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7th Aug 1937, Dublin
For results of the Works Imps see the overview (1964-1970). Rosemary Smith’s career with Rootes included 21 finishes from 24 starts in Internationals, nine class wins and 12 Coupe des Dames.
From the comment to the video on the 1965 Alpine Rally:
“I have been driving international rallies for five years now, and for the past four years I have been with the Rootes Team as their regular contender for the Lady’s Price. And actually, I’ve won that in about a dozen international events now.”
From the comment to the video on the 1965 Scottish Rally: “[…] a 26 year old dress designer from Dublin.” And it was true that Ms. Smith earned a living as a dress designer until she became a full-time rally driver and motoring journalist.
She came from a motoring family and her father taught her how to drive when she was no older than 11 years of age.
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| Rosemary Smith 1965 Scottish Rally, 1st stage The photo to the right and the six small photos above were taken from the video. |
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 At the 1965 Tulip Rally |
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A few weeks after the 1965 Tulip rally, which she won outright, and a few weeks before the Scottish Rally, Ms. Smith was at Silverstone invited to take a round of honour, accompanied by ‘Tiny’ Lewis. |  |
During the 1960s she won ladies awards in all the top international rallies, including the London-Sydney, the RAC and the Monte Carlo. In 1965 she was the outright winner of the Tulip Rally and was also chosen as the Texaco Sportstar of the Year.
| Rally
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des Dames
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| 1965 Tulip Rally | if there was one 😉 | outright winner and first in G.T. category | ||
| 1965 January, Monte Carlo rally | 2nd runner-up to Pat Moss-Carlsson |
fourth in class | ||
| 1965 February, Int. Scottish rally | yes | |||
| 1965 November, RAC Int. Rally of Great Britain | 2nd for the Ladies’ Award | in the Hillman Imp team that won the Manufacturers Team Prize | ||
| 1966 May, Shell 4000 | yes | 4,100 miles coast-to-coast across Canada She also won her class and finished 8th overall. |
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| 1966 January, Monte Carlo rally | she did come first | but was disqualified in the controversial headlamps decision. | ||
| 1966 Easter, Circuit of Ireland | yes | 2nd in class, driving an Imp. | ||
| 1966 May, Int. Acropolis Rally | yes |
It was in that Tulip Rally that Rosemary began her winning partnership with co-driver Val Domleo of Leamington Spa. Rosemary has firm views on the value of co-drivers. “They must share the driving,” she says.
“Four years ago I had my worst crash when I went over a cliff, because of fatigue at the wheel.”
 Summer 1966 |
“Driving is all psychological,” she says. “You can overcome any difficulty if you set your mind to it.”
The success and promiss of last year is carrying her through this year, too. Rosemary Smith came first in the Coupe des Dames in the Monte Carlo Rally, but was disqualified in the controversial headlamps decision.
At Easter, she won the ladies’ prize in the Circuit of Ireland and was second in her class, also in an Imp.
A quietly-confident Rosemary, strolling across the tarmac towards a plane for Athens – and the 14th International Acropolis Rally in May – told me: “My only fear is that we might not finish – the heat has made it necessary to fit special carburettors…”
She finished right enough in her Imp – and brought back the Ladies’ Prize when her great rival Pat Moss-Carlsson retired.
 Silverstone, autumn 1966 |
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Nick Brittan wrote (December 1966):
Silverstone was the next stop, and for this meeting we had ‘borrowed’ Rosemary Smith from the rally department to run in the saloon car race. Over the past couple of seasons Rosemary has proved herself to be a force to be reckoned with on the tough rally grounds of Europe, and she has a great string of wins to prove it.
On the relatively smooth tarmac of Silverstone she shook everyone by posting fastest time in morning practice with a lap of 74.4 m.p.h. to take pole position on the grid for the race.
For three laps she led from a great challenge by Imp-man Tony Taylor and then her third gear broke. With only second and top as useable gears she dropped back a couple of seconds a lap, leaving Taylor to win.
Rosemary finished a good second despite the missing gear and we were all very impressed afterwards when she told us it was her first-ever ride at Silverstone.
 photogr.: Jaap ten Hoeve |
With competition no. 9 in JDU 48E, Rosemary Smith and Valerie Domleo. 27 January 1967 in The Netherlands, maybe in The Hague.
They had an accident and didn’t finish.
 source: Thomas Lundevall @ forums.autosport.com (Aug 19 2008) the cancelled 1967 RAC? |
Results 1963 – summer 1967. She
 Rosemary Smith (who signed the photo for Pieter at Imp50, Perth) and Alice Watson (Scotland) Roger Willis, Castrol UK Competitions Manager – he was a Castrol Competition Rep since 1971. An obituary for him was published in Team Castrol News 1979, issue no. 5. |
Rosemary Smith was made president of The Imp Club UK. She attends the club’s main event every year.
At the International Historic Motor Sport Show (Stoneleigh, February 2004), Ms. Smith drove a Hillman Imp.
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