lot of books and manuals and guessing and putting a puzzle back together again with no instructions , '' Emily Anderson said . They got the car built and running in time to launch the drive on June 9 at 1930 Broadway , the address where Ramsey 's journey began . Several of Ramsey 's descendants were on hand , including two who rode along for a few miles . Anderson 's Maxwell soon suffered the first of many breakdowns . `` That was a bit defeating , especially since it was our first day and we were pretty jazzed and motivated to get moving and get on the road , '' she said . Temporary repairs carried the car and crew about 1,800 miles to western Nebraska , where a master mechanic worked for more than five hours to fix the problem in a more permanent way . `` It was amazing to me that people would just stop their lives and do whatever they could to keep us moving , '' Anderson said . By Anderson 's side was Christie Catania , her close friend and co-pilot . Catania described the co-pilot 's job as `` navigation ,
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- In 1909 , Alice Ramsey blazed a path across America 's landscape and society . Millions of women have followed in her tracks , few more precisely than Emily Anderson exactly 100 years later . Anderson was the lead driver in a re-enactment last summer of Ramsey 's journey , when she became the first woman to drive an automobile from coast to coast . Both women drove a 1909 Maxwell DA from New York to San Francisco , California , but they traversed two very different Americas . `` It really was a tremendous effort by so many people to get us across the country , '' Anderson , an event planner from Seattle , Washington , said . `` It showed me the heart of America was open to us in a big way that I do n't think would normally be so open had we been in a modern-day vehicle . '' Antique car enthusiast Richard Anderson recruited his 34-year-old daughter to drive the 1909 Maxwell DA he and two friends built from parts they scavenged from around the globe , and hand-fabricated when necessary . `` It all came down to a