The original Motor Girls

The Motor Girls was a 10 volume series of books originally published between 1910 and 1917. At a time when driving an automobile captured the imagination of the public, these books offered a diversion and thrills to its young female readers. The Motor Girls encouraged freedom and independence in girls, while also reinforcing the responsibilities of hearth and home. Read an excerpt:

THE MOTOR GIRLS
by Margaret Penrose

Chapter I: CORA AND HER CAR
"Now you've got it, what are you going to do with it?" asked Jack Kimball, with a most significant smile at his sister Cora.

"Do with it?" repeated the girl, looking at her questioner in surprise; then she added, with a fine attempt at sarcasm: "Why, I'm going to have Jim break it up for kindling wood. It will make such a lovely blaze on the library hearth. I have always loved blazing autos."

"Now, sis," objected the tall, handsome boy, as he swung his arm about the almost equally tall, and even handsomer girl, "don't get mad."

"Oh, I'm not in the least angry."

"Um! Maybe not. Put I honestly thought--well, maybe you would like some of the boys to give you a lesson or two in driving the new car. There's Wally, you know. Ahem! I thought perhaps Wally--"

"Walter can run a machine--I'm perfectly willing to grant you that, Jack. But this is my machine, and I intend to run it."

The girl stepped over to a window and looked out. There, on the driveway, stood a new automobile. Four-cylindered, sliding-gear transmission, three speeds forward and reverse, long-wheel base, new ignition system, and all sorts of other things mentioned in the catalogue. Besides, it was a beautiful maroon color, and the leather cushions matched. Cora looked at it with admiration in her eyes.

Read the rest of the book online at the Gutenberg Project.

[The Motor Girls, Stratemeyer Syndicate Series - Copyright ©1910-1917
Cupples & Leon, Reprints: Goldsmith and Donahue.]