The RAC Rally Ladies' Cup

Ann Wisdom (left) and Pat Moss in 1961

The RAC Rally, now known as the Wales Rally GB, has its own ladies’ award, usually for the best-performing all-female crew. It is not awarded every year, but this list is almost certainly incomplete and will be extended in the future. If you have any information, please comment or message me.

In the early days, separate awards for female drivers in Open and Closed cars existed. These were scrapped in the mid-1950s when car classes changed.

1936

Joan Richmond (Triumph) - open car Ladies’ Cup

Midge Wilby (Armstrong-Siddeley) - closed car Ladies’ Cup

1939

Kay Hague (Riley) - open car Ladies’ Cup

Joan Chetwynd (Fordd) - closed car Ladies’ Cup

Hiatus for WWII

1951

Anne Hall (Newton)/Margaret Newton (Jaguar XK120) - open car Ladies’ Cup

Sheila van Damm/Elsie Wisdom (Hillman Minx) - closed car Ladies’ Cup

1952

Anne Hall (Newton)/Mary Newton (Jaguar XK120) - open car Ladies’ Cup

Hazel Dunham/Charlotte Sadler (Rover) - closed car Ladies’ Cup

1954

Mary Walker (Triumph TR2)

1955

Sheila van Damm/Anne Hall (Sunbeam Talbot)

1956

Angela Palfrey/Aileen Jervis (Austin A40)

1957

No rally held

1958

Pat Moss/Ann Wisdom (Morris Minor 1000)

1959

Anne Hall/Patsy Burt (Ford Anglia 105E) - 20th

1960

Anne Hall/Valerie Domleo (Ford)

1961

Pat Moss/Ann Wisdom (Austin-Healey 3000) - 2nd

1962

Pat Moss/Pauline Mayman (Austin-Healey 3000) - 3rd

1963

Pat Moss/Jennifer Nadin (Ford Cortina GT) - 7th

1964

Pat Moss/Liz Nystrom (Saab 96) - 4th

1965

Pat Moss/Liz Nystrom (Saab 96) - 10th

1966

Pat Moss/Liz Nystrom (Saab 96) - 9th

1969

Jill Robinson/Audrey Scott (BMW 2002 Ti) - 58th

1970

Liz Crellin/Pat Wright (Austin Mini Cooper) - 36th

1971

Marie-Claude Beaumont/Martine de la Grandrive (Opel Ascona)

1973

Eeva Heinonen/Selia Saaristo (Volvo 142) - 32nd

1974

Pat Moss/Liz Crellin (Toyota Celica GT) - 28th

1985

Louise Aitken-Walker/Ellen Morgan (Peugeot 205 GTi) - 16th, class win

(Image copyright S&G and Barratts/EMPICS Sport)

Greta Molander

Greta as a Saab driver, in 1951

Greta is probably best known as a works Saab driver from the 1950s. She competed from the 1930s to the 1970s, but was most successful in the ‘50s, winning many Coupes des Dames.

She was born Greta Ohlson in Ystad, Sweden, in 1908. Her parents ran a hotel. They both died within months of each other in 1927, leaving a considerable amount of money and possessions to their daughter. Sadly, a poor investment meant that she had to sell most of this, keeping only one car.

Unusually for the time, she had learned to drive as a teenager, and entered her first rally in 1929, driving her father’s La Salle car. It was a women’s event, and she was last. Four years later, she won the Swedish Rikspokal for rallying, in a borrowed Plymouth.

In 1934, she started her first major international rally, the Monte Carlo, from Umeå in the north of Sweden. Her car was another Plymouth. She repeated this feat in 1935, and was rewarded with a finish, in 30^th place. On her fourth try, she won her first Monte Carlo Coupe des Dames, finishing 24^th in her Plymouth. In a particularly strong year for female drivers, she was third in the 1938 women’s standings, despite coming 19^th overall. During the 1930s, she was active in Plymouths and other American cars in Norwegian rallies.

In 1938, she married Kaare Barth (Petrus), a Norwegian writer, and settled in Norway. She always competed under the name “Molander”, seemingly the name of a first husband, despite enjoying a long and happy marriage to Petrus.

She switched from American cars to a DKW for 1939, but does not seem to have finished, and rallying then halted for World War II.

Norway was occupied by the Germans for much of the war. Greta is said to have been jailed at one point, for insulting a German officer.

Rallying returned to Monte Carlo in 1949, and Greta came with it. She was 52^nd, in a Dodge.

Her relationship with the Saab marque began in 1950, in the Monte again. She was one of the first works drivers they employed. The Saab 92 had just been launched, and Greta drove one to 55^th place, starting at Stockholm. She was actually the first of the two Saab finishers that year.

1951 saw her compete more widely in Europe, driving the Saab in the Tulip and Midnight Sun rallies. She won the first of six Midnight Sun Coupes des Dames that year, and was again the leading Saab driver

.

In 1952, she was second of four Saab drivers in the Midnight Sun Rally, behind Rolf Mellde. Her co-driver was Helga Lundberg. Their partnership lasted for many years.

Other rallies she entered included the 1953 Lisbon Rally, where she was third in the Ladies’ standings. This, and her performances in the Northern European rallies, were enough to earn her a European Ladies’ Championship title.

The Tulip Rally became one of her regular yearly fixtures. She normally drove the Saab, but she accepted a drive in another car for 1954, a DKW, and was 33^rd. Her arch-rival, Sheila van Damm, driving for the Rootes team, had got into the top ten, so the Coupe des Dames was out of reach this time. The Tulip was not her only DKW outing in 1954: she won another Midnight Sun Rally Ladies’ prize that year.

The Saab team did not enter the 1955 Monte, so Greta drove the DKW again, but does not seem to have finished. She continued to rally the DKW in the Viking Rally, and was thirteenth. In the Tulip Rally, she was back in the 92, and went one better than Sheila van Damm last year, finishing ninth overall.

There seems to have been a hiatus in her Saab involvement in 1956, when she used a Mercedes 220 for the Monte, and a Peugeot 403 for the Midnight Sun Rally, in which she was 56^th.

After that, she drove the new Saab 93, which would become a successful car for the manufacturer, and was the beginning of Saab as a major rallying contender. Her team-mates that year included Ewy Rosqvist and Erik Carlsson.

By 1960, she was winding down her competition career, although she still accepted invitations to drive for Saab in major rallies. She drove the 93 on the Monte between 1960 and 1962.

When she retired from professional rallying in 1962, she was 54 years old. Although she became somewhat of an occasional competitor, she carried on making appearances in rallies until the 1970s, and also rallied historic cars. In 1973, she made one last appearance on the Monte, her nineteenth attempt at the Monaco classic. Her car was a Saab.

Away from rallying, she was an intrepid traveller, who wrote about her experiences, such as crossing Africa and America by car. The American trip, during the 1940s was partly funded by Chrysler, who used it as a promotional opportunity. Whilst in America, Greta worked as a film stunt driver.

As well as writing about her own experiences, she translated English works into Norwegian, including some of PG Wodehouse’s novels. Wodehouse and Greta were friends. She also illustrated books, including two children’s books, which she and Petrus worked on together.

She died in 2002, at the age of 94.

(Image from http://www.saabsunited.com/)

Pat Moss (Moss-Carlsson)

A young Pat, with Ann Wisdom (Image from www.carthrottle.com)

One of Britain's most successful rallying stars in the 1960s, Pat had motorsport in the blood; her brother is none other than Stirling Moss, her father raced at Brooklands and Indianapolis, and her mother was a rally driver in the 1930s. Surprisingly, horses were Pat's first love, and she scored well in major showjumping competitions, before turning to cars. For a long time, she combined her showjumping with motorsport, using the money she won with her horses to finance her cars.

Pat's motoring career began when her brother's manager, Ken Gregory, asked her to navigate for him on a road rally in 1953. Not long after, she was rallying a Morris Minor of her own in British events. The Minor is a car of which Pat remained fond. Her performances led to the offer of a works drive for MG in the RAC Rally. For the next five years, Pat and her navigator Ann Wisdom competed around Britain and Europe for BMC, collecting some good results. Ann Wisdom was a friend from showjumping, the daughter of Brooklands racewinner Elsie "Bill" Wisdom.

To begin with, she entered club rallies and British championship events. Her normal car was a Triumph TR2 or the Minor. She was a regular top-ten finisher in a wide variety of rallies in 1954, often held by the Harrow Car Club.

Their first season of international competition was 1955. Pat retired her MG Magnette from the Tulip Rally with lubrication problems, and drove a TF in the RAC Rally. The TF was her first works car, lent to her by BMC. She had been in talks with Triumph, but they decided not to back her.

The following year, Pat entered the Monte Carlo Rally as part of a three-woman team in an Austin Westminster, with Joan Johns and a Miss Riche. They crashed out. Back with Ann Wisdom, she finished the RAC Rally in an MGA 1500. On the Liege-Rome-Liege the following year, they pedalled the Morris Minor to 23rd overall.

In 1958 the pair really started to excel, with fourth places in the RAC and Liège-Rome-Liège rallies. Their cars were a Morris Minor and Austin-Healey 100/6 respectively. In the Minor, they crashed out of the Monte, but in the Healey, they were tenth in the Alpine Rally, with a Coupe des Dames. In an MGA, they made the trip to Sweden for the Midnight Sun Rally.

Their highlights of 1959 were a second in the German Rally in an Austin-Healey 3000 and a creditable tenth on the Monte Carlo Rally, with a Coupe des Dames, in an Austin A40. In the Healey, they crashed out of the Acropolis after hitting a lorry, and also retired from the Tulip Rally. The A40’s gearbox also gave up on the Alpine. Using a Morris 1000, they managed to finish the RAC Rally, and they drove a Riley 1.5 in Sestriere.

In 1960 they scored their first win in style, which must have been a relief after the many retirements of 1959. The Liège-Rome-Liège was one of the most punishing marathons on the European calendar and the Austin-Healey 3000 BMC's most brutal car, famously difficult to control. The combination did not faze the two British ladies, and Pat drove to a commanding victory. It was not their only strong finish of the year: Pat achieved her second Monte Carlo Coupe des Dames in an A40, finishing 17th, and was eighth, first in class, on the Tulip and Geneva Rallies. She was second on the Alpine Rally and won a Coupe des Alpes to boot. She also finished the RAC Rally, but somewhat down the leaderboard. Her car for all of these events was the big Healey.

1961 was a much quieter year, with just second places on the prestigious Alpine and RAC rallies as highlights. During the year, she drove an Austin-Healey Sprite, Austin A40, big Healey and Mini, unfortunately to a string of lowly places and retirements. One of these was a guest drive on the Welsh Rally, with Stuart Turner.

1962 was a dramatic time for Pat. After an indifferent Monte in a Mini, she accepted a one-off Saab works drive. She finished third on her first visit to the East African Safari Rally, but faced terrible news when she got home. Stirling Moss had been seriously injured at Goodwood. A very worrying time ensued, but once her brother was out of danger, she jumped back into her BMC Mini and won the Tulip Rally. Another upheaval then came when Ann Wisdom decided to call it a day, in order to marry and start a family. Again, Pat bounced back, hiring erstwhile driver Pauline Mayman to navigate. The new pairing won the Baden-Baden Rally in Germany, in a Mini again. Pat always claimed that she loved the Mini while she was driving it, but feared and hated it when she wasn't in it. Reunited with the big Healey, Pat and Pauline were third on the Alpine Rally, second in Poland, and third on the RAC. In the Mini, they were third in Geneva.

Pauline returned to the driving seat for BMC in 1963. Pat worked with a number of navigators in 1963, including a brief reunion with Ann Wisdom, now Ann Riley, on the Safari. Pat was now driving for Ford. Her tenure there started inauspiciously, with a big-end failure on the Monte in an Anglia, and an accident on the Safari in a Cortina. Driving with Jennifer Nadin, she won the Coupe des Dames on the Tulip in a Cortina, but was out of the top ten. She was also out of the top positions on the Alpine, and finished behind Pauline Mayman. The story was similar on the Spa-Sofia-Liège. Her season picked up in Greece, where she was sixth and first lady on the Acropolis, and she was seventh on the RAC Rally.

1963 was another year of upheaval for Pat, but a happier variety this time. In June she married Swedish multi-champion Erik Carlsson, and the couple became team-mates at Saab in 1964, where Carlsson had been the leading driver for many years. Pat already had a relationship with Saab going back to 1960; when BMC did not send an official entry to a big rally, she would make a guest appearance in a Saab 96. The 1962 Safari was the best of these runs, despite the shock that awaited her at the end.

The Saab 96 gave Mrs Moss-Carlsson third places on the Acropolis and Polish rallies, and a fifth on the Monte. With Liz Nystrom as navigator, she was fourth on the Spa-Sofia-Liège and RAC events. Late in the season, she was seventh in Geneva. She also finished the East African Safari and was sixth on the Tulip, the first woman home. She retired on the Mont Ventoux stage of the Alpine. For a change, she competed in the Targa Rusticana road rally back home in England, in a one-off works Ford drive. She and navigator David Stone brought their bright yellow Anglia home to another victory.

Continuing at Saab for a second year, Pat scored an impressive third on the Monte, with Swede Ursula Wirth-Fernstrom, and a second in San Remo, with the experienced Englishwoman, Val Domleo. However, the rest of her season was largely disappointing. She was out of the top ten in Sweden and retired on the Safari, 1000 Lakes and Acropolis rallies. Mid-season, she was fifth in the Gulf London Rally and in Poland. In addition, she was tenth on the RAC Rally.

Pat and Liz during the 1965 Acropolis Rally (Image from http://www.saabsunited.com/)

In search of more wins, she hopped teams in 1966, despite beginning the season with Saab. She and Liz Nystrom retired in East Africa, their first major event. A one-off drive in a Plymouth Barracuda on the Tulip Rally gave them a Coupe des Dames, but not the outright wins of which they knew they were capable. A broken piston in the Saab dumped them out of the Acropolis, but as a consolation, they were a battling second in the Gulf London Rally. In the Rally Vltava they were fifth, and the Drei-Städte marathon event, ninth. They scored another ninth on the RAC Rally.

In 1967, still with Saab as her main team, Pat withdrew from the Monte at the start of the year, for reasons unknown. She missed out on the Rallye dei Fiori due to not having her homologation papers available for inspection. She reappeared for the Gulf London Rally, and was seventh in a V4. In the same car, she could only manage 30th on the RAC and 50th on the Tulip, despite winning the Coupe des Dames. However, she was fourth on the Rally Vltava.

A switch to the works Lancia team proved fruitful. In 1968, Pat scored her last big-time win on the Sestrière Rally, and came second again in San Remo, partnered by Liz Nystrom. They were also eighth on the Acropolis, but retired on the RAC Rally. She also got the opportunity to take her Fulvia to the legendary Targa Florio road race in Sicily. She managed a solid finish in nineteenth. Away from her Lancia heroics, she crashed out of the Safari, in a Renault 16.

1969 started well, with eighth place in Monte Carlo in the Fulvia. Later, she retired from the Safari and finished down the order in Wales. This season was a short one, as Pat gave birth to her first and only child this year. Her hiatus continued into 1970, although she was scheduled to drive for Renault again in the Total Rally in South Africa. She was open about the fact that she lost a good deal of her interest in full-time competition after becoming a mother.

Pat's career continued on and off until 1975, taking in many good placings and ladies' awards in a variety of cars. One "later" highlight was a tenth on the Monte with Liz Crellin, driving an Alpine-Renault for the all-female Team Aseptogyl in 1972. This was one of three rallies she did for the team.

In 1974, she did some rallies for Toyota. Her final big appearance was that year's RAC. She was 28th, and won the Coupe des Dames.

After just over twenty years of motorsport, she and Erik settled down to family life in England with their daughter, Suzy. Pat’s rallying career had seen the transition from navigational to speed-based events admirably, with wins in both types. Commemorated in Corgi toy cars, she was a national favourite, not to mention part of rallying's greatest love story.

Pat died in October 2008, after a long struggle with cancer.