So Girls Can't Drive Huh?

by Emily Newman

Every morning I look in the mirror I can still slightly see my scar on my chin. I got that scar from falling on a floor jack when our German Shepard Boots tripped me in the garage. I did a lot of living in the garage. Both of my parent's are car enthusiasts. My mother a mechanic, my father a motor head. They met in a junk yard - now called salvage yards for those politically correct. Their first date was at a drag race. My dad owned a body shop for about two years - that's where I got my scar. I guess you could say cars scared me for life!

We moved when I was about two. Built a 60' x 40' garage when I was 5. Ever since then I was a garage kid. My main job was getting beer from the garage for all our 'guests' when they came to tell their racing stories. We had racers from all walks. circle track, drags, SCCA - you name it, they were probably in our garage. Now my dad is a jack of all trades, but he truly is a welder. Once the garage went up he started to build cars. I say build cars because they weren't all race cars. Street rods, modifications to everyday drivers, and of course full out race cars. He mainly sticks with drag cars, but is now getting into SCCA cars because of my brother and his shop.

My mom, the mechanic - the Camaro freak. You ask her anything about the early Camaros (she knows the most about them). Give her a VIN and she'll tell you from memory where it was built, what motor is has, and what color it is. Ok, so maybe not the color, but she knows it all. What years and models had what where and when. She always laughs at the fake Z28s. I can remember when it was tell about your parents day at school. I always pick my dad, just to save myself from the your mom is a mechanic questions. Hey, I was 10 and insecure about myself, not to mention having to defend my mom. Once I got older I grew to over come this and now proudly state it to the world. And with my knowledge about cars I can also back it up with, not talk fluff like some other people do - both men and women. I learned about Camaros and other Chevy's from my parents. Ford=forbidden at our house. My automotive horizons have spread to Italian because of the cars we have - mainly the Ferrari 308/328 series, Fiat (124 spiders), and the Bertone X 1/9s. Also throw in the 944 Porsche and of course my Jeep Grand Cherokee. Again I am learning. Since I am the web master for my brother's VW/Audi tuning shop, I now know the difference between the A1, A2's and MK4s. I am also learning the ins and outs of forced injection, superchargers, and engine conversions in Dubs.

I find it funny when I join a car forum. Especially if it is geared towards the younger VW crowd. The guys seem amazed that I know so much about cars. But why not? They are simple beasts. The crank in the engine goes round and round...what's so hard to understand? Maybe because I have the background I have it comes easy to me. But learning it doesn't seem hard either. It amazed me that people spend 30 thousand plus on a car and don't know where the dip stick is. Driving the car maybe. You purchase a house and learn about painting. You may or may not do it yourself, but you still have an idea of how to do something and where to start. Why can't people do that with cars?

Though I haven't ventured into racing 'real' cars, I did race slot cars against all the guys when I was 15. Our team came to be when one of the garage regulars got into slot car racing. One night while racing, all the guys said the girls can't race, that is why there aren't any here. So Henry came down to the garage like he always did every weekend and asked me if I wanted to race. Sure thing!

The timing was perfect. It was the beginning of the season. I ran the amateur sprints. I was of course the only girl there among the guys. We actually had a team. Henry would tweak the car between runs, test and tune engines, and build the chassis. I would drive and tell him what I thought and I made some of the body panels needed. We had a mini nascar pit and equipment. Henry built a tire shaver from an old blender, a mini dyno to test the engines, and a jig to see how far the chassis was bent. He made some really amazing stuff (he is a machinist by trade). I did well my first few races, so Henry decided to have me race in the amateurs as well as the modifieds and the pro sprints. I was again the only girl, but now among grown men. Of course I got the you are a girl jests, especially because I was so young. I was feeling strong and proud to be a girl among the guys. It wasn't the first time. I did race BMX from age 8-15ish. I can proudly say I was the track champion one year, beating all the guys. The men shortly changed their tunes when we were the team to beat. Towards mid season you saw knock offs of our tire shaver and dyno, not to mention the mind games. Things like adding food color to water and saying it was some miracle oil. I just laughed because I heard it all while BMX racing. At the end of the season, Henry and I swept the series. All of them. We won the amateurs, modified, and pro sprints. I was named rookie of the year and Henry was tuner of the year. At the banquet Henry just said, so girls can't drive huh?