Swedish rally legend Erik Carlsson has died at the age of 86 following a brief illness. Carlsson was synonymous with Saab on the world’s rally circuit, and rightly so since he was born in Trollhatten, just around the proverbial corner from the Saab factory.
His competition career, however, got its start on motorcycles, although by age 23 he had contested his first rally, co-driving with Pelle Nystrom in a Volvo. Carlsson soon bought his own car, a Saab 92, and started driving himself, winning the Swedish regional championship in 1954 with a factory-built Saab 92 that he had tweaked to increase its power output. It was with this car that he recorded his first major victory, the Rikspokalen Rally, in 1955, the same year he became a factory test driver.
Further wins followed, including Finland’s 1000 Lakes Rally in 1957 and both the Swedish Rally and Rally Deutschland in 1959 with a Saab 93. He drove a Saab 96 to a hat trick of victories in England’s RAC Rally in 1960, ’61 and ’62, and won consecutive Monte Carlo Rallies in ’62 and ’63 with it as well. Answering the need to make the somewhat underpowered Saabs go fast, he became a pioneer in the left-foot braking technique, employing it to enhance his already impressive natural speed.
In 1963 he married fellow rallyist Pat Moss, Stirling’s sister, and moved to England, though they continued to compete against each other. She died in 2008. In later years he served as a brand ambassador for Saab and, known as Mr. Saab, became a familiar fixture at new car launches around the world.
Along with Rauno Aaltonen, Paddy Hopkirk and Timo Mäkinen, he was inducted into the inaugural class of the Rally Hall of Fame in 2010. To all his many friends around the world, Vintage Racecar extends its sincerest condolences.
