Thread: Erik Carlsson u Monte Carlu

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

The competing cars were all made between 1955 and 1970. Among the best-known previous winning cars are Saabs driven by such famous rally stars as Erik Carlsson, aka as Mr. Saab. Today, in Reims he waved off an exact replika of the Saab 96 he took to victory back in 1963.

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 Friday (28 January) in a car that recreates the original in every detail, right down to the 283 entry number Erik used that year. He will be on hand to wave them off.

The exploits of Erik, aka 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 i 1963 and also took a hat-trick of RAC Rally victories in 1960-62. Now 82 years old, Erik 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 employed as a roving ambassador for Saab.

Erik Carlsson was married to Pat Moss (1934-2008), who was also a successful rally vozač with several wins in the Monte Carlo Rally ladies class, She was the mlađa sestra of racing driver Sir Stirling Moss.

Eriks David and Goliath bitke against larger, more powerful cars are now legendarni in the annals of international rallying. With small two-stroke engines, 748 or 841 cc, the first Saabs lacked power for competition use and to overcome this disadvantage Erik developed a special driving technique. It was 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 natjecati was in the 1970 Baja 1000, where he finished 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 and rally race driver but Ill never forget how pleasant and unassuming he was to me as a young auto journalist. I know that hundreds of Saab fans that have met him during the past four decades will agree with me.

Believe it or not it has been 100 years since the first Monte Carlo Rally took place. The anniversary is being celebrated by over 360 teams 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, France; Barcelona, Spain and Marrakech, Morocco.

The competing cars were all made between 1955 and 1970. Among the best-known previous winning cars are Saabs driven by such famous rally stars as Erik Carlsson, aka as Mr. Saab. Today, in Reims he waved off an exact replica of the Saab 96 he took to victory back in 1963.

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 Friday (28 January) in a car that recreates the original in every detail, right down to the 283 entry number Erik used that year. He will be on hand to wave them off.

The exploits of Erik, aka 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, Erik 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 employed as a roving ambassador for Saab.

Erik Carlsson was married to Pat Moss (1934-2008), who was also a successful rally driver with several wins in the Monte Carlo Rally ladies class, She was the younger sister of racing driver Sir Stirling Moss.

Eriks David and Goliath battles against larger, more powerful cars are now legendary in the annals of international rallying. With small two-stroke engines, 748 or 841 cc, the first Saabs lacked power for competition use and to overcome this disadvantage Erik developed a special driving technique. It was 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 compete was in the 1970 Baja 1000, where he finished 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 journalist. I know that hundreds of Saab fans that have met him during the past four decades will agree with me.