The automotive world owes a lot to the British Dorothy Levitt: the invention of the mirror.
Dorothy Levitt was a pioneer in women’s motorsport and the first woman to win a car race in 1903. One of her competitive advantages was based on using the mirror of a silver compact to see how far her rivals were following her.
Rearview mirrors hadn’t been invented yet, requiring you to turn your head to check the traffic behind you. It sounds risky today, but in the early 20th century the chances of being overtaken by a car were almost non-existent due to the few units that existed.
Another thing was competition world. There the risk was greater and controlling opponents who approached from the rear ended up being one of the keys to determining one or another strategy in the race.
Two places with meaning
Cars at the time were rudimentary and unsafe and two-seater. With two seats, it was possible to transport a co-pilot-mechanic capable of fixing malfunctions in real time and, moreover, to keep an eye out if an adversary approached.
Levitt, however, was running alone. The secrets of competition and the car he drove, a De Dion-Bouton, were thoroughly studied. The car was made by a former French car manufacturer who saw Levitt as an opportunity to grab the market’s attention by putting a woman behind the wheel of one of his racing cars. And it was Levitt’s competitive disadvantage of not having a co-pilot that determined him to sharpen his wits and turn to his pact to control his followers. By the way, a compact that Camille du Gast, a French runner, gave him.
The co-pilots lost their jobs.
The mission of the co-driver-mechanic figure in the race was short-lived. In 1910, to reduce the weight of vehicles, competition cars became single-seaters. Riders no longer had the invaluable help of their mechanic to advise them on the position of their competitors. The rearview mirror as we know it today was born, although it vibrated so much that the images reflected in it could barely be seen.
Gradually, the mirrors became better and more sophisticated, with progressive darkening of the windows, different positions… Lately, instead of mirrors, they are screens that collect images of what is happening on the sides of the car, as in the Audi e-Tron. , Honda and Hyundai Tucson. But they all stem from a woman’s ability to earn thanks to her silver compact.