"Mrs AC Lace"

 

“Mrs AC Lace” is the name used by Phoebe Elizabeth McQueen, born Mylchreest in 1910, when she raced between the two wars. AC (Alfred Clucas) Lace was a driver himself and was in a relationship with her, but the two never married. She often used the forename Betty.

Her first event under this name seems to have been a hillclimb at Shelsley Walsh in September 1934, driving a Hispano-Suiza. In March 1935, she appears at Brooklands for the first time, racing a Singer in the New Haw Long Handicap. It appears to be the same car that she used at Donington in May for a women’s handicap. She was not placed in either race. 

The Singer was still her car of choice for the 1936 First Mountain Handicap, held at the March Handicap meeting at Brooklands. Again, she was not placed, nor in the Second Mountain Handicap at the same event. 

A run in a Fiat followed, as part of a three-car, three-woman Fiat team for the 1936 Light Car Club Relay race at Brooklands. She and her team-mates Elsie Wisdom and Dinah Chaff, the team leader, were fourth, from eight finishers.

A gap then follows before she reappears driving a works-supported Alta in 1938. She won the Ladies’ Cup race held at Crystal Palace as part of the London Grand Prix. 

She did enter two Brooklands races in Talbot-Lago: the JCC International Trophy and the BRDC Road Race. It was possibly the Road Race she was practising for in September when she was hit on the head by a passing seagull “at over 100mph”. She “swerved violently” but was unhurt and able to continue. 

Both times, she was co-driver to AC Lace, but did not get to drive. AC himself seems to have pulled out of the latter event and their relationship may well have broken down by then. Both were declared bankrupt at different times in 1939.

Her first forays into rallying appear in 1936, when she drove a Marendaz in the RAC Rally. The only other Marendaz entries were driven by DMK Marendaz, the car’s creator, and Aileen Moss, mother of Stirling and Pat Moss. 

By the time the RAC Rally came round again in 1937, she was driving a Railton, but she was disqualified from that year’s event. This was her only time out in that car. Driving a French Delahaye 135, she also entered the Scottish and Welsh rallies, plus an MCC rally in Torquay. That car also disappears at the end of the summer.

Making up for this somewhat, she managed to out-drive AC Lace on the 1938 Monte Carlo Rally, finishing 27th to his 47th, navigated by Elsie Wisdom. They were both driving Talbot-Darracq cars. It was a successful year on the stages for her; a month later, she and the Talbot were second in the Paris-St.Raphael women’s rally, behind Betty Haig’s MG. 

She returned to Monaco in the Talbot in 1939, and was 25th. Her co-driver was the famous pilot Amy Johnson, in what was her last rally. They had previously competed against each other in the Paris-St. Raphael. Betty’s bankruptcy later in the year was almost certainly a factor in the end of her own career.

After leaving motorsport and AC Lace behind, Betty married Brian Carbury and had two sons. The fact that she was still married to Gerald McQueen did not deter her; she possibly remained married to him until her death in 1971. It did not deter her either from marrying twice more, in 1944 and 1958. Multiple bigamous marriages were only one aspect of a dishonest and criminal side to her character, which becomes obvious after she left AC Lace. Throughout her life, she was convicted many times of theft and financial fraud, usually in the form of passing bad cheques from accounts that were either closed or non-existent. Brian Carbury was also convicted of cheque fraud in 1941 and both were accused of stealing savings from their children’s nanny in 1943. A pattern emerges of her being caught, then changing her name and carrying on as before. As she got older, she tended to move her date of birth forward by a few years with each name change.

Later, she spent a long period of time living in South Africa, where her father had previously had business interests. She married a waiter called Antonio Giocondi and began calling herself Babette Giocondi. Under this identity, she embarked on a high-profile career as a boxing promoter in 1961, alongside her husband who managed the fighters. They made very little money and attempts to bring South African boxers to the UK failed. There may have been an element of fraud involved in this. “Babette Giocondi” gave interviews to the South African press and claimed to have raced at Le Mans.

Betty died in a car crash in Worthing in 1971. She was a passenger in a Daimler Sovereign driven by pub landlord Brian Samain, who also died in the accident. At the time, she was calling herself “Babette Dale-Lace” and it took the police some time to discover anything close to her real identity.

(Thanks to Adam Ferrington for sharing his research on Betty/Phoebe/Babette.)

Patricia McOstrich

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Patricia, left

Patricia McOstrich was a regular at Brooklands between 1930 and 1939. She was an all-rounder who drove in trials, rallies and races.

She was born Gladys Patricia McOstrich in 1898. Her family was based in Surrey, quite close to Brooklands. It was probably during WW1 that she learned to drive; she described herself as a servicewoman who drove ambulances. After the Armistice, she worked as a chauffeur for a Liberal politician and advertised her services in the papers. This was sometimes done under the banner of female emancipation. Throughout her life, she attempted to encourage other women into the automotive world.

Her first major competitive outing was the JCC’s Half Day Trial in 1930. The trial was held at Brooklands. Patricia drove an Alvis and won a first-class award. In 1932, she entered the JCC’s Open trial in an MG Midget and received a second-class award for her performance in the under-1100cc class.

It was this year that she started racing on the Brooklands circuit itself. The MG had been exchanged for a Talbot, which she seems to have owned jointly with a Miss Hedges. This woman, who raced herself at Brooklands, was Geraldine Hedges, a former WWI ambulance driver who ran her own "motor consultancy". The two were pointedly described by the press of the time as “good friends” and may have been in a romantic relationship.

Patricia raced the Talbot between 1932 and 1934. It was not the most competitive of her cars, but she did manage a second place in the Second Walton Scratch Sprint at the 1934 March BARC meeting.

In keeping with her feminist ideals, she was a member of the Women’s Automobile and Sports Association. She took part in their one-lap handicap race at the 1932 Brooklands Guys Gala. The following year, she was part of their official team for the Stanley Cup, alongside Lotte “Irene” Schwedler and Margaret Allan.

Of all of the racing cars she drove, she got the best results out of a Frazer Nash. Her first event in it seems to have been the March meeting at Brooklands. In May, she was third in a ladies’ race at Donington Park with it.

By 1937, she had really got to grips with the Frazer Nash. she started the year by winning a Ladies award in the Brooklands Rally. Then, she won the Second Easter Long Handicap, as well as finishing second in a Sports Handicap at Crystal Palace.

In 1937, she was also part of a Frazer Nash team for the JCC Relay. They finished in seventh place. Kay Petre was part of the winning Austin team.

After that, she carried on racing until 1939, but was not quite as successful. She competed in several trials and won some awards, but there were no more race wins. After the war, she did not return to the circuits or the rally stages.

Patricia ran her own garage business, Speedy Transport and Garages, away from the track, and contributed the motoring section to the book “Careers and Vocational Training: a guide to the professions and occupations of educated women and girls”. In it, she discussed the merits of working as a “chauffeuse”, which she warned was often combined with more domestic work or a companion role, and advised on how to start a garage. She gave rough budgets for a filling station or a repair garage. “Motor racing as a career cannot be recommended except for those with plenty of money and where earning a living is not the object” was what she had to say on professional motorsport.

She died in London in 1958, aged sixty.

Rena Blome

Rena in 1984

Rena Blome was the fastest female rally driver in Germany, in the mid-1980s.

A former apprentice painter and decorator, she rallied internationally from 1981, initially in a Peugeot 104. During this season, she entered the Monte Carlo and RAC Rallies, and was the leading German finisher in the 1000 Lakes Rally. She did not finish the other two World Championship events.  

In 1982, she managed a twelfth place in the Rallye Deutschland, and another in the Vorderpfalz Rally. This was one of four top-twenty finishes that year. The Peugeot team gave her a works 104 for the Hunsrück Rally, but she did not finish.

By the start of 1983, she had been talent-spotted by Peugeot Sport, who provided her with a car for the German championship. She drove a Talbot Samba that year, and was twelfth in the German championship. Her best finish was twelfth, in the ADAC-Saarland Peugeot-Talbot Rally, and she also scored a class win. The class win was won of seven that year.

In a Talbot Samba, and scored three top-ten finishes in 1984. The best of these was an eighth place, in the Saarland Rally. The others were two tenths in the Hessen and Trifels rallies, both with class wins. She was sixth in the German championship, and would probably have been higher, had she finished more rallies.

The following year, she returned to the Peugeot side of the company with a 205 GTi. She achieved two more top tens, an eighth in the Sachs Winter Rally, and a sixth in the Saarland Rally. Again, too many retirements later in the season disrupted her momentum, but it was still a strong season, in a competitive championship.

At the end of the year, she tried to obtain a Group B 205 T16 from Peugeot. This car, one of the fastest of the Group B era, would have allowed her to challenge for overall wins. It had allowed Kalle Grundel to dominate the 1985 championship, and he moved on to Ford, creating a space in the team. In the end they did not give her one; the number one Peugeot seat was filled by Michele Mouton, who went on to win the 1986 championship. Rena had set her heart on a T16, and sat the season out rather than try her luck in another car.

After the 1986 season, Group B was banned, so she never got her T16 drive.

Her career finishes here, apart from one run in the 1987 Rally Deutschland, in an Opel Kadett. She did not finish. After her retirement from rallying, she worked as a safe-driving instructor, often working with other women, and had children. Much later, she worked in the field of complementary medicine, and opened her own clinic.

(Image copyright McKlein)

Charlotte Versigny

Charlotte (left) in a Bugatti T35, 1928

Charlotte Versigny competed in races and rallies in France, in the late 1920s. She often drove a Talbot or a Bugatti.

Her beginnings in motorsport are not very clear, like most of her private life and biography. She was involved in motoring generally, and ran a large driving school in Paris.

Her first major motorsport event seems to have been the Monte Carlo Rally in 1927. She drove a 1460cc Fiat, and was 26^th overall, second in the Coupe des Dames rankings, behind Mildred Bruce. This was not her first event, however; she is listed in an article in L’Aérophile as having won the Ladies’ Automobile section of a “Rallye-Ballon”, combining motor races and a hot air balloon race. Her car was a 15hp Oakland. This American vehicle was her first competition car, which she initially entered into Concours, from 1926 onwards.

By 1927, she was racing her Talbot 70 in France. Her first big race was the Grand Prix de la Baule, in which she was fourteenth, just behind Lucy O’Reilly Schell in her Bugatti. She was sixth in class.

That August, she was one of twelve drivers, including the eventual winner Elisabeth Junek, who took part in a “Championnat Féminin” held at Montlhéry (not the Journée Féminine del’Automobile). The race was over 60km, and Charlotte was second. Another women-only event, the Paris-La Baule Rally, saw Charlotte and her Talbot in action again in September. In mixed competition, she was fifth in the Le Touquet-Paris-Plage, having started at Pau, the same start point she used for the Boulogne-Le Touquet Rally.

The Talbot came good at the start of 1928. Charlotte won the Coupe des Dames in the Monte Carlo Rally, and was third overall, one of the best-ever results for a female driver, to this day. This was followed by a run in the Paris-Nice Trial, in the 2000cc class. Her car was a Bugatti, and she won the Dauphinois Automobile Club trophy, plus another award for being the only woman driver to finish without penalties, and a fastest time in a speed trial at Grenoble.

The Bugatti was her chosen car for that year’s  Journée Féminine de l’Automobile. She qualified for the final race, and won the speed trial for open cars. This was her second entry into this particular event, although she had to pull out in 1927.

She had first driven the Bugatti towards the end of 1927, in hillclimbs. Another all-female event was held at Saint-Germain in July, as part of the Bol d’Or, and Charlotte was on hand for the Formula Libre race.

She also drove the car in the Coupe de Bourgogne that year, against Jannine Jennky.

The Oakland had not been forgotten this year, either. Charlotte drove it in Concours d’Elegance events, and in the hillclimb attached to the “Rallye-Ballon”.

Charlotte was an enthusiastic and skilled addition to the already-vibrant, Paris-based ladies’ motor racing scene. Some sources have her down as entering the Paris-St. Raphaël Rally, and while this is certainly possible, I have been unable to find any results. She disappears from the entry lists after 1928, and the Paris-St. Raphaël began in 1929.

She is credited as the one of the inspirations behind Hellé-Nice’s decision to become a professional racing driver.

(Image from http://www.bugattibuilder.com/)

The Coupe des Dames in the Monte Carlo Rally: Part I

Mildred Bruce with her AC, 1927

The Coupe des Dames was awarded to the best female finisher in the Monte Carlo Rally. The award was first made in 1927, to Mildred Mary Bruce, although she was not the first female driver to contest the event. A Madame Mertens came second in 1925, driving a Lancia Lambda, but no special trophy for female drivers existed as yet.

Below are the winners of the Coupe des Dames prior to 1950. Where possible, full names have been given. The early days of the rally saw considerable success for women drivers, with women in the top ten for several years, in the 1920s and 1930s. For some editions, separate “Coupes” were given for different classes, and these have been included. This is the first part of a series of posts about the Monte Carlo Rally. Part 2 Part 3

1927

Mildred (Mrs Victor) Bruce (AC) – 6^th

1928

Charlotte Versigny (Talbot) – 3^rd

1929

Lucy O’Reilly Schell (Talbot) – 8^th

1930

Madame M. Doré (Chenard & Walcker) – 9^th

1931

Madame D. Jeanne (Rosengart) – 3^rd (Light Car)

Lady Eda Jardine (Lancia Lambda) – 14^th

1932

Alexandra Lindh (Hudson) – 8^th

Morna Vaughan (Triumph) – 6^th (Light Car)

1933

Marguerite Mareuse/Louise Lamberjack (Peugeot) – 13^th

1934

Simone des Forest/Fernande Hustinx (Peugeot 301) – 17^th

Madame Marinovitch and Louise Lamberjack, 1935

1935

Marie-Jeanne Marinovitch/Louise Lamberjack (Ford) – 19^th

1936

Marie-Jeanne Marinovitch/Hellé Nice (Matford) – 18^th

1937

Greta Molander (Plymouth) – 34^th

1938

Germaine Rouault/Madame J D’Herlique (Matford) – 7^th

1939

Yvonne Simon/Suzanne Largeot (Hotchkiss) – 8^th

1949

Countess van Limburg Stirum/Countess van Vredenburgh (Ford V8) – 12^th

(Images from http://www.acownersclub.co.uk/ and http://www.forum-auto.com/)