Atlanta - Women As Racing Drivers

Atlanta: Women As Racing Drivers (1955) by S.C.H. Davis. Published by G.T. Foulis. ISBN: none (because in 1955 books didn’t need numbers, they needed nerve). Condition: Good — with a dust jacket that’s had a proper race of its own: heavily torn to the back, with roughly 10–15% missing. Not a disaster, not pristine, but very much “finished the lap” rather than “kept in a glass cabinet.”

First things first: yes, the title really is that direct. Women As Racing Drivers. No coyness. No “ladies’ motoring pursuits.” No delicate euphemisms. Just a crisp little statement that implies somebody, somewhere, once needed convincing that women could drive fast — and that S.C.H. Davis arrived with evidence, names, and probably a raised eyebrow.

This is a wonderfully mid-century motoring book: part history, part celebration, part quietly defiant corrective to the old assumption that motorsport was a gentleman’s club with a petrol problem. Davis takes you through the women who raced, competed, endured the scepticism, and then did the most persuasive thing possible: won races anyway. It’s the kind of book that reads like a polite argument with the era itself.

And it’s published by G.T. Foulis — a name that practically smells of workshop manuals, oily hands, and the thrill of mechanical detail. That gives the book a particular flavour: this isn’t a glossy coffee-table tribute. It’s for people who actually care about racing, the machines, the circuits, the results, and the personalities behind them. In short: proper motoring folk.

The irony, of course, is that a book like this shouldn’t have to exist. “Men As Racing Drivers” didn’t need publishing. Yet here we are, in 1955, assembling the proof in hardback form — which is precisely why it’s such an interesting item now. It’s a snapshot of the sport and the culture around it: the admiration, the gatekeeping, the fascination, and the grudging respect that tends to follow anyone who refuses to be politely excluded.

Physically, this copy is in Good condition, and the dust jacket — though torn and missing a chunk at the back — still does the crucial job: it signals “mid-century motoring hardback” at twenty paces and gives you that handsome period look on the shelf. The damage is mostly cosmetic, not catastrophic. Think of it as patina with a small scrape: entirely in keeping with the subject.

Perfect for:

• collectors of motoring history and G.T. Foulis titles,

• anyone interested in women’s sporting history,

• vintage racing enthusiasts,

• and people who enjoy books that are quietly revolutionary while wearing a perfectly respectable suit.

Because if you’re going to own a 1955 book about women racing cars, it’s only fitting that the jacket looks like it’s been through a bit of turbulence. The point, after all, was never to stay immaculate — it was to finish fast.

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