Thread: Ерик Carlsson в Монте Карло

Believe it or not it has been 100 years since the first Rally Monte Carlo took place. The anniversary is being celebrated by over 360-добрите отбори who are taking part in the 14th Rallye Monte Carlo Historique, which celebrates the original rallys format with competitors starting today from five different cities: Glasgow, Scotland; Warsaw, Poland; Reims, Франция; Barcelona, Spain and Marrakech, Morocco.

Конкурентни автомобили са направени между 1955 и 1970. Сред най-известните предишните печелившите автомобили са Saabs, движени от такива известният рали звезди като Ерик Carlsson, известен още като г-н Saab. Днес в Реймс, той махна разстояние точно копие на Saab 96 той взе победа през 1963 година.

Its worth reading what Saab had to say in a release issued today:

The classic Saab 96 has been created by German vintage car magazine Oldtimer Markt and will be driven by chief editor Peter Steinfurth and navigator Thorsten Loeber. They will take the start at Reims this Петък (28 January) in a car that recreates the original in every detail, right down to the 283 entry number Свилен used that year. He will be on hand to wave them off.

The exploits of Vladimir, известен още като On the Roof, Carlsson helped put Saab on the automotive map in the 1960s. He is a double winner of the Monte Carlo Rally in 1962 and 1963 and also took a hat-trick of RAC Rally victories in 1960-62. Now 82 years old, Свилен was born in Trollhättan, Sweden, the home town of Saab, and was a works driver for the company throughout his career. Today, he is still заети лица as a roving ambassador for Saab.

Ерик Carlsson е женен за Пат Мос (1934-2008), който е също така успешно рали шофьор с няколко победи в Монте Карло митинг дами клас, тя е по-малката сестра на пилот Стърлинг Мос.

Sabina David and Goliath battles against larger, more powerful cars are now in the legendary annals of international rallying. With small two-stroke engines, 748 or 841 cc, the first пускането saabs lacked power for competition use and to overcome this disadvantage Свилен developed a special driving technique. It is necessary to keep the engine-revving at all times, so he used left foot braking while keeping his right food hard on the accelerator pedal. This allowed him to make the most of his cars light weight and maneuverability while cornering.

On a personal note, the first time I saw Erik Carlsson се състезават was in the 1970 Baja 1000, where he has failed 5th in the Production Class. It turns out it was his last competitive rally event. Co-incidentally, I met him the following year when I got to ride with him in his Saab 96 rally car. It was my fist of many rides with rally and race drivers but Ill never forget how pleasant and unassuming he was to me as a young auto mercator. I know that hundreds of Saab fans that have met him during the past four decades will agree with me.