Margaret Allan

26/6/1909 - 21/9/1998

Record updated 23-Jan-07

Achieved successes both as a racing driver and as a rally driver in the 1930s especially in Mother Gun, the 6½ litre Bentley.

Born in 1909, she was the daughter of James Allan, of Patterton, Renfrewshire, a member of the family which owned the Allan Royal Mail Line shipping company. She was educated at Bedales, which was noted in the 1920s for its avant-garde, unorthodox teaching methods. She achieved a number of successes both as a racing driver and as a rally driver in the 1930s.

One of her great joys was racing an enormous 6½ litre racing Bentley from 1935 to 1937, nicknamed "Mother Gun" by Woolf Barnato, it was first raced in 1927. She was also pretty quick in a single-seat twin-blower Frazer Nash.

She married Chris Jennings who became editor The Motor.