Dec
Fast Ladies with Lara Platman and Nicholas Upton
The Virtual Bugatti Day conversation about some amazing Bugatti ladies…
Dec
Nov
Pat Moss- Rally Icon and Trailblazer
Delighted as always to see my work printed. First published in Heritage Insurance. The 2023 Monte Carlo Rally is beginning to take shape. For the first time in the event’s history, five mountain passes in a row will create the longest special stage. Col de ’LOrme, Col de L’Albie, Col de Braus, Col Saint-Jean and […]
Aug
Betty Skelton – The First Lady of Firsts
First seen on Heritage Insurance website The year is 1965 and we are at the Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah. The sun is bright with a thin layer of heat hovering above the crystal ground as the Green Monster Cyclops Jet car reaches the speed of 315.74mph. The driver is Betty Skelton, the First Lady of […]
Jul
Elsie ‘Bill’ Wisdom: the lap breaker
(As previously seen on Heritage Motor Insurance website) In this next instalment of women in motorsport, I would like to introduce you to Mrs Elsie Wisdom, known to her friends and family as ‘Bill,’ a nickname given by her brothers at an early age. Growing up with many of them, Elsie (then Elsie Gleed) […]
Apr
Fay Taylour – Queen of the Speedway
First Published on Heritage Motor Insurance website: It is exceedingly rare for a rider to be as fast on two wheels as four, with racer Sir John Surtees remaining the only person to have won World Championships by both motorcycle and car. Tazio Nuvolari is among the same rank, having achieved wins in individual races […]
Mar
Mildred Bruce: A passion for speed
As seen on Heritage Motor Insurance website I am so excited to share the story of a remarkable lady: the Honourable Mrs Victor Bruce. Mildred epitomises everything about the trailblazer of the period of the Bright Young Things in the Roaring Twenties. Mildred Bruce, also known as Mary Petre, was born to the youngest brother […]
Mar
A Damsel in Distress – Book Review
Previously seen on: Overland Journal Europe. A Damsel in Distress By P.G Wodehouse Everyman Classics – ISBN – 978-1-84159-124-7 I bought this book from Hatchard’s Piccadilly two weeks before Christmas in the hope I would sit by the fire and read it from start to finish. The book didn’t even make Christmas week. Cover to […]
Feb
A conversation about Madame Junek
Lara Platman from the Bugatti Owners Club UK is joined by Jan Kralik from the Bugatti Club of the Czech Republic to talk about the life of Madame Junek. Lara says, “We talk a little about the wonderful life of Madame Junek and towards the end of the conversation I realised we only touched on […]
Feb
Wayward Women – Book review
Previously seen on: Overland Journal Europe. Wayward Women – A Guide to Women Travellers by Jane Robinson Oxford University Press – ISBN – 0-19-280233-X There is always a book beside my bed, well a pile of them actually, but one of at the top of the pile these past few months has been Wayward Women. […]
Jan
Fay Taylour – Book Review
Previously seen on: Overland Journal Europe. Fay Taylour – Queen of the Speedway By Brian Belton Panther Publishing – ISBN – 09547912 – 4 – X I picked this book up at an open air autojumble in the summer. Quite apt really. I am always after books on fascinating women. Written by a chap – […]
Dec
Kay Petre: the record breaker
As seen on the Heritage Insurance website Lapping Brooklands at 134.24mph in 1935 in the ten and a half-litre V12 Delage, secured Kay Petre as one of the fastest ladies on the racing circuit. The Delage had been specially adapted for her for as her regular race car, by extending the pedals and installing a […]
Sep
Elizabeth Junek – Queen of the Steering Wheel
As seen on the Heritage Insurance blog here is a lovely piece about Madame Elizabeth Junek. In this third of the series of lady racing drivers, may I present to you Madame Elizabeth Junek, (Eliška Junková), born in 1900 and raised in Olomouc on the outskirts of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, with a passion for world […]
Jun
Dorothy Levitt – The Woman and the Car
(First published for Heritage Insurance) As soon as Michelin and Dunlop fitted rubber tyres to wooden wheels, speed became the must-have accessory. This edition will introduce some of the women who pioneered this new fashion. I have always thought of my research as Mirror Lipstick Manoeuvre, but I think you will find that these women […]
May
Helle Nice – The Bugatti Queen
(First published with Heritage Insurance) Imagine Charles Rolls, Vincenzo Lancia and the brothers Marcel and Louis Renault, rush past your eyes amongst the Paris Madrid Rally then fast in pursuit comes Chamille Du Ghast, the first female racing driver. Hellé Delangle carefully gripping the hand of her school teacher as she watched on the side […]
Apr
Mags Cunningham – Flying High
First published with Frank Magazine Once the home to RAF Westhampnett West Sussex now, in recent years known as the Goodwood Aerodrome, where for me I associate the Estate of the Duke of Richmond with jam packed racing weekends with friends. However, sitting here on this glorious spring day with Pilot Mags Cunningham by the […]
Feb
Elspeth Beard – The Lone Rider
Previously seen in Frank Magazine We are sitting in the kitchen of the award winning and architecturally acclaimed Water Tower in Munstead, Surrey, where Elspeth now lives with a full restoration on it after purchasing in 1989. The ceilings are really high, and our talk is echoing around the hexagonal structure, Elspeth reminisces about how […]
Aug
Mildred Bruce – record breaking on land, sea and in the air
As seen in Frank Magazine August 2020 Edition When I was asked to write about a woman from history, I immediately thought of Mildred Bruce who, regular readers to Frank magazine may have noticed I had mentioned her previously, but then I thought about all the other women, in one way or another have shaped […]
Jun
Electric Dreams with Amanda Stretton
As seen in Frank Magazine June/July 2020 edition From the moment that the second car rolled off the production line, Henry Ford proclaimed, let’s go racing, well that’s how the saying goes at least. More recently, car manufacturers that put their cars into race series said, ‘Race on Sunday sell on Monday’, and this is […]
Theo Paphitis and Mark Blundell
Chatting to Mark Blundell and Theo Paphitis at Silverstone Classic in 2017 was a hoot to say the least. This is the first attempt of me putting out a podcast on my own, I do hope you have fun listening.
Theo Paphitis and Mark Blundell
Chatting to Mark Blundell and Theo Paphitis at Silverstone Classic in 2017 was a hoot to say the least. This is the first attempt of me putting out a podcast on my own, I do hope you have fun listening.
Mar
The Bentley Belle, Katarina Kyvalova
Previously published in the March edition of Frank Magazine about my fearless friend Katarina Kyvalova. I have known Katarina for a few years, we first met at Goodwood Revival where, I was delighted to meet another female racer – and also to see her in the big show stopper races of the Tourist Trophy, with […]
Feb
Race Retro 2020
Always a great start to the historic racing year with a visit to Race Retro at Stoneleigh Park where the first stop is the Autojumble. Pick up a bargain, find parts you never knew you needed and bump into friends amongst motorcycle petrol tanks. This year a very large tribute to Group B rally cars […]
Jan
What is in my bag
I was asked what I used for my skin as I said I swear by Wild Rose Beauty Balm but did I have any other cruelty free products I liked. Well here is a list of products in order of performance for my skin. These products are currently in use and where possible and if […]
Nov
Motorcycle Live 2019
An event as big as Motorcycle Live one needs to concentrate on a few things to write about so here is a sort of diary of my time at the yearly event. I looked at electric bikes, helmets and a bike brand famous for trials now creating bespoke bikes and still looking cool. I also […]
Nov
Lorina McLaughlin F1 Racing Driver
As seen in Frank Magazine October edition One of only a handful of Ladies to hold full membership of the prestigious British Racing Drivers’ Club and is currently President of the British Women Racing Drivers Club, Lorina McLaughlin is one of the UK’s most successful Female Racing Drivers. Currently McLaughlin drives the ex- Michael Schumacher […]
Oct
Return of the Speed Queens, Maria Costello MBE
Previously seen in Frank Magazine August Edition I first met Maria Costello MBE about fifteen years ago at Goodwood Revival, in the holding paddock alongside the classic motorbike she was about to race in the Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy, we briefly discussed if there were any other women racing on the grid that weekend. To this […]
Sep
Seven years, twenty countries, no plan
Previously seen in Frank Magazine: June Edition Mrs Christian Miller, a well-established lady bought a fold up bicycle, a tent and a saddle bag and cycled 4,500 miles across America just after WW2, whilst earlier Mrs Edith Fraser Benn, in 1901, rode side saddle from India to Persia, a 600 mile camel ride with her […]
Aug
Top of the Peake
Previously seen in Frank Magazine: May Edition In a world currently celebrating empowerment of the woman, photojournalist Lara Platman wants to remind us that women have been racing and driving fast since the invention of the combustion engine. Fearless women such as Camille de Gast who, in 1903, became the first woman racing driver and […]
Nov
Motorcycle Live 2018
Lara Platman went reporting for Wheels for Women at the annual Motorcycle Live show at the NEC Birmingham, where she found bargains, stunning bikes and a whole lot of bikes to try. As a new rider I am particularly keen to ‘sit on’ bikes to see if my feet are comfortable on the floor at standstill, to establish their […]
Oct
Goodwood Revival 2018
Our photographer Lara Platman took a look at the Goodwood Revival weekend fuelled with speed, theatre, glamour and sublime sunsets. Enjoy the gallery.
Oct
The Lady and her Car -Lighting
The passing of the road transport lighting bill came in to force on Sunday 22nd April 1928, required a uniform lighting regulation throughout the country. During the hours of darkness, every motor car must be accompanied with two lamps showing a red light to the rear. The hours of darkness are considered to be a […]
Sep
The Lady and Her Car -The Motorists Face
The Motorists Face How to look after it when touring is a problem that besets most women. Looking after a wind -blown face. Put on a cheap chiffon gauze scarf over ones hat and may be thrown once soiled. If the face is prepared before the journey then at the end it ought to be […]
Aug
The Lady and Her Car -Insurance
A concise series of articles about car insurance continued throughout The Lady in the 1920’s, with the increase in owners taking their cars abroad along with additional cars on the road, accidents became a regular occurrence between two drivers, both claiming the rights of the road. The Highway Code as law had not come in […]
Jul
Silverstone Classic 2018
Silverstone Classic this year celebrated 70 years of racing at at the circuit. Photographer Lara Platman went for the day to take a look at some of the scenes that make up this incredible day.
Jul
The Lady & Her Car -Acquiring Road Sense
Another part to this series where we look back at The Lady archives and investigate these historical articles whilst comparing them to how women look after their cars and generally at motoring today. This lovely page tells us the ideal way to manoeuvre a car amongst the road, at junctions, and passing cars. Which car […]
Jul
Goodwood Festival of Speed 2018
Celebrating 25 years of the Festival of Speed, Goodwood had plenty of other celebrations with the 70 years of Porsche and 70 years of the Series 1 Land Rover to name but a few. Lara Platman went along to take a quiet look at some of the cars displayed in the Garden of the Duke […]
Martin Haven interviews Lara Platman at Goodwood Festival of Speed 2018
Martin Haven bumped into Photographer and Author Lara Platman at Goodwood Festival of Speed 2018 and they had a little chin wag about the Festival and what Lara was up to at the moment.
Martin Haven interviews Lara Platman at Goodwood Festival of Speed 2018
Martin Haven bumped into Photographer and Author Lara Platman at Goodwood Festival of Speed 2018 and they had a little chin wag about the Festival and what Lara was up to at the moment.
Jun
The Lady and Her Car – Car Maintenance
Springtime maintenance for the car looks at using thinner lubricants for the engines the fan belt may have also been disconnected during the winter months and it is a perfect time to reconnect it. Also make sure one has removed the radiator muff for the spring. Whilst the winter is quite a reverse, pop on […]
May
The Lady & Her Car -Clothing
Women have been racing and driving fast since the invention of the combustion engine. Intrepid ladies such as Camille de Gast who, in 1903, became the first woman racing driver, and before her Bertha Benz, the wife of Karl Benz (of Mercedes Benz), who in 1888, was the first woman to drive a motor vehicle […]