5 replies to this topic

[VDP]

I found an article about this driver taking his new ferrari at Modena in company of Tore Bjurstrom, the swedihs agent of Ferrari. Took delivery of a 340 in 1953. The particularity of this driver. He had only one arm.

More info ?

Robert

[Tomas Karlsson]

The Swedish Ferrari representative Tore Bjurström worked hard at finding new buyers. He looked for guys with money and an interest in motor racing. One of the first was Severt Sundberg. Sundberg had started with motor racing after the war. He rallied and raced with Citroëns, a VW with Porsche engine and a Cooper F3. He was quite good, but not really a star. His races were mostly on ice (there weren't many road races in Sweden in those years). Sundberg was a succesful haulage contractor and was 42 years old when Bjurström got him an Ferrari. They drove it home to Sweden right in the middle of the winter. I am not sure who owned the car. Sundberg said that it was Bjurström's. Maybe they had some sort of leasing contract.
Anyway Sundberg was immediately the big star in the Swedish ice racing in February 1953. The car was placed in the Nordic Special class and simply outdrove the Swedish home-built Ford V8 specials. He won easily at Falun. But ran into the snowbank at lake Freden outside of Västerås. He then went for a tour up in the northern part of Sweden. He won easily at Luleå against the much slower local opposition, but at Burträsk it all ended. He ran away from the others in the start but lost it going into a bend. The car climbed a snowbank and overturned. Sundberg was killed instantly.
Immediately after the accident the discussion started about his handicap. Sundberg had two arms, but had lost his right hand in an accident related to his work. Instead he had a hook! (So his nick-name was of course "The Hook") Nobody had had any worries about that before the accident though.
The car was a special 340, built on a shorter chassis than the America and was probably not easy to handle on ice. And Sundberg wasn't the first guy you would place in such a car with or without a hook. He was known for being quite temperamental.
The Ferrari was sent back to Italy and returned later with a coupé body and was sold to Bjurström's favourite customer Valdemar Stener... as new.

[boekman]

I found the following text IN SWEDISH by one of Severt Sundbergs co-drivers, Ingvar Lundström :
http://www.smkhedemo...sportminnen.htm
Nice picture of a shortened Citroen 15, but no "new" info on the Ferrari.

Fredrik Bökman

[boekman]

A picture of Severt and the Ferrari 340 Vignale from Burträsk :
http://www.bmk.nu/html/historia.htm

[Graham Clayton]

Sundberg had started with motor racing after the war. He rallied and raced with Citroëns, a VW with Porsche engine and a Cooper F3.

Tomas,

This site seems to feature one of Sundberg's Citroens being retrieved from hibernation:

http://www.cta.a.se/mac01.htm

[Tomas Karlsson]

Great! Nice to see it getting restored. He raced this car on ice.
By the way, he did buy the Ferrari, but I am not sure the widow got any money for the wreck.