Yvette Rydman was road tripping to a tenpin bowling tournament with four "big, burley" male teammates when her beloved Renault 12 got a flat.
Getting out onto the roadside, they all stood around: "And guess who changed the tyre?" she said.
The Conder local and her best mate, Texas import Amanda Feuerborn, have come up with an idea that's attracted so much interest, it has "knocked them over" - car basics workshops for women.
The pair are scouting car parks on Canberra's southside to host up to 40 vehicles at a time for the free sessions. There may be a few, as their Facebook group Girl Power - Car Basics has garnered about 700 members in one week.
"Amanda was speechless. I had a little bit of an inkling it might be popular, but not 700-strong popular," Mrs Rydman said.
"And that's just people on Facebook in Canberra who saw our post in the Canberra Notice Board Group."
A study commissioned by the Australian Road Safety Foundation found more than a quarter of women say they don't know enough about cars to keep them safe.
Only 15 per cent do their own car checks, compared with nearly 60 per cent of men.
Of the ACT's 1800 estimated mechanics, only 100 are female, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Nationwide, women make up about 1300 of the 108,300 people in the trade.
While neither of the workshop hosts are mechanics - Mrs Rydman is a bus driver and Mrs Feuerborn teaches English as a second language - they both know their way around cars.
Mrs Rydman's husband, Tomi Rydman, is a mechanic, and Mrs Feuerborn's time under the bonnet started in the states, where you "can afford the mechanic or the part, but not both".
"When you get stuck on the side of the road in Texas, the person that stops to help you is probably not the safest," Mrs Feuerborn said.
"Even though I had my driver's licence, before I could even leave the driveway I had to learn how to ... change a tyre, check my oil, check my tyre pressure, jump start a battery, and check all my fluids to make sure that it was all OK.
"That was my dad's basic rule - you have to be able to do this."
The women intend to share their knowledge in three separate workshops focusing on vehicle fluids, car batteries, and changing and checking tyres.
They are looking to start with two workshops a month in October, depending on venues, and hope to get in touch with female volunteers who might host sessions on Canberra's northside.
Attendees will be required to bring their own equipment and cars along, and the pair will accept optional donations to ACT Rescue and Foster.
"[We're going to repeat the workshops] until there is less of an interest; that way, everyone can have a turn," Mrs Feuerborn said.
"We are really trying to make this for ladies and empower women."
