She is my hero!


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<strong>More female gearheads tune up rides for Cruise</strong>
Susan R. Pollack / The Detroit News

Some women crave perfume or flowers for their birthdays. Teresa Boegler of Highland Township was thrilled when she got a 312-engine with a new transmission and performance cam. That's not surprising considering that she calls herself "T-Bird Teri," her "baby" is a coral-colored 1957 Thunderbird and she co-founded a Metro Detroit car club, Chicks With Classics.

"It's a lot more fun to be in the garage with all this stuff than being in the kitchen," she says.

While vintage car collecting has long been a male-dominated hobby, more women are showing up behind the wheels, getting their fingernails dirty under the hoods and displaying their classic cars at shows and cruise events, according to Woodward Dream Cruise officials and industry experts.

Joel Epstein, executive director of the Woodward Dream Cruise, says that female participation in the Dream Cruise is on the upswing.

"There's a lot of women who have had their own (vintage) cars, women who are getting their own cars and women who are working on them more and more," Epstein said. "Here's something you can take out and show off."

Peter MacGillvray, of the performance parts trade group, Specialty Equipment Market Association, agrees there has been a cultural shift. "Women seem much more involved. The younger you go, when looking at consumers, the more likely a woman is to be a gearhead."

Mary Ochalek, 40, of Waterford counts herself among the female gearheads and car chicks who will be cruising Woodward in a 1969 Plymouth Satellite she bought for $9,000 on eBay and fixed up herself.

Many of the 40 members of the Chicks With Classics car club and dozens of other female car buffs plan to exercise their muscle cars and show off their Vettes, Stangs and other vintage wheels on Woodward Avenue in the coming days as the action revs up for next Saturday's Dream Cruise.

Melissa Zelenak, 40, who recently launched a car club for women and is a blogger on detnews.com's "Joyrides," also sees a growing trend toward female car geeks. She credits TV shows such as "Pimp My Ride" and RM Auctions for sparking female interest in collector cars.

"A lot of women are at an age where they're able to travel and go to these shows, and more women are buying classic cars and getting involved in the whole process," she says.

"The younger girls are into cars, too. A lot of teenagers are traveling with their mom or dad -- we're seeing a whole new group."

Zelenak of Central Lake, near Traverse City, says she can't wait to take photos at the Woodward Dream Cruise. She'll also gather material for her newsletter for Women & Wheels, the car club she started last month. So far it has attracted 20 members.

"When I see a cool car down the road, I just stop in my tracks and look at it," Zelenak says. "They're like works of art."

With roots in car-crazy Metro Detroit, Boegler, Ochalek, Zelenak and many other female car aficionados are driven by a mixture of nostalgia and admiration for the fast, hot and stylish cars of their youth, combined with the clubby fun, friends and travel opportunities that come with collecting, restoring and showing classics.

Some say it's the perfect way to bond and share an interest with their husbands.

"We just have so much fun, it's like going on vacation all summer," says Phyllis Berk, who operates a Livonia driving school with her husband, Mark. She'll be cruising Woodward this week in one of her three Mustangs, a souped-up '68 raspberry convertible.

For some women, owning a very cool car can bring a heady sense of power.

"When you're a woman driving a sleek powerful Corvette, and it's yours, you really do feel empowered on the road," says Colleen Egan, 41, of Beverly Hills, a network security manager for Verizon Business.

Her first of five Corvettes, 11 years ago, was a '72 coupe with a 454 big-block motor.

Egan says she was "hooked from birth" when she almost was born in her mother's '64 Corvette coupe as her dad raced to the hospital with minutes to spare.

For Ochalek, an auctions operations supervisor for Volkswagen Credit, the do-it-yourself car repairs were a revelation.

"The first repair I did myself was changing the radiator hoses and thermostats," she recalls. "I was so proud of myself I kept the old parts as a souvenir." Yet both Egan and Ochalek cringe at a common male reaction to their pricey wheels. For Ochalek, it typically goes like this: "What's an itty-bitty 'girl' like you doin' drivin' a big car like that?" The answer, guys, is that the petite blonde simply loves the retro look and feel of her classic '69 Satellite. It's similar to her first "muscle car," a '69 Dodge Coronet that she cruised -- and occasionally raced -- along Gratiot when she was 16.

Sitting behind the wheel -- and working under the hood -- is exhilarating.

"It's a big car, a beautiful car, not a wimpy little thing," she says of the vintage ride she found down South and named Tara. "I wanted it, I bought it, I fixed it."

For Sonee Lapadot, 65, of Bloomfield Hills, who crewed on a race car for seven years and retired from General Motors Corp. and Chrysler after 35 years, the sounds from her red Cutlass convertible 442 are thrilling.

"The growl, growl, growl it makes when idling is just a wonderful sound," she says.

After the Woodward Dream Cruise, Helen Fischer, a hairdresser from Plymouth, plans to drive her '61 black Corvette with red interior and silver coves to the Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Ky., for an annual Labor Day rendezvous.

She'll also drive across the Mackinac Bridge on Aug. 25 as part of an annual Corvette Crossroads event.

For Fischer, who shares her love of classic cars with her husband, the hobby recalls a simpler time: "It brings back your youth, when you were young and single and carefree."

And she adds, almost apologetically, "I know it's an inanimate object, but you need those in your life, too."

For Betty Gagneau, 74, a Canton grandmother of seven and owner of a '64 white Thunderbird, it's all about the car.

"It's just a cute car and it handles so nicely. You know, they don't make cars like that anymore."