With his poetic flair, Gabriele D'Annunzio captured the essence of the car gifted to him by Giovanni Agnelli in 1926, describing it as a 'sleek, lively, graceful seductress'. His letter of appreciation sent to the industrialist who once led Fiat began as follows: “My dear Senator, I've just had a rather enlightening drive back from Desenzano in your car. It seems to have settled a certain debate quite nicely. The car is feminine. Just as a woman can glide over life's obstacles with ease, so too can a car”. The Fiat 509 Cabriolet, the muse that guided the sacred poet's artistic vision, determined his choice of gender for the car. The letter went on “Inclinata progreditur” (It moves forward, ever inclined). “I am very grateful to you for this elegant and precise gift. Each detail is carefully crafted with the utmost taste, in the tradition of genuine Italian craftsmanship.” The automobile, a she, owes her feminine allure to the pen of D'Annunzio. But was there ever a time when she was a he?
Male or female?
Coined in French, this word traces its roots to the Greek αὐτός "autòs" (by itself) and the Latin mobĭlis (movable). Originally, it was an adjective describing something that could move on its own. The Italian language has undergone significant changes, resulting in a reversal of grammatical roles. This shift has led to the adjective becoming a noun, and the intriguing question of whether it is a he or a she? The masculine gender was the prevalent form, as confirmed by the lexicographer Alfredo Panzini in his 1905 'Modern Dictionary'. This view was echoed in the Futurist Manifesto of February 20, 1909, which implied that 'A racing car [...] is more beautiful than the Victory of Samothrace'. Nevertheless, the feminine form gradually gained ground, both in written and spoken Italian, and the final shift in the gender of 'automobile' was solidified by the influential endorsement of the writer D'Annunzio.
Women behind the wheel
Having settled the grammatical debate, the feminine gender is now universally accepted. Even the prestigious Academy of the Crusca supports this usage, explaining that 'it's una Ferrari (female noun) and not un Ferrari (male noun), just like it's una Mercedes (female noun) and not un Mercedes (male noun). It's no coincidence that iconic cars are often given female names, such as the Giulia, Giulietta, Elise, or Clio. "With the grace, slenderness, and vivacity of a seductress," as Gabriele D'Annunzio so eloquently put it. The pairing of women and automobiles has been a recurring theme in advertising, strategically employed to challenge the long-held notion of cars as inherently dangerous and to make them more appealing to a female audience. Women pilots are becoming a reality, thanks to journalism and cinema that portray women drivers as free and independent.
Beyond grammar
History goes beyond language; the feminine form flexibly adapts to both the noun and the gender of the female authors who were instrumental in reshaping the automotive world long ago. Mary Anderson is credited with the invention of windscreen wipers in the early 1900s, and her colleague Charlotte Bridgwood later took this innovation a step further by automating the system in 1917. Following a near-miss with a truck that crossed into her lane, June McCarroll suggested in that same year the creation of painted lines to separate traffic lanes. Sadly, it would be 1924 before her innovative idea of painted lane lines would be officially adopted. In a similar vein, Bertha Benz, another pioneering woman, embarked on the first long-distance automobile trip in 1888. Margaret Wilcox, a pioneering inventor, patented the ground-breaking technology of in-vehicle heating in 1893. We owe the invention of turn indicators to actress Florence Lawrence, and journalist Dorothy Levitt's handbook provided invaluable advice for women wanting to learn to drive. Her suggestion of using a mirror to check what's going on behind the car is seen as the first description of a rear-view mirror.
