PAST IMPERFECT:Pat Moss Carlsson - a legend in the world of motor sport for many years, writes Bob Montgomery
THE RECENT death of Pat Moss Carlsson at the age of 73 after a long illness has been widely mourned in the motor sport community. The younger sister of Formula One legend Stirling Moss, Pat Moss carved out a unique place for herself in motor sport history by winning not only numerous Ladies Class awards in late 1950s and 1960s rallying, but also by beating her male opposition to outright victories.
Yet rallying and motorsport were not Pat's first love. Originally, her sport was show jumping, in which she had a successful career - becoming a member of the British Show Jumping team. It was her brother's manager, Ken Gregory, who invited her to take part in a treasure hunt which she enjoyed immensely and which led to her outstanding motor sport career.
She soon acquired a Triumph TR2 and in this car began to de-monstrate her great natural ability to the extent that she had her first "works" drive in the 1955 RAC Rally driving an MG TF.
Other drives for BMC followed and she made her first Continental foray in 1955 when she drove a MG Magnette on the Tulip Rally, and then followed this with a fine drive on the 1958 Monte Carlo Rally in an Austin A90.
But it was on the 1958 RAC Rally that she really demonstrated her true potential, coming home in fourth place overall.
The following year, she began driving the car with which she would become most associated - the big Healy. She took fourth place on the Liege Rally - the first time a woman had finished in the top 10 in that event. This result assured her of the Ladies European Champion title for that year.
Two years later, she scored an outstanding outright win on the Liege event, as well as a second place on the Coupe des Alpes rally.
In 1961, on the advice of Swedish rally driver, Erik Carlsson, Pat bought a Saab. She took it to Africa, and again upset the odds by finishing third in her first attempt on the East African Safari Rally, regarded as the toughest of all rallies. An offer to drive for Ford followed, but her season was rewarded with only a sixth place on the Acropolis Rally. Pat and Erik Carlsson were married in March 1963 and in 1964 Pat joined him at Saab as part of their "works" team.
It has to be said that by then the Saab was outclassed in international rallying, but the Carlssons continued to gain results and Pat Moss Carlsson was rarely outside the top 10 in any events she competed in over the next four years.
The birth of a daughter, Suzy, in 1969, led to her gradual withdrawal from motorsport, althou-gh she co-authored a book with Erik Carlsson, The Art and Technique of Driving as well as her own memoir The Story so Far.
In the 1980s she rekindled her interest in show jumping as her daughter became involved in the sport, going on to become a successful show jumper.
Pat Moss Carlsson showed outstanding skill, determination and endurance throughout the course of her rally career, during which she showed herself to be at least the equal of her male counterparts.