OCTANE READERS are likely to be aware of Harry Schell, the first American to participate in the modern Grand Prix era (although he was born in France and lived most of his life there - see Octane 62) but few will know much, if anything, of his spirited mother, herself a Grand Prix driver, rally driver and race team owner in the 1930s.
Lucy O'Reilly was born in Brunoy, south of Paris, in 1896. Her father Francis Patrick O'Reilly was the son of Irish immigrants and made a fortune in construction and investing in factories in his hometown of Reading, Pennsylvania. At the age of 46 he decided to devote the rest of his life to enjoying his money and travelling the world and, in 1896, while in Paris, he married Henriette Celestine Roudet, who gave birth to Lucy, within the year.
On the eve of World War One, the teenage Lucy met and fell for Selim Laurence 'Laury' Schell, son of an American diplomat, and at the start of the war volunteered as a nurse in a Parisian hospital, caring for wounded troops. In 1915 she accompanied Laury and his family to the US only to return to Paris in 1917, where the couple were married.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة 250 - April 2024 من Octane.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة 250 - April 2024 من Octane.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Nathalie McGloin
The only female tetraplegic racing driver in the world and co-founder of Spinal Track, charity supporting disabled drivers
Atomium
An iron molecule, 100m tall and scaled-up 165billion times, was the future in ’58
The Valjoux 7750
Rendered obsolete in the late 1970s, Edmond Capt's wonder movement is not only back, but selling 200,000 units a year
Lucy O'Reilly Schell
The first American woman to compete in a Grand Prix was also a distinguished rally driver and team owner
OCTANE CARS
OWNING+ DRIVING + MAINTAINING
OUR MAN IN JAPAN
James Elliott joins an exclusive Japanese classic tour in an exquisite Alfa Romeo Junior Zagato 1600
LONG-TERM LEGENDS
These two SS100 Jaguars have been in the hands of well-known and dedicated enthusiasts for five decades and more. Chris Mann divulges their entertaining histories
Micky Pople
Octane meets the 95-year-old and talks about his life with the stars as one of Bristol's Filton Fliers'
LEADING FROM THE MIDDLE
The René Bonnet Djet was the world's first mid-engined production road car. Glen Waddington enjoys a momentous French Lotus rival
BACK AGAIN FOR MORE
This Le Mans-winning Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Zagato Spider appeared in the very first issue of Octane. More than 20 years on, Robert Coucher acquaints himself and finally gets behind the wheel
