Erik Carlsson

Erik Hilding Carlsson (5 March 1929 – 27 May 2015) was a Swedish rally driver for Saab. He was nicknamed "Carlsson på taket" ("Carlsson on the roof") as well as Mr. Saab (due to his public relations work for the company).

Carlsson was born in Trollhättan. Erik Carlsson married Pat Moss on July 9, 1963 in London. Pat was also a famous rally driver and younger sister of Stirling Moss. On December 1, 1969 they had a daughter, Susie Carlsson, who was later to become successful in show jumping.

In John Gardner's James Bond novel Icebreaker, Bond receives several weeks of driving training from Erik Carlsson, as preparation for an arctic assignment. Carlsson also outfits and delivers Bond's "Silver Beast", a Saab 900 Turbo, in Licence Renewed.

Because the early Saabs in which he competed were seriously underpowered and with the tuned two-strokers it was necessary to keep the revs up, he had to maintain a high speed while cornering and practiced left-foot braking to perfection.

In 1965 Pat Moss and Erik Carlsson wrote a book: The Art and Technique of Driving (published by Heinemann, London, selling for 25 shillings). This book was translated into Dutch, German, Japanese and Spanish.

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