People that are into racing like to talk about “natural drivers” or those who just seem to be blessed with an innate ability behind the wheel of a race car to make it dance, skate, slide, and hustle around a race track with their own built-in instincts. There’s some debate as to how much genetics plays into a race driver’s ability as opposed to hard work, practice, and dedication to the craft. We’re not saying that the Stirling Moss or his champion rally driver sister Pat lacked for practice or hard work but there’s never been a more successful brother and sister in the history of racing and chances are you never even knew that Pat Moss existed.
It seems incredible, right? The sister of a guy who is widely recognized as one of the top five greatest race car drivers ever was one of the best drivers of her era as well. That’s male OR female for those of you playing at home. The Moss family was an interesting one. Albert was the dad and he was a successful dentist who loved rally racing. It can be argued that both Stirling and Pat got some amazing teaching from an early age behind the wheels but it was Stirling who took to it first. Pat was more into horses as a teenager than cars so her time was spend mostly on horseback learning how to ride, jump things, and generally handle a horse to the best of her ability. Through the late 1940s and 1950s Pat was one of the best riders in England and had the honor of being presented to the Queen on at least one occasion after winning a competition. Big time stuff, but that was the tip of the iceberg.
Jumping backwards in history a little, Pat first held a steering wheel around the age of seven when Stirling stuck her behind the wheel of the old Army Jeep that the family had. It would be 10 years later that Pat would win her first event, a scavenger hunt of sorts with a friend and horse groomer named Ann Riley. By 1958 she was co-driving for a guy named Ken Gregory who served as her brother’s manager and who was a race himself. Moving quite quickly up the ladder, she took the wheel herself b the end of 1958 and people quickly learned that Pat Moss had the same chops her brother had and she was not afraid to put them to use.
The Henry Ford Museum compiled this list of her career accomplishments and it reads like something from a hall of fame induction:
• Fourth place in 1958 Liege-Rome-Leige Rally
• Won 1960 Liege-Rome-Liege Rally, considered toughest rally in Europe, in an Austin Healey 100/6, seen at the time as a difficult car to drive. The victory was not only Moss’s first, but the first time an all-woman crew had won an international rally.
• Chosen 1960 Driver of the Year by Guild of Motoring Writers • Won 1962 Tulip Rally in newly-introduced Mini-Cooper. Moss is credited with being the first driver to win an international rally in a Mini-Cooper, although Moss disliked the ride, saying the car was “twitchy and pretty unruly
on the limit.”
• Won 1962 Deutschland Rally
• Five-Time European Ladies Rally Champion: 1958, 1960, 1962, 1964, 1965
• Won 1968 Sestrieres Rally
When you look at that list of accomplishments, we’re only seeing victories and triumphs there. The fact is that she was a contender in every race she was in and not just among the “ladies”. Pat Moss was as respected and hard running as any guy of her era on the long a grueling rally courses of the 1950s and 1960s in Europe. That’s a 
fact, Jack. How bad ass was she? At only a shade over five feet tall, she was unable to comfortably reach the pedals in the Austin Healey that she drove to the 1960 Liege-Rome-Liege Rally, so the mechanics on the team bolted wooden blocks to the pedals and she got the job done.
In 1963, Pat married one of the greatest rally legends who ever lived, Erik Carlsson. Carlsson was a Swede and drove Saabs to make great victories over the years. He was known for his wild driving style and for all of the wins and accolades that he amassed while competing in cars that were otherwise considered vastly underpowered. His ability to throw the cars around, slide them through corners and keep their momentum up was what led to his trophy case brimming like few ever have in rally history.
In 1969 the pair had a child names Susan and Pat dialed back her rally driving, competing sporadically through the 1974 season when she announced her retirement. Following in her mom’s footsteps, Susan became a talented horseback rider and Moss-Carlsson spent the majority of her time tending to horses and simply enjoying life raising her daughter. Important note, though. There was always a British racing green Morris Minor in the garage that may or may not have been taken into the country side on quiet afternoons or evenings and been given a ride to within an inch of its life. We sure wish that there were some video of those rides!
Pat Moss passed away in 2008 after fighting a long battle with cancer.
SCROLL DOWN TO SEE SOME VIDEOS OF THE LATE, GREAT PAT MOSS –
Yes she was . And … she wasn’t the only woman achieving success in rallying and motorsports in general back in the day in every genre from rally to road racing : from cars to motorcycles . Beating the men at our own game [ or so we thought ] …. with the likes of Anne Cecile Itier etc coming to mind .
Its kind of ironic and a bit sad that all this happened well before the Woman’s Lib movements of the 60’s .. and that once Woman;s Lib was firmly in place the ladies dropped off the radar like a stone when it came to road racing & rally success … with Michele Mouton [ WRC ] being sole exception …. Noticing I did specify SUCCESS …. which by definition disqualifies the likes of Danica Patrick etc .