Dorothy Elizabeth Levitt, born Elizabeth Levi on 5 January 1882 and died on 17 May 1922, was a Jewish British racing driver and journalist. The source calls her the first British woman racing driver, the holder of the world's first water speed record, the women's world land speed record holder and an author, and says she taught Queen Alexandra and the Royal Princesses to drive. In 1905 she set a record for the longest drive by a lady driver, driving a De Dion-Bouton from London to Liverpool and back over two days, and the press called her the Fastest Girl on Earth and the Champion Lady Motorist of the World. Her 1909 handbook The Woman and the Car advised women to carry a hand mirror to see behind them in traffic. Her 1903 court case against a GPO van driver was the first legal case in England won by the driver of a self-propelled vehicle.
Facts
FAQs
How did Dorothy Levitt get into motor racing?
A secretary at the Napier works, she was taught to drive by Selwyn Edge and won her class at the 1903 Southport Speed Trials.
She did not start as a driver. Levitt was working as a secretary at the Napier works in Lambeth when Selwyn Edge, director of the Napier car company and a racing driver, noticed her and decided to promote his cars by entering her in a race. He first had to teach her to drive. She then won her class in the 1903 Southport Speed Trials.
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Source Dorothy Levitt (Wikipedia)Lead paragraph [nationality]Quote, Lead paragraph [nationality]
was a Jewish British racing driver and journalist
Sources
1. Dorothy Levitt (Wikipedia)
Lead paragraph
5 January 1882
Lead paragraph [death-year]
17 May 1922
Lead paragraph [nationality]
was a Jewish British racing driver and journalist
In Group: Pioneering Motorists and Racing Drivers, Lead sentence
Dorothy Elizabeth Levitt (born Elizabeth Levi; 5 January 1882-17 May 1922) was a Jewish British racing driver and journalist.
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