Joann Villeneuve inducted into Women’s Transportation Hall of Fame
After supporting the racing of husband Gilles and son Jacque, Joanne is now an advocate for the sport in Canada
In a gala Saturday evening celebration, Joann Villeneuve, widow of the Canadian Formula 1 racing legend Gilles and mother of Jacques, who won the coveted Formula 1 drivers’ championship and the Indianapolis 500, is one of this year’s inductees to the Women’s Transportation Hall of Fame.
Also inducted, was Dianne Craig, Ford Canada’s CEO for four years before becoming U.S. director of sales for Ford earlier this year.
The 2017 inductees also include Clarice Burgwardt, co-founder of the Pedaling History Museum chronicling the history of cycling, and the late Melinda Burgwardt Gibson, captain of the New York State Wheelmen dedicated to preserving bicycle history.
The ceremony honouring women who have made a significant contribution to transportation was held in the Buffalo Transportation Pierce-Arrow Museum with awards being presented by State of New York lieutenant-governor Kathy Hochul.
“To honour women in transportation is something that I find very special because it’s sort a forgotten part of transportation,” Joann Villeneuve said following the ceremony. “It’s a very special way to honour someone, doing it in the museum among the beautiful cars and bicycles.”
She has worked tirelessly to promote racing in Canada and the car hobby in general. Last month, she was Grand Marshal along with Eppie Wietzes for the Vintage Grand Prix at Ontario’s Canadian Tire Motorsport Park celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first F1 Grand Prix of Canada held at the former Mosport Park on August 27, 1967.
Next month, she heads up Montreal’s greeting ceremony for the Canadian Coasters cross-Canada tour involving more than 100 vehicles, many of them classics.
Son Jacques, who is a partner in British Columbia’s Area 27 race track which he designed (27 was the number on father Gilles’ race cars), was unable to attend the event as he was in Austria working as a Formula 1 commentator for French and Italian television coverage.
Joann drove to Buffalo and posed with Dianne Craig beside her Ford F150 pickup truck. Craig, who is a native of Buffalo, had almost her entire family present for the induction ceremony.
Joann Villeneuve has had a long history with Ford and she still owns the red 1967 Mustang that husband Gilles drag raced back in the day, along with the red 1971 Mustang Boss 351 he bought when it was two years old.
The car spent most of its life in Europe and was shipped back to Canada eight years ago. It was spruced up for special Grand Prix display at this year’s Canadian International Auto Show in Toronto.
After meeting Gilles Villeneuve at the age of 16, she moved to Monaco with him when he became a driver for Ferrari, supporting his racing efforts with timing and lap charts. She drove son Jacques to compete in races around Europe before he was the legal age of 18 to have a European driver’s license.
“I have been very active in the race world and it becomes a passion. To be honoured for something you are passionate about is very special,” said Villeneuve.
Among previous inductees to the Women’s Transportation Hall of Fame is Alice Ramsey, the first woman to drive an automobile, a 1909 Maxwell, from New York to San Francisco. Inductee Emily Anderson of Seattle commemorated the 100th anniversary of the original driving trip across the United States driving another 1909 Maxwell.
“We had one hundred and fifty people at the ceremony who were there to honour women in transportation,” said Buffalo Transportation Museum founder Jim Sandoro. “This is very much an international initiative as the Buffalo/Niagara Falls areas are border towns.”
The next induction ceremony will be held in 2020 in conjunction with the anticipated completion of a 300,000 square-foot addition to the museum, which will increase its size by five times. “Women in Transportation will have its own giant area at the museum,” Sandoro says.
Next year, the museum is the starting line of the Hemmings Motor News Great Race presented by Hagerty Insurance, involving 120 vintage cars leaving from Buffalo on June 23 and finishing in Nova Scotia July 1.
There will be many women who participate.