Dorothy Patten

 Dorothy Patten was a British driver who mainly competed in rallies, but also raced before and after the war. 

Her origins are rather obscure and “Dorothy” was not her real given name. It is likely that she was originally named Alice Minnie Patten and had come from a working-class background. Both of her parents died before she was ten and she and one of her sisters were sent to St Mark’s Home for Girls, a domestic science school where Minnie trained as a maid. 

A 1939 summons for speeding close to Brooklands in the name of Dorothy Minnie Patten, in her car, seems to prove her identity. 

Alice Minnie Patten was born in 1906 in Flintshire. As a teenager, she worked as a housemaid in a surgeon’s house, but at some point in the 1920s or early 1930s, she seems to have come into some money and moved to the south of England.

She got her start in motorsport very early, in 1933. Her first car seems to have been an Alvis, which she drove in that year’s Alpine Rally, finishing fourteenth in class and 53rd overall. She tried again on the 1934 Alpine but does not seem to have finished. 

Starting from John O’Groats, she tackled her first Monte Carlo Rally in 1935, still with the Alvis. She was 79th overall.

Another of her early cars was a British Salmson, which was the first she used for circuit racing. She was second in the Unlimited Standard Sports Car class for women in the 1936 Brighton Speed Trials in it, narrowly beaten by Kay Petre in a Frazer Nash. The following year, she raced it at the Crystal Palace circuit, finishing third in an Unlimited Sports Car handicap at the United Hospitals and University Motor Club meeting.

She drove the Salmson in the 1936 RAC Rally and the 1937 Monte Carlo Rally. The same, or a similar, car, also finished the 1938 Monte. This car belonged to Rainer Dorndorf. It took her to a 43rd place in the 1937 Monte, from 81 finishers. Some results lists have Dorothy entered as a co-driver to Rainer Dorndorf in a Salmson in the 1938 Monte and crashing out, but this sounds unlikely given her own entry.

She was named as a car entrant for R.E. Dorndorf's special-bodied Darl’mat Peugeot in the 1939 Sydenham Plate. This was a car that Dorothy didn’t race much herself at the time, although she used it in rallies. Her first major result in it was probably an eleventh place in the 1939 Paris-St. Raphael Rally. She was fourth in Class B, for drivers with no previous podium finishes.

Later, she married Rainer Dorndorf, a German based in Ireland, and began styling herself “Baroness von Dorndorf”, although her husband does not appear to have held such a title. As a British national married to a German, she was briefly interned during the war, although she was soon cleared of being any risk and released. By 1942, the pair had divorced and Dorothy was apparently engaged to Captain Anthony Ryan. They never actually married. It was claimed in the Tatler that Rainer Dorndorf had died in a hunting accident in 1938, but this was untrue.In 1947, she did remarry, to David Treherne. 

Unlike many of her contemporaries, Dorothy was able to resume her career after the war. She entered the speed trials held at Elstree Aerodrome in April 1946, taking the Peugeot to a class win. She covered the quarter-mile course in 22.8s.

The following year, she went back to the Brighton Speed Trials, but could only manage 17th in class and sixth-fastest lady. Her only circuit race in this car seems to have been a three-lap contest at Goodwood in 1948, although her finishing position is not recorded.

She died in 1975, aged 68.

Thanks to Adam Ferrington for information.

Claire Descollas

 

Claire Descollas was a French rally driver who enjoyed a long career in the 1930s and 40s. 

Born in 1905 as Claire Mancis, she began competing very young, and was driving an Amilcar in French hillclimbs from at least 1923, when she was seventeen. She normally raced in the Marseilles area where her family lived and her father worked in the motor trade. Earlier, he had been an agent for Le Gui and Zebre cars in modern Vietnam, where Claire was probably born.

Claire continued to race after her marriage to Gaston Descollas, the brother of a childhood friend. Her car at the time was an Amilcar, described as white with a 5hp engine. her first major result as Madame Descollas was a sixth place in the 1932 Paris-St.Raphael Rally. Claire was second in her class and the first Amilcar finisher. That year, she ran in her first major open rally, the first running of the Rallye des Alpes Francaises. She did not finish and also did not finish in 1934, when Gaston Descollas won.

With Gaston, she won several class awards and rallies, often in a distinctive and quite famous Bugatti Type 57 Atalante with aerodynamic bodywork. She entered the 1935 Paris-St. Raphael in this car, but retired with mechanical problems. In 1936, she used it again for the Alpes Francaises event, and in 1937, for another Paris-St. Raphael, but she could not get it to the finish. As a consolation, she did win the Mont Ventoux hillclimb section in the Alpine rally and was third in her class.

The Amilcar was still very much in evidence. She won her class in the 1936 Chamonix Rally and was ninth overall in the Rallye de Lyon.

In the later part of her career, particularly after World War II, she favoured Lancia cars. She won her class award and finished without penalties in the 1939 Rally des Alpes Francaises, driving an Aprilia. She was 17th in the same event in 1947. One of her best Paris-St.Raphael showings was in this car in 1938; she was third and won the 1500cc class.

She does not appear to have driven in any more rallies after 1947, although she co-drove for Gaston in an Aprilia in 1948. The couple divorced in 1953.

As well as rallying, Claire was part of the Yacco speed trial team in 1937, although she withdrew after the first runs. Her team-mates for the Montlhery record attempt were Helle Nice, Simone des Forest and Odette Siko. Claire may have clashed with Helle Nice. Despite her departure, the Matford car itself was named Claire, possibly after her.

Claire died in 1985, aged 80.

For more information, see this Zebre site.

Image from Wikimedia Commons

"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.)

The Automobile Club Feminin

Club members visit an airfield

The Automobile Club de France did not allow female members, so a women’s equivalent was founded in 1926. It was incorporated in 1925 and began its activities early the following year.

Its first president was Anne Rochechouart de Mortemart, the duchess of Uzes. She remained in the post until her death in 1933, when Elaine Greffulhe, the duchess of Gramont, was elected as her successor.

The ACFF’s membership came from the upper classes, with many of the committee members having husbands who sat on the all-male club’s board. A good proportion of the committee was titled and some came from notable families such as the Rothschilds. Giorigina Bingen, wife of Andre Citroen, was among them. Despite its select entry requirements, there were many senior members who were Jewish, such as Bingen, Beatrice Reinach and two Rothschild baronesses.

The founder of the Paris-St. Raphael Rally, Count Edme de Rohan-Chabot, was involved, chiefly as the publisher for the club’s magazine. Many members were regulars in early runnings of the Paris-St. Raphael, although it remained independent of the club itself.

Much of the club’s role was to provide social activities for motor-minded ladies, including tours and meet-ups at members’ (stately) homes. These were recorded in its regular magazine, alongside travel and fashion advice, social gossip, reports from major motorsport events and even poetry.

It did, however, organise its own rallies, including some international ones: the Paris-Rome Rally in 1932 and the Paris-Amsterdam in 1931. In its earliest days, it was responsible for the Paris-La Baule Rally which began in 1925.

A “Winter Sports Rally” ran between Paris and Chamonix in 1935, following a “surprise rally” which ended up in Rambouillet in 1934.

The annual rally in 1936 ran between Paris and Le Touquet and was won by Jacqueline Seligmann. Her car is not recorded. The competitive element this time was a regularity test of some 220km.

Magdeleine, Comtesse de Ganay, was the most successful driver in these rallies. She won the Paris-Cannes event in 1930 and was second in the Paris-Amsterdam Rally the year after, both in a Reinastella. 

From time to time, the Club took itself to the forests for a trial, including one in early 1935 which featured a Chanel dress as a prize, won by Jacqueline Seligmann. There were also “paper chase” and treasure hunt-style rallies in towns.

A few ACFF ladies did go on to have serious and successful motorsport careers, including Marguerite Mareuse, one of the first women to race at Le Mans.

The Second World War curtailed the activities of the club and its magazine ceased publication in 1939.

Louise Lamberjack

 

Louise with Marguerite Mareuse during the 1933 Monte

Louise Lamberjack was a French rally driver active in the 1930s. She competed as both driver and navigator. 

Motorsport was something she had grown up with, as the daughter of motorcyclist and racing driver Dominique Lamberjack and the niece of Jean-Emile Lamberjack, another racer who sold cars. Some sources claim that she was Jean-Emile’s daughter. However, she did not begin her own competition career until she was around 30.

Father and daughter competed at the same time, with Dominique opting for an unusual rally car; a Saurer coach.

Like many French women drivers of the time, Louise began by competing in women-only events, sometimes organised by the Automobile Club Feminin. Her choice of cars was more standard and probably more sensible, beginning with a Fiat. She first appears on an entry list for the 1931 Paris-St. Raphael Rally, winning the class for cars over 17hp and finishing 20th overall. She was one of 23 drivers who finished without penalty. Sadly, her second attempt at the event in 1932 ended in mechanical failure.

Over the course of the decade, she would enter six more editions of the Paris-St. Raphael, driving a number of cars. Her best results were two fourth places, in 1936 and 1937, driving a Hotchkiss and a Delahaye respectively.

Her first major win was the Coupe des Dames in Monte Carlo in 1933, navigating for Marguerite Mareuse. She first drove herself in that event in 1935, and was second in the Ladies' standings in 1936, driving a Hotchkiss which she occasionally used on the circuits. 

She was 18th on the 1939 Monte, driving a Matford. On paper, the mighty V8 Ford-engined Mathis was her most successful car, as she recorded a second place in the 1939 International Rally of La Baule. However, only the sections between drivers’ start points and La Baule itself were counted, as the Second World War was beginning and the rally proper never took place. Louise shared second spot with eight other drivers.

Her best year was probably 1936, when she drove the Hotchkiss in both rallies and races. As well as her Paris-St. Raphael fourth, she was third in the Paris-Nice International Criterium de Tourisme, considerably ahead of her father in his coach. In May, she was eighth in the Lyon Rally, leading Claire Descollas in a Lancia and Germaine Rouault in a Delahaye who were ninth and tenth.

The Paris-Nice was one of her best events: she was sixth in 1937 in the Hotchkiss. This year, the rally included a regularity test, a street race in Monaco and the La Turbie hillclimb.

Unlike some of her contemporaries, she did not return to competition after the war.

She died in 1989, aged 90.

The Paris-Amsterdam Rally

 

Suzanne de la Meurthe and Madame Marquisan with their Hispano Suiza

1. Suzanne Deutsch de la Meurthe/Madame Marquisan (Hispano Suiza)

2. Comtesse Magdeleine de Ganay/Mademoiselle Gouin (Renault Reinastella)

3. Beatrice Reinach (Ballot)

4. Camilla Steinbrugge (Bugatti)

5. Madame Kaufman (Citroen)

6. Madame Mennesson (Talbot)

7. Comtesse Constance de Lubersac (Citroen)

8. Miss Thurnauer (Bugatti)

9. Madame Friedmann (Rosengart)

10. Madame Schumann (Citroen)

11. Madame Sambon (Voisin)

12. Madame Krebs (Talbot)

13. Claude Dadvisard (Citroen)

14. Mademoiselle Cremieux (Citroen)

15. Comtesse Marie de Jouvencel (Citroen)

16. Madame Calbet (Citroen)

The rally began at the Place de la Concorde in Paris on the 12th of May 1931. The sixteen entrants were waved off by Anne, the Dowager Duchesse d’Uzes and the leader of the Automobile Club Feminin. 

Like the Paris-Rome Rally that followed it, the Paris to Amsterdam event had a strong social element, but was also a serious long-distance trial, passing through northern France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. The first leg ran between Paris and Namur in Belgium, where a hillclimb was held, won by Suzanne Deutsch de la Meurthe.

Magdeleine de Ganay won the 20km regularity trial section between Gembloux and Wavre which followed. According to the Excelsior newspaper, her times matched the averages exactly. A points system based on these two events determined the final positions. Further pictures in the Club’s monthly magazine show the two leading passengers, who sat alongside the winners.

The competitive element of the rally was now over and the 16 cars made their way to Amsterdam’s Olympic stadium, via Brussels and Rotterdam. The results were announced at a gala dinner on the 14th, held at the Carlton Hotel in Amsterdam, after a day spent visiting Haarlem. The touring section continued with visits to The Hague, Vollendam and finally Luxembourg, via Arnhem and Utrecht, returning to France on Monday the 18th.

All sixteen cars finished. Many of the drivers remain elusive as to their full identities, although all seem to be members of the Club, wealthy and well-connected and based in France. Magdeleine de Ganay was a regular entrant in the women-only rallies of the time, winning at least one other of the club’s annual long distance rallies, plus the 1930 Paris-St. Raphael. The Comtesse de Lubersac, an American-born Frenchwoman, was seventh in the Paris-Rome Rally held the following year, along with Madame Calbet and Madame Mennesson. Noted art collector and one of the wealthiest women in France, Beatrice Reinach, was another who was a regular in the events held by the club. Camilla Steinbrugge was another socialite who mixed in more bohemian circles, reputedly a lover of the publisher Sylvia Beach.

Winner Suzanne Deutsch de la Meurthe was a committee member of the Automobile Club, but she was better known as a pioneering aircraft pilot.

(Image copyright Agence Rol)

Marie-Jeanne Marinovitch

 

Madame Marinovitch with Louise Lamberjack in 1935

Marie-Jeanne Marinovitch, always credited as “Madame Marinovitch” and sometimes named as Jane, was a Serbian-French rally driver living in France who was active in the 1930s and 1940s. 

She was part of a prominent Serbian family living in France, probably by marriage, which included a World War I flying ace, Pierre Marinovitch, and a prime minister of Serbia.

One of the earliest mentions of her as a driver comes from June 1927, when Le Journal covered the first Journee Feminine de l’Automobile. She drove a 7hp Fiat and came fifth in a heat for the major race, then fourth in a repechage. This did not qualify her for the final and the paper described this as a shame.

Many of the women who raced in the Journee went on to compete in the all-female Paris-St. Raphaël Rally. Her first entry was in 1931 and she drove a 13hp Voisin. This was the car she used for four editions of the rally between then and 1934, scoring a best finish of third in 1933. A further outing in 1935, driving a Ford, gave her a 27th place.

In  June 1931, she took part in the Aero Club’s Rallye-Parachutes, driving the Voisin. This event involved following other competitors in aircraft and retrieving as many parachutes dropped by them as possible. In the write-up for this event, she was described as an experienced rally driver, and named as the “baronne Marinovitch”.

The Monte Carlo Rally was one of her favourite events and she entered on four occasions, beginning as a navigator to Marcelle Leblanc in 1934. They were 42nd overall in a Peugeot 301.

She won the Monte Carlo Coupe des Dames in a Ford in 1935 and a Matford in 1936, with Louise Lamberjack and Hellé-Nice as her navigators. The Matford entry with Hellé-Nice also gained them a “Challenge Officiel de la Couture” award for style. The car was an Alsace V8 model which had previously been raced by Ford France head Maurice Dollfus. Their starting point was Tallinn. Her 1935 Coupe began with a Palermo start.

A third Monte as a driver occurred in 1938. She shared the Matford with Odette Siko and finished 32nd, fifth in the ladies’ standings.

After 1934, Fords and Ford-powered cars were her usual choice for rallies. Occasionally, she drove other cars, such as the Mercedes she used for the 1935 Grand Circuit de Vosges (resulting in a non-finish) or the Delahaye she shared with Odette Siko for that year’s Liege-Rome-Liege Rally.

Another rally she returned to over and over again was the Criterium Paris-Nice, which she entered four times between 1932 and 1936. Her best result was a 16th place in 1933, driving the Voisin. 

She was one of the drivers who contested the 1939 ladies’ championship which was held in France, using Renault Juvaquatres. She crashed out of the second race at Comminges on the sixth lap, rolling her car and breaking her collarbone, but was fourth in the first.

The Second World War broke out shortly afterwards so there was plenty of time for her to recover. Her final event seems to have been the Rallye International Feminin de Paris, a continuation of the Paris-St. Raphaël. She drove a Citroen.

(Image copyright L’Eclaireur du dimanche illustre)

Olga Thibault

Olga Thibault was one of France’s most successful female rally drivers in the 1930s.

She was the winner of the 1935 Paris-St. Raphael Rally, driving a Peugeot. This was one of two events she won outright that year. The other was the Rallye de Berck-Plage, three months later. 

The Paris-St. Raphael was not her first win, either. She was the victor in the Circuit d’Endurance de Haute-Normandie, held in 1934. Eleven drivers finished the event without penalties.

Her career began in 1932, with that year’s Paris-St. Raphael as her first rally. Only a couple of months later, she was fourth overall in the Circuit d’Orleans, winning the 1100cc class. Her car was a Peugeot 301, whose marque she would stick with throughout her five-year career. From her first year in rallying, she was a popular figure in the newspapers, who were keen to promote her victories.

Among her favourite events was the Dieppe Rally, which she contested four times. Her best finish was eleventh in 1935. This was her best year all-round in motorsport: as well as her two wins, she was second in the Rallye du Touquet-Paris Plage and third in the rally held as part of the Fetes de Paris. This was won by Rene Le Begue.

The Berck-Plage event was another favourite, which she entered three times: in 1933, 1935 and 1936. It was her last major rally and she won its Coupe des Dames in 1936.

Olga competed almost exclusively in France, but she did cross the border into Belgium for the finish of the 1934 Liege-Rome-Liege Rally. She and her co-driver Rouxel were eleventh.

(Image copyright Marianne)

The Paris-Rome Rally

 

The Duchess d'Uzes waves off the starters

The Paris-Rome Rallye Feminin was held in 1932. It was organised by the French Automobile Club Feminin and was one of the last events in which the club’s founder, the Duchesse d’Uzes, was involved. The 83-year-old duchess signalled the start of the rally alongside Viscount Rohan-Chabot, the editor of the club’s magazine.

The drivers came from both France and Italy, with separate prizes for each nationality. Compared to some of the other events of the time, entrants had a distinctly upper-class slant, as opposed to the actresses and other performers who were often asked to take part. Among the Paris-Rome contestants was Laura Rospigliosi, an American socialite who had married into the Italian aristocracy, and Constance de Lubersac, a French-American heiress.

Frenchwoman Jeanne Terouanne was the winner, driving a Bugatti. She was a noted equestrian of her time. She and some of the other competitors also took part in the “rallye-ballon” events of the time, where cars followed a hot air balloon.

Despite the heavy presence of socialites on the entry list, the rally itself was quite a demanding journey, with a 1700km route. There were four stages: Paris to Lyon, Lyon to Nice, Nice to Pisa and Pisa to Rome. A half-kilometre speed trial and tests for steering and car control were held, with awards for each.

Results

1. Madame Jeanne Terouanne (Bugatti)

2. Baronessa Fiorenza Aliotti (Alfa Romeo)

3. Principessa Laura Rospigliosi (Lancia)

4. Madame Felix Goudard (Mathis)

5. Madame Calbet (Citroen)

6. Madame Mennesson (Talbot)

7. Comtesse Constance de Lubersac (Citroen)

8. Baronessa Marincola (Alfa Romeo)

9. Madame Frascani (Lancia)

10. Madame Carraro (Citroen)

11. Madame Spina (Citroen)

12. Madame Blandin (Renault)

Entered, did not finish:

Mademoiselle Gouvion (Citroen)

Madame Henriet (Citroen)

Madame Sainte-Marie (Talbot)

500m speed test: Principessa Laura Rospigliosi, 26.2s

Steering lock test: Baronessa Fiorenza Aliotti 

Braking and reversing test: Comtesse Constance de Lubersac

Acceleration and deceleration test: Madame Mennesson

When the rally arrived in Rome, club members were granted audiences with the Pope, the Italian royal family and other dignitaries. The party then carried on to Florence, where some of the drivers joined a mixed speed trial held by the Auto Club of Rome. This ran over two laps of a street circuit, totalling 8km. Jeanne Terouanne was fifth quickest, but the two fastest women were Suzanne Deutsch de la Meurthe, better known as a pilot, and rally driver Magdeleine de Ganay, who both drove Hispano Suizas. They were second and fourth respectively. Although not part of the rally itself, they had driven the route from Paris together in 33 hours.

Auto Club of Rome Speed Trial

1. Baron Edgardo Lazzaroni (Hispano Suiza)

2. Suzanne Deutsch de la Meurthe (Hispano Suiza)

3. Caragnani (Bugatti)

4. Magdeleine de Ganay (Hispano Suiza)

5. Jeanne Terouanne (Bugatti)

6. Prince de Schoenburg (Bugatti)

7. Marquis Lelio Pellegrini (Lancia)

8. Mademoiselle Steinbrugge (Bugatti)

9. M Frascani (Lancia)

10. Commendantore Lezzi (OM)

11. Madame Frascani (Lancia)

This was held over two laps of a circuit at Littorio, totalling 8km.

Image copyright Excelsior newspaper

Lady Mary Grosvenor

 

Lady Mary Grosvenor was a British driver in the mid-20th century who could have been the first woman to race in Formula One.

Blessed with a huge family fortune as the youngest daughter of the Duke of Westminster, she was able to afford a series of increasingly powerful cars. Her father was, at the time, one of the richest men in the world.

She most often competed in hillclimbs and sprints, but did both circuit racing and rallying before and after World War II. 

It was in rallies that she first came to prominence. She entered the 1936 RAC Rally in a Riley, starting from Buxton. She is recorded as having finished 156th in the 1938 event. She also rallied in Scotland early in her career.

She first appears on the circuit racing entry lists in 1937, as a member of the Lancs & Cheshire Car Club’s relay team for a race at Donington. Her team-mates were AC Molyneux (Lea Francis) and Hugh Cocker, who drove a Riley like Mary. They were fourth.

Her second major race was a Short Handicap at Crystal Palace in 1939, and she was second, in a Riley Sprite. This was the first of her racing cars; she favoured the Sprite in the early part of her career and owned several. 

The same year, and in the same car, she was second in a two-lap Scratch Race at Donington, held by the Cambridge University Auto Club. She also entered a three-lap relay with Midge Wilby (Atalanta) and a T Winstanley in a Bentley, finishing second. 

After the war, she raced a Riley and an Allard, which she used for hillclimbs and sprints, sometimes driving both cars in a single meeting. 

She was third in a sportscar race at Gransden Lodge in 1946, in the Riley, and continued to compete strongly in hillclimbs until 1949, using a 1929 Bugatti T37A and an Alta as well as the Allard. The Bugatti was a particularly strong car for her and she set a ladies’ record at Prescott in 1947 that stood for more than 30 years.

The Alta, once it had been fitted with a 1500cc engine, would have been eligible for Formula One, but despite having the means, Lady Mary declined to pursue this. She preferred to use the car in speed events. Throughout her motorsport career, Lady Mary was always very independent, choosing her own path. She does not appear to have competed outside the UK, although she travelled extensively in Europe and Africa, and was never part of any of the women-only rallies that took place on the continent.

She had bought her first Alta, a 69IS in 1939 but never got the chance to race it and sold it after the war. Later, she ran a different Alta in both 1500cc and 2000cc guises. As a 1500cc Grand Prix car, it took her to sixth place in class in a hillclimb at Prescott in 1949. That summer, she used the Alta at another Prescott climb, at Shelsley Walsh and the Chester Motor Club’s sprint, where she was second in class.

Later, she raced a Frazer Nash Le Mans Replica at Silverstone and Goodwood, finishing third in a handicap at Goodwood in 1951. 

She retired from motorsport in 1953, after the death of her father, the Duke of Westminster, and devoted her time to running the family estates. Only once did she come out of retirement, in 1955, when she entered a Bentley Drivers’ Club event at Oulton Park driving a Triumph TR2.

The Westminster title could only pass to a male heir, so neither Mary nor her sister Ursula could inherit. It passed to Mary’s second cousin William. Mary herself never married, although she was suggested as a potential bride for The Prince of Wales, later briefly Edward VIII, as a young woman.

She died in 2000, aged 89.

(Image copyright Tips Editorial)