What Are Driving Gloves For? Purpose & History Explained
If you’re like me, you’re an average person who drives an average car and doesn’t have fancy driving accessories. Yet, you’ve seen people invest a lot of money into luxury items you don’t have — like driving gloves. Are these leather accessories merely fashion apparel for the upper class, or do these mitts serve a purpose? Here’s what I learned when I researched them.
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Why people used to wear driving gloves — and why they do now
According to Gentleman’s Gazette, gloves — and how the glove box received its name — used to be needed because automobiles were very dirty and uncomfortable to drive in the early days. Imagine cranking the car to get it started, then gripping a rough wooden steering wheel with no power steering, and gripping it tightly for hours at a time. Such conditions necessitated hand protection, which was only further propagated by the onset of motorsports.
While our comfort behind the wheel has certainly changed 100 years later, some people still wear driving gloves, but for a different reason than originally intended. While those who own classic cars may don a pair of fabric gauntlets to protect their vehicle from oily, damaging hands, the vast majority of today’s driving gloves are strapped on for a different reason.
One obvious hint to what the purpose of modern driving gloves is and why they’re only used by certain drivers can be found watching movies. If you study characters from Drive, Spectre, or Baby Driver, you’ll notice that they wear driving gloves when operating their vehicles — particularly in situations when precise, responsive vehicle performance is needed.
That’s because today’s leather driving gloves have a porous, grainy palm that offers a better grip when grabbing the steering wheel and shift knob.
There are many brands and styles of driving gloves today that equate to the driver’s status and fashion style, but most of them still serve the same purpose: keeping your hands comfortable while better operating your vehicle.
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Aaron is unashamed to be a native Clevelander and the proud driver of a Hyundai Veloster Turbo (which recently replaced his 1995 Saturn SC-2). He gleefully utilizes his background in theater, literature, and communication to dramatically recite his own articles to nearby youth. Mr. Widmar happily resides in Dayton, Ohio with his magnificent wife, Vicki, but is often on the road with her exploring new destinations. Aaron has high aspirations for his writing career but often gets distracted pondering the profound nature of the human condition and forgets what he was writing… See more articles by Aaron.