This is the story of the girls who drove into the history books.

This is the story of the girls who drove into the history books, Jean Robertson and Kathleen Howell, read by actress Pierre Miranda. The portly policeman spat out his whistle and rubbed his eyes in disbelief.

It was a brand spanking new baby Austin, one of the first cars to come all the way from England to Australia.

But it wasn't the shiny, tiny body, the open rooftop, or even the bip

of the horn that caught the officer by surprise.

It was the driver and passenger

with their bob haircuts and slouch hats.

Bep! Well, are you going to let us through or not?

The driver called out.

We don't have all day.

The policeman grinned, blew his whistle and held out his palm to stop the surrounding traffic.

Come on through gentlemen, I mean ladies,

ladies, he said.

It wasn't every day you saw women behind the wheel in the early 1920s.

But Jean Robertson learnt to drive almost as soon as her feet could touch the pedals.

She even enrolled in a mechanics course straight out of school

while the rest of her classmates were getting engaged.

All except her best dear Kathleen Howell. She wasn't ready to become a wife either.

So Jean taught her to drive too.

Hey Kathleen, check this out!

Gene was reading the Australian Motorist magazine.

It says a motor car is really preferable to a husband in many ways.

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