They were swiftly rounded up by police and punished, but many remain unrepentant to this day. "I am ready to take part in a demonstration right now," one former participant said.
Women are still not allowed to drive in the ultraconservative kingdom, despite the absence of any specific law banning them from the driver's seat. "I still believe in the idea. It is a right that I will continue to demand," the protestor added, requesting anonymity.
Participants in the 1990 protest were severely punished for daring to turn the ignition key.
Those who had jobs in the public sector were fired by a royal decree. It took them another two-and-a-half years to be reinstated by another royal decree, said a protestor, also requesting anonymity.
The rebellious women's decision to lead the first-ever demonstration of its kind in the kingdom's 72-year history was partly a result of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August 1990, said another demonstrator.
"We were encouraged after seeing Kuwaiti women driving their families fleeing their country into Saudi Arabia," she said.
They were also infuriated after hearing that American female soldiers serving with the US troops deployed in Saudi Arabia shortly after the invasion were driving military vehicles in the east of the country.
"How can they have the right to drive on our soil while we are denied it?" she asked.
The 47 protestors, who drove in 15 cars for 30 minutes before being arrested, assigned the task of driving only to holders of foreign driving licenses, "to be as lawful as possible," said a fellow protestor.
Women in Saudi Arabia, who have to cover from head to toe in public and cannot mix with men other than relatives, are subjected to a number of other restrictions, including not being able to travel alone.
Nor do they have the right to vote or run for public office. The interior ministry recently dashed women's rights activists' hopes of participating in landmark local elections, due in February, saying it was "not on the cards."
But change may be on the horizon, as economic pressure forces authorities to recognize women as a part of the workforce, at least potentially.
The Saudi government in June lifted a ban on women holding jobs in most fields, allowing them to obtain commercial licenses and ordering ministries to create jobs for women.
According to official figures, only 5.5 percent of some 4.7 million Saudi women of working age are employed.
One protestor said she was hopeful that new employment possibilities for women, "like appointing female teachers in distant areas," will force a change in Saudi society's attitude to women behind the wheel.
© 2004 Agence France-Presse