being used in a TV programme in 1962.

(Photo taken from http://rallyemontecarlo1935.unblog.fr)  

(Thanks to Richard Armstrong for data.)

Sheila van Damm

Sheila (left) in 1954, with Pauline Jesty and Joyce Leavens

Sheila van Damm was born in 1922, the daughter of London theatre impresario, Vivian van Damm. As with many other female drivers of her era, her first taste of motoring came during the Second World War, when she worked as a driver in the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force. Encouraged by her father, she learned to fly an aeroplane too. For a time, she took part in aerobatics contests, although aircraft were never really her passion. Vivian van Damm employed a female personal pilot himself. 

Sheila and her sisters grew up around showgirls as well as a number of professional women employed by their father. In her autobiography, No Excuses, she comes across as clearly loving her father, but being somewhat scared of him. She admits to doing anything he told her to do, and that included driving a rally car.

She got her break in rallying in 1950, driving a works-prepared Sunbeam in the Daily Express Rally. The car was sponsored by her father’s infamous Windmill Theatre, which was known for its risqué revues. Vivian's aforementioned pilot, Zita Irwin, was one of those who persuaded her to have a go. Sheila, navigated by her sister Nona, drove a Sunbeam Talbot, with “Windmill Girl” proudly emblazoned down the side. This was to be Nona's only outing as a rally driver; she was car-sick and did not enjoy herself, returning to her beloved horses afterwards. They were third in the Coupe des Dames, and their performance impressed the Rootes team sufficiently for them to offer Sheila a works seat for the following season.

Although Nona never took to rallying, Sheila's mother, Natalie, later took it up in the mid-'50s.

Her first drive for Rootes was the 1951 Monte Carlo Rally, in a Hillman Minx. She was unplaced. Later in the year, navigated by the veteran Elsie “Bill” Wisdom, she won the Ladies’ Prize in the Closed car category of the RAC Rally. 

In 1952, she remained with Rootes, as she would for her entire rally career. As part of a three-woman team, she drove a Sunbeam Talbot in the Monte Carlo Rally. The other team members were Bill Wisdom and Nancy Mitchell. Sheila is also reported to have won a ladies’ award in an MCC Rally in the UK, in the same car.

1953 was a busy year. It began with the Monte Carlo Rally, in which Sheila was the second lady in her Sunbeam Talbot. Her co-drivers that year were Francoise Clarke, who sat beside her for the RAC Rally, and Anne Hall, who navigated her to the Coupe des Dames and a Coupe des Alpes in the Alpine Rally. They were 24th overall. The three almost always drove together and took turns at navigating, timekeeping and driving. Sheila was always in charge and admits to being rather harsh on her team-mates, although they all understood one another and their idiosyncrasies. Her best finish was eighth overall, in the Lisbon Rally. This was probably her best career result.

The furthest she travelled during her career was the USA; Rootes included her in a team for the 1953 Great American Mountain Rally. Unfortunately, she ran into problems on the tough terrain and was not among the leading finishers.

Sheila almost always drove with an all-female team, and had friendly rivalries with other female drivers like Nancy Mitchell, Madeleine Pochon and Lorna Doone Snow. However, she was also quite at home in the largely-male Rootes team, where the more experienced men were happy to help her out in becoming a better driver. Among them were Stirling Moss and Peter Collins.

1954 was full of action all over Europe for Sheila, ably assisted by Anne and Francoise. They drove a Sunbeam Talbot in the Monte Carlo Rally, but were unplaced, and later came tenth in the Tulip Rally, with a Ladies’ prize and second in class. In the same car, they also entered the Austrian Alpine Rally. For the Stella Alpina, they were allowed use of the Sunbeam Alpine prototype, and made off with the Ladies’ Trophy, and fifth in class. The Alpine Rally gave them another class fifth, and they were second in class in the Geneva Rally. A Coupe des Dames in the Viking Rally was another highlight.

1955 continued in the same vein. The Monte Carlo Rally produced her best result on that particular event: eleventh, and first lady. She was driving another Sunbeam with Francoise Clarke and Anne Hall. With Anne in the navigator’s seat, she won another Coupe des Dames on the RAC Rally, and was second in that category on the Tulip Rally, behind Greta Molander. Sheila and Greta were great rivals at this time, often in close competition for Ladies’ and class awards.

During and after her rally career, Sheila was a popular media personality. She wrote for the Daily Express, which sponsored rallies at the time. In 1955, she confessed to being very hard on Francoise Clarke in her role as co-driver and praised Francoise's patience. In the same interview, she also mentioned taking "pep pills" during longer events, which was common practice at the time. She was one of the favourites of rally journalist, Basil Cardew, who championed female talent.

In 1954 and 1955, she was European Ladies’ Champion, after her string of Coupes des Dames. She also helped Rootes to the team prize on the Monte Carlo Rally in 1954, 1955 and 1956.

1956 was her last year as a Rootes driver. She entered the Monte Carlo Rally in a Sunbeam. She finished but did not place in her class. Greta Molander also had an indifferent rally. 

Anne Hall now moved back to full-time driving, and Sheila prepared to wind down her motorsport career. She had wanted to reunite her original team, but the others were both busy. The Monte was her last event. She had the rare distinction of having finished every rally that she entered. Sometimes she only just managed to finish, but she managed.

As well as rallying, she proved a capable record-breaker and road-racer, winning her class on the 1956 Mille Miglia. She drove a Sunbeam Rapier with Peter Harper, and was 72nd overall. She was persuaded out of retirement for the 1957 Mille Miglia, again in a Rapier, with David Humphrey, but did not finish this time. Her record-breaking happened in 1953; during the Monte Carlo Rally, she hit 120mph in her Sunbeam, on the Jabbeke highway in Belgium.

After her competition career was over, Sheila helped her father with operations at the Windmill, and was its general manager between his death in 1960, and its eventual closure in 1964. In the late 1950s, she managed an all-female karting team, comprised of "Windmill girls". The theatre had always been her first love and her motorsport career was almost a stopgap before she could take over from Vivian. That said, she enjoyed her rallying and the life it entailed.  she remained in touch with her old world through her Vogue motoring column, and her presidency of the Doghouse Club, for “motorsport wives and ladies”.

Sheila's unconventional background was replicated somewhat in her own personal life. As well as the final demise of the Windmill in 1964, she had to contend with the sudden deaths of her friends Nancy Spain and Joan Werner Laurie in an air crash. The three had lived together in a menage a trois of sorts; Joan was probably Sheila's lover as well as Nancy's.

After the trials of 1964, she retired to a farm with Nona. Her mental health deteriorated and she received treatment for depression, including electroconvulsive therapy. The two sisters lived quietly and reclusively.

Sheila died in 1987. She had been suffering from cancer in secret for some time. Just two days after she confessed to her family and friends that she had the disease, it killed her.

(Image copyright Bournemouth Daily Echo)