46 replies to this topic

[garyfrogeye]

Apologies if it's been posted somewhere else on this forum.
http://tinyurl.com/5wqerd

[Smudger]

I hadn't seen that. Sad news, and condolences to her family.

[Gary Davies]

How very sad. I must confess I was unaware that she had been ill for a long time. RIP.

[garyfrogeye]

I can't that there's been almost no coverage of her passing.

[Jack-the-Lad]

Very sad news indeed. Condolences to her family.

Jack

[Gary Davies]

Nicked, with the very greatest of respect, from Stirling Moss's Book of Motor Sport, Cassell, 1955.

http://www.users.on.net/~garyd/Pat%20

[Carles Bosch]

Sad news, indeed. I hadn't seen that. Condolences to his family.


Carles.

[Red Socks]

Comprehensive obit in the Times today-sad commentary on the times that the the Autosport one will no doubt be singularly less comprehensive.

[Kevan]

Very sad news, condolences to her family.

Vanwall- that's a great picture

There's another nice pic at the head of the excellent Times obit, although somehow I'm surprised they didn't use a shot of Pat in a Healey- that's always the image that her name brings to mind for me.

[Doug Nye]

Just discovered this as I opened 'The Daily Telegraph' this morning. She was one tough, nice, impressive lady - and always very illuminating (and funny) when reminiscing about her brother. Thoughts are absolutely with her husband Erik (a lovely bloke and of course in his era the World's absolutely finest rally driver) and their daughter Suzy right now. Thoughts also for brother Stirling, for whom this is also hard to accept. What sad news on what is, here at least, a simply lovely sun-soaked Autumn morning...

DCN

[sterling49]

Another sad passing, as a "youngster", I used to read about Pat's rallying adventures by torchlight under the bedcovers, such great places to visit, it fired my imagination for both motorsport and travel. the fact that she married one of the finest loose surface drivers in the world, enhanced the vision.

Thoughts with Eric and family.

[DOHC]

RIP Pat, and thoughts go to Eric Carlsson and Suzy.

[fines]

RIP, Pat.

Condolences to family and friends.

[Richard Jenkins]

Oh dear, this is a shame. RIP.

[LotusElise]

RIP Pat, one of my favourite heroes. She will be missed wherever big Healeys are driven at speed.

Condolences to her family and friends everywhere.

[RS2000]

I tend not to join in such threads - but there must be exceptions.

I had heard a long time ago of health concerns. So long ago that I felt some optimism that what I had heard was wrong.

A lot of people talk and write of moments that changed their lives. I really did experience one. Cycling home from school in 1965 with a friend, both racing enthusiasts but neither of us with any more than a very passing interest in rallying, we encountered the Saab team at a petrol station. Arguably, it was David Siegle-Morris bringing the Gulf London International Rally almost to my front door that was also responsible but it was seeing Pat Moss with a red Saab that, there and then, in almost a blinding flash of light, made me know I was somehow, sometime, going to do some International rallies, however long it took or whatever it cost.

As mentioned earlier in this thread, the Times has it right and I worry the modern specialist press will not get it so right. Pat Moss was a star in her own right, regardless of gender, and alone (and no one else then or later) changed for ever the way women were perceived in motorsport.

[Phil Rainford]

From the Telegraph website.....

http://www.telegraph...8/Pat-Moss.html

Kind regards

Phil

[RogerFrench]

Very sad - she was quite a lady.
Condolences to the family.

[Paul Parker]

Yet more sad news, October certainly is proving to be rather grim.

My condolences to all concerned.

[David Beard]

Yes, sad news. When I was a lad all of the Moss clan were my heroes. When Pat and Eric were first married, they lived in Ickford, Bucks, not very far from my home. I used to cycle past frequently, trying to catch a glimpse. Never did. The house was a few hundred yards from where the Ivan Dutton establishment is now, actually.

Not sure I ever saw Pat drive, except on TV, but I would have hero worshipped when she show jumped at Thame Show.

[David Birchall]

Very sad news. I too had no idea she had been ill. I will have to dig out "The Story So Far" and have a reread. For a horsey lady she had quite a motorsport career. My condolences to her family.

[DOHC]

Actually it's yet another example of how time flies. My mother admired her. A long time ago, as I'm 55, and my mother passed away 13 years ago.

[Arturo Pereira]

Very sad news indeed. My condolences to her relatives and friends

[Joe Nix]

Particularly sorrowful. Pat was two years younger than me. I followed
her career via my Autocar subscription from the mid fifties when I was in the US Army
in Eritrea.

[RTH]

Oh dear, yet more sad news . She was very much the news in women in motor sport in the media in 50s/60s. Sad news.

[Derwent Motorsport]

It is interesting that as both Pat and Sirling came from parents who were competitors, that neither of their children showed any interest in the sport. Indeed I don't think I've ever seen a photo of Stirling's son other than as a small child.

[Mal9444]

Originally posted by Doug Nye
She was one tough, nice, impressive lady - and always very illuminating (and funny) when reminiscing about her brother. DCN

"Stirling Myth" was one nickname she used for him. Met her, with husband Eric, a couple of years ago at a "do" for SCM. More iconic figures from one's boyhood and, as Doug says, a very lovely, amusing lady. Very saddenning.

[Alan Cox]

RAC Rally 1965

RAC Rally 1966

[garyfrogeye]

Originally posted by Derwent Motorsport
It is interesting that as both Pat and Sirling came from parents who were competitors, that neither of their children showed any interest in the sport. Indeed I don't think I've ever seen a photo of Stirling's son other than as a small child.

I believe that Pat's first love was Show jumping and it was in this sport which her daughter competed.

[wolf sun]

A lot of sad news this weekend.

RIP Pat

[D-Type]

Sad news indeed. My thoughts go out to Erik, Suzy and Stirling.

[HDonaldCapps]

As someone mentioned earlier, Pat Moss stood with both feet on the ground and head held high, due to her own accomplishments. She was a rally driver first and foremost, not a "lady" rally driver. Only met her once and she seemed to exactly what she was, Pat Moss -- Rally Driver. We have lost another one of motor racing's great characters. My condolences to her family and many friends.

[Doug Nye]

There is a lovely story of her and Ann Wisdom hurtling through the Liege Marathon de la Route at fantastic pace - only
matched by Erik barrelling along a few miles behind, at the wheel of their service 'barge' complete with spares jam-packed to the rafters and intrepid mechanics upside down being sick on the ceiling... Never sure which year, nor even how true, but it paints a wonderful picture of special people excelling in a special era...and that's the deeper story that such a tale tells. Pat Moss was special, indeed.

DCN

[RS2000]

Originally posted by Doug Nye
There is a lovely story of her and Ann Wisdom hurtling through the Liege Marathon de la Route at fantastic pace - only matched by Erik barrelling along a few miles behind, at the wheel of their service 'barge' complete with spares jam-packed to the rafters and intrepid mechanics upside down being sick on the ceiling... Never sure which year, nor even how true, but it paints a wonderful picture of special people excelling in a special era...and that's the deeper story that such a tale tells. Pat Moss was special, indeed.
DCN

This sounds like the famous gearbox oil seal replacement at Barcelonette (with a seal made up of bits from two incorrect ones). With the Healey gearbox missing a few bolts, Pat then attacked the Col d'Allos, which had by then wrongly been re-opened to other traffic, followed by Erik (who was not competing in that Liege for Saab and was helping BMC in his holidays!) in an A90 barge with mechanic Douggie Hamblin and the missing bolts. She went on to win that 1960 Liege.
Originally just another story from the golden era for me that didn't immediately relate to forest rally exploits - until 20 odd years later I drove over the Col d'Allos in an Escort on holiday and realised I couldn't even see some corners on brows over the relatively short bonnet. Sitting low in a "Big Healey", after 4 days on the road with no rest, would be a whole different ball game. Respect...

[Ray Bell]

I like the story Stirling tells in one of his books... All But My Life or A Turn At The Wheel?... about giving Pat a lesson in late braking... and his acknowledgment of her skills as a rally driver...

Like all such things, a loss. But not so much to us as to her husband and brother, both of whom are among those we regard as people to be admired and liked. My condolences are added to those above.

[Alan Lewis]

Nice story in the "Lives Remembered" section of today's Times :

http://www.timesonli...icle4980869.ece

APL

[HDonaldCapps]

I think that the first -- maybe only? -- time that Pat and Stirling raced against each other on the track was at Sebring in 1961 in the four-hour event.

One of the reasons I ended up owning so many of the Big Healeys later on was because of Pat -- I was also vastly impressed with the pictures of her tossing those Healeys around on the cowpaths they used back then.... I later discovered that it was much harder than it looked. Much harder.

She -- or maybe she and Erik -- would have been great for one of Simon's lunches....

[garyfrogeye]

John Sprinzel has sent me some wonderful pictures of Pat from his personal collection along with some nice words.
I will see if I can get his permission to put them up here.

[Mal9444]

Originally posted by garyfrogeye
John Sprinzel has sent me some wonderful pictures of Pat from his personal collection along with some nice words.
I will see if I can get his permission to put them up here.

Oh, I do hope so...

[Carles Bosch]

Originally posted by garyfrogeye
John Sprinzel has sent me some wonderful pictures of Pat from his personal collection along with some nice words.
I will see if I can get his permission to put them up here.

Would be fantastic...


Carles.

[mikeC]

May I add a small personal story to this sad thread.
My late father was a great motor sport enthusiast, and so jumped at the chance to navigate for a friend in his Bristol 401 in some national rally in the mid 1950s. He relished to story of how our intrepid crew was battling over some Welsh mountain road, convinced that they were up there with the best, when they became aware of headlights closing from behind. They duly, if somewhat reluctantly, pulled over to let this XK, or whatever, pass.... it was Pat in a Morris Minor! Collapse of egos followed!
I think I have a photo of the Bristol somewhere - I must dig it out...
Pat was up there with the very best.

[PMac]

Just heard a super tribute to Pat Moss on BBC Radio 4. Will be posted on the BBC's iPlayer for a week, so go to http://www.bbc.co.uk.../lastword.shtml before 31st October and follow the link from there.

[Gabrci]

This is what Sir Stirling wrote about it:

Saying goodbye to her hasn't been easy, but in the last weeks her quality of life was very poor and there was no chance of improvement so I can't help feeling she is happier where she is now.

RIP.

[RobertE]

I was saddened and moved by this news; I spent a brisk, hysterical hour on the telephone with her as I was completing my biography of Stirling. She struck me as tough, funny, practical and reliable. She was the finest horsewoman of her generation. She was the finest rally driver of her generation. She could have done so much more, but, down-to-earth character she was, she put it this way:

"My ******* clock was ticking..."

She was ill even then, but it didn't show, and as Stirling has put it, it was probably a blessed release.

She was magnificent.

[garyfrogeye]

Here are the words from John Sprinzel along with a couple of images (copyright of John Sprinzel)
My thanks to him for sending them to me for publication

I first met Pat in the mid fifties when we were both members of the Harrow Car Club, and competing with TR2’s. Pat was already famous in the equestrian world, and had represented Great Britain with her show jumper Danny Boy. Triumph’s competition manager Ken Richardson had missed his opportunity to sign Pat onto the Triumph team when he declined to pay her expenses for the RAC British Rally, and Marcus Chambers stepped in to finance her entry in an MG. We both joined the Abingdon competition department for 1958 and with Anne Wisdom as co driver, Pat soon began to make a mark in the tough sport of International Rallying. An early indication of her strength and determination came when several of us were driving separately to Silverstone for a test day with Marcus Chambers, the Abingdon Competition’s Manager, and I came across her wrecked Healey near Buckingham. Marcus and I took care of getting her car back to the factory and I visited Pat in hospital where she had stitches to her face and a very sore knee. The following day, after some pain injections, she took part in an International Show Jumping contest at White City and performed as if nothing had happened!
She was the first Lady driver to win an International Championship Rally, and chose the toughest of them all, The Liege-Rome-Liege Four day marathon to perform this feat. That she achieved this in the Austin Healey 3000 was an even greater testament to her skill and strength, as only a year before, Team Captain John Gott had offered the opinion that this car was too much for Pat to handle. Pat and Anne also won one of the rare and coveted Coupe Des Alpes in a Healey, and were International Rally Championship winners on a number of occasions. She also won a couple of International Rallies in the Mini. At a previous Liege event I had introduced Pat to Erik Carlsson, whom she would subsequently marry. Pat also raced one of my Sebring Sprites and joined her brother Stirling in my team cars for the Four Hour GT race at Sebring in 1961.
Insert Moss image.2
After her years with BMC, Pat joined Ford for a time, and then went on to rally SAABs, where Erik had become one of the most successful SAAB drivers in history. With a career lasting over twenty years, which also included work’s drives for Lancia, Renault and Toyota, Pat withdrew from the sport to concentrate on her first love – show jumping, encouraging her daughter to take up the sport. It was only in the last couple of years that Pat had shown up at Rally events with Erik, and at the 50th reunion of Ecurie Cod Fillet – that slightly eccentric gathering of Rally drivers from all over the world.
She was certainly a character who will be missed very much.

John Sprinzel


Pat Moss at the four hour race at Sebring 1961
copyright John Sprinzel



John Sprinzel and Bic Healey presenting the Miichael Turner painting to pat Moss and Ann Wisdom to celebrate their sensational victory at the Liege Rome Rally in 1960.
copyright John Sprinzel

[garyfrogeye]

I forgot to mention that John wrote these words for for members of the Midget & Sprite Club (whose magazine I edit) and he assumed (probably correctly) that many of the younger members may never have heard of Pat Moss, Ann Wisdom or Erik Carlsson.

[cpbell]

RIP. Very sad indeed. I was very disappointed with Autosport's pathetic obituary.