On Wednesday, June 9, 1999, while most of us were driving to work, or behind the wheel running a million errands, Sue Mead and Tara Mello set out to mark the 90th anniversary of a courageous journey taken by Alice Huyler Ramsey; the first woman to drive across the country (New York to San Francisco).

The original idea for the trip began as the brainchild of “Carl” Washburn Kelsey, a salesmanager for the Maxwell-Bricoe Co., who saw it as a great publicity stunt to sell cars. He approached Alice with the idea after watching her achieve a perfect score in the 150 Montauk run on Long Island.

Alice Ramsey, a 22 year-old Vassar graduate, left behind her husband and one-year-old son, opting to travel with her two sisters-in-law and a female friend on a 3,800 mile trip in a specially equipped green Maxwell DA, with a right hand drive that had to be crank started. The car had four cylinders, an extra large gas tank and a rack for two spare tires, and a repair kit. It also carried a carbide generator on the left running board to power the headlamps. Its tires were 4” wide and 56” apart (to match old wagon ruts).

The trip took 59 days to accomplish (shaving days off the first transcontinental road trip ever made, when Dr. H. Nelson Jackson of Burlington, VT and his chauffeur, Sewell K. Crocker drove his Winston from San Francisco to new York in 63 days, just six years earlier).

Daily mileage ranged anywhere from 4 to 198 miles. In fact, rains made driving so difficult at times that it took them 13 days just to cross Iowa. On several occasions it became necessary to hire a farmer and his horse to pull them out of a ditch.

Flat tires were also one of the hardships they faced; and more than once. Yet, nothing seemed to deter Ramsey and her companions. She was quoted by one newspaper as having said “I see no reason why any woman who can drive a car cannot take one across the continent. All that is needed,” she reasoned, “is a good car, such as I have, and careful driving in the bad spots, and the trip, I think, consummated without trouble.”

IIt was this confidence that succeeded in convincing the rest of the country that automobiles were a safe and reliable way to travel.

Sponsors

Ninety years later, the repeat trip came about when friends Sue and Tara began to look for an opportunity to drive cross-country together, and decided that it would be great to combine a trip commemorating Alice Ramsey’s feat, honoring other pioneering women, and to promote automotive technology today.

In support of their efforts, Sue and Tara drew interest from such sponsors as Hemmings Motor News, who loaned them a 1908 Maxwell LC Tourabout to kick-off the journey in New York City. Shell Oil promoted its robotic gas tank, Michelin tire, its Zero Pressure tires; and, Mercedes-Benz provided a S500 Sedan which became the primary vehicle used for their trip.

In addition, Daimler/Chrysler (a direct descendent of the old Maxwell Company), provided Sue and Tara with a Dodge Intrepid ESXZ, a “myrid,” or hybrid electric car powered by a diesel engine and an advanced lead acid battery, for the Grande finale.

The Women Who Rode

Sue Mead began her auto career as a part-time freelance evaluator for 4-Wheeler Magazine in 1988. Today, she travels the globe test-driving cars and trucks, and working as a photojournalist/feature writer for over two dozen publications. She has been a participating journalist on three Camel Trophy runs (the world’s most grueling 4x4 trek), and attending journalist on the Camel Trophy ‘98 in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. Sue also participated in the Arctic Circle Challenge ‘95, the Tip to Tip Challenge in ‘96, and the Trans America Challenge in 1997. She was also a co-driver for Rod Hall in the Baja 1000.

Tara Baukus Mello has ten years experience as a journalist, writing articles for newspapers and magazines, as well as radio and television scripts. She has a monthly column for an auto enthusiast magazine and a syndicated newspaper column with Motor News Media.

Interestingly enough, Tara has also written four children’s books in the Chelsea House Publisher’s Race Car Legends series. A member of the Street Rod Association, Tara is especially proud of the 1932 Ford pickup street rod she built with her father. She and Sue are both members of the International Motor Press Association, and Motor Press Guild.

**Alice Ramsey, who lived in Hackensack, NJ, died in Covina, CA at the age of 97, in 1983. She continued to make at least one transcontinental trip every year for most of her life and was amazed to find that what had originally taken her 59 days to achieve in 1909, took only a week to accomplish in 1961. Her last challenge was driving 5 out of the 6 passes through the Alps. She was named “Woman Motorist of the Centry” by AAA in 1960, and “First Lady of Automobile Travel” by the Automobile Manufacturer Association. Her husband, John, a Congressman, never drove!