Fast Women: The Legendary Ladies of Racing

In the early fifties, a hot new lineup of foreign cars arrived on the American scene - Porsche, Jaguar, Ferrari, MG, Aston Martin - ushering in a new era of race car competition that would entice not only men but women. Fast Women is the story of exceptional women who competed against the best of the men, asserting themselves in the risky, macho, and highly competitive sport of auto racing. In this post-war period, there was a new culture brewing, a free-spirited bohemia manifesting on both the East and West Coasts. From New York to California, this fiery sorority of women burned rubber and redefined the spirit of the time.
Among this group of daring women was lady of leisure Evelyn Mull. Mull got her start in auto racing after accompanying her husband to a race, then impulsively deciding to enter. She quickly became a leading driver on the amateur circuit in the late 1950s, cutting a dashing and elegant figure on every track she graced.
Unlike Evelyn, Denise McCluggage didn't come from old money. Covering the sport for the New York Herald Tribune, she was a sportswoman with the temperament of an artist. In her Greenwich Village neighborhood, there were two rare MG TCs on the block; hers and the one belonging to a struggling young actor named Steve McQueen. Inevitably the two met and engaged in a brief romance and an even longer friendship. In 1957, Denise began rivaling Evelyn for the top spot among women drivers.
On a frozen lake in Minnesota, plucky Ruth Levy took her first spin in a little race car and then took the rest of the racing world by storm. Adventurous in all areas (her first husband was a bee-bop jazz musician with a heroin addiction), she epitomized the sassy, free-wheeling California 50s scene as she defied fate with her pedal to the metal.

Todd McCarthy is the longtime chief film critic of Variety.