Sheila van Damm
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sheila van Damm (17 January 1922 - 23 August 1987) was a leading British woman competitor in motor rallying in the 1950's, and also the former owner of the Windmill Theatre in London. She began her competitive driving career in 1950, and won the Coupe des Dames, the highest award for women, in the 1953 Alpine Rally. She won the Women's European Touring Championship in 1954 and the Coupe des Dames in the 1955 Monte Carlo Rally.
Sheila Van Damm was born in Paddington, London, the daughter of Vivian van Damm and his wife, Natalie Lyons. Sheila's upbringing in an all-girl Jewish family generated no interest in motoring beyond her training as a Women's Auxiliary Air Force driver.[1] She trained as a driver in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force and entered her first motor sporting event with her only sister Nona as navigator, as a promotional stunt for the Windmill Theatre. With "Windmill Girl" written on the side of the factory-prepared Sunbeam Talbot they finished third in the ladies section of the MCC-Daily Express car rally. This lead to an official Rootes team Hillman Minx in the 1951 Monte Carlo rally.
Her first major success was the Ladies' Prize in the 1952 Motor Cycling Club rally driving a Sunbeam Talbot. The 1953 Monte Carlo rally was marred by punctures, but she entered the record books with a class speed record for 2-3 litre cars, driving the prototype Sunbeam Alpine sports car at an average of 120mph at Jabbeke in Belgium.
In the 1953 Alpine Rally with Anne Hall as co-driver they won not only the Coupe des Dames but also a coveted Coupes des Alpes. Another Coupe des Dames in the 1954 Tulip rally of Holland included outright victory in a ten lap race around the Zandvoort circuit. The ladies' prize in the Viking rally in Norway clinched the 1954 Ladies' European championship for Van Damm and Hall. They repeated this triumph in 1955 in a Rootes Prepared Team Works Car (Sunbeam Alpine) MK111 Registered RHP702. This car is the only one of 6 original works cars residing outside the U.K.and is in Australia. Another of the works cars was driven by Stirling Moss.
The 1956 Monte Carlo rally was her last event for the Rootes team, but she partnered Peter Harper in a Sunbeam Rapier in the 1956 Mille Miglia road race where they won their class at 66.37mph. Remarkably, Sheila van Damm finished every event which she started in her five-year career.
After retirement she became president of the Doghouse Club for motor racing wives and ladies, and president of the Sunbeam Talbot Owners' Club.
She had always worked with her father at the Windmill Theatre, which she inherited on his death in 1960, but the changing nature of Soho in London meant that it closed in 1964. This in turn lead her to retire with her sister to their small farm in Pulborough in Sussex. She died in London on 23 August 1987.
