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PEOPLE.
Why you should learn about Pat Moss.
Pat Moss – never heard of her? No worries. We’ll introduce you! There are a whole load of reasons why you should read her story and let yourself be inspired by this amazing woman.
MINI John Cooper Works 3-door (automatic): Fuel consumption combined in l/100 km: 6,9-6,6 (WLTP), CO2 emission combined in g/km: 157-150 (WLTP)
In celebration of the 60th anniversary of her win at the Tulip Rally in the Netherlands, MINI has released the Pat Moss Edition to honour this legendary rally driver. Thanks to her fearless and unconventional approach to life, Pat Moss has never lost her relevance as an icon for female empowerment. Her story deserves to be told every day, not only on International Women’s Day.
If you search the Internet for pictures of the Briton Pat Moss, you will find plenty of black and white photos of a young woman with short, curly hair. In one she’s sitting on a moped giving a horse a loving pat, while yet another shows her standing next to the bonnet of a car covered in her trophies. In almost all of them, she is beaming brightly into the camera.
A woman of many talents.
Horse riding and car racing were the two sports this lively woman was passionate about. Her life was filled with both. But while riding competitions were already a common pursuit for women, could car racing just as easily bring a smile to her face? That´s difficult to imagine. In the 1950s and 1960s Pat Moss had to enter the male dominated world of racing, that was not accustomed to a female rally driver. And there were surely also disparaging comments on occasion as well as plenty of unasked for advice. For most of her sporting life gender prejudice was even more common than it is today. Many men would have rather seen her all dolled up and sitting in the stands than triumphantly standing on the winner’s podium wielding a trophy, her face smudged with motor oil. Fortunately, nowadays there are more successful female rally drivers, such as British driver Catie Munnings and Cristina Gutiérrez Herrero from Spain, than there were in her day. But in a lot of ways racing still remains a male-dominated sport. It is a world in which still many men all too often fail to recognise that women are just as competent, just as responsive and have just as much technical expertise as men do. So even in 2022 there is still much to be done in terms of equality and diversity in motorsports.
Everything for the win.
But let’s get back to Pat Moss: She loved driving fast and winning. It made no difference to her whether she raced against men or women. She just wanted to be the best each and every time she got out on the track. This year marks the anniversary of one of her wins: 60 years ago the then 27-year-old, together with her co-driver Ann Wisdom, won the Tulip Rally in Holland – and in a Mini Cooper no less. It was quite the sensation: the first time ever a Mini won an international rally. A two-and-a-half-thousand kilometres race won by an often underestimated little car piloted by a woman. It must have been satisfying to see all the sceptics have their noses rubbed in it when she was the first to cross the finish line.
A sensation: A 2,500 km race won by an often underestimated little car, piloted by a woman.
The inspiration that is Pat Moss.
Obviously such a smashing international victory by a cult car deserves to be honoured again in a manner befitting the accomplishment. And what could be more fitting than honouring the winning team with a special edition? So on International Women’s Day, MINI is celebrating both its win and the driver with a special Pat Moss Edition. It can be ordered in over 20 countries with either a Cooper S or John Cooper Works engine. But you need to be quick. This edition will be offered for a limited time only and there are just under 1,000 available worldwide!
One of the highlights of this edition is the Multitone Roof, which is available in red for the first time. An exciting array of colour variations can be had ranging anywhere from Chili Red to Melting Silver to Jet Black. The MINI Plant in Oxford uses an innovative painting process to make this standout design possible. MINI colour and materials designer Morgane Bavagnoli, who developed the Pat Moss Edition, also decided to incorporate a racing stripe. And for the first time in the history of MINI, the stripes run horizontally across the bonnet. Their winning registration number “737 ABL” is a cool shimmering 3D effect. Morgane Bavagnoli explains why she chose horizontal stripes, “I wanted to add an unexpected element to the design. Just like Pat Moss’s unexpected win. Suddenly a woman crossed those men's path and shaked the long-established motorsports world.”
A strong role model.
Exceptional people with the courage of Pat Moss and Ann Wisdom (later Wisdom-Riley) deserve to be lauded. Pioneers in their day, they paved the way for future generations of women in motorsports. Their unique form of self-actualisation serves to inspire other women to seize new opportunities in life and to question existing role models. Their spirit, ambition and pursuit of equality has lost none of its relevance today. People around the world are still trying to rid themselves of outdated traditions and to break free from gender roles. Sometimes slowly, sometimes with full throttle, like Pat Moss they keep their sights on the finish line.
Learn more about this energetic and inspiring woman who can teach us all about the following:
Pat Moss and Ann Wisdom paved the way for future generations of women in motorsports.
Nurturing your talents.
Just as expressive and straightforward as Pat Moss’s signature and her unswerving approach to life, are the front bumper and interior features of the new Pat Moss Edition. Patricia Ann Moss (later Moss-Carlsson) was born in Thames Ditton on 27 December 1934, the younger sister of her famous brother and Formula 1 rally driver Stirling Moss. Both her father Alfred and her mother Aileen had petrol in their veins. He drove circuit races and she mountain races. At just eleven years of age, her brother Stirling is said to have taught her to drive. But at this time she was fully in love with horse riding, which she mastered to Olympic level in the following years. But once she got started with motorsports, she was hooked for life.
Don’t dream about it, just do it.
Pat Moss competed in national rallies in the UK in a Morris Minor cabriolet, nicknamed “Granny”. She is said to have been a shrewd businesswoman who used the income from her equestrian activities to buy a Triumph TR2 sports car, from which she is said to have expected greater success. While other car makers didn´t give her a second thought, MG recognised her talent, potential and her fierce determination to win. They became her sponsor. So in the middle and late 1950s, she began a successful partnership with the British Motor Corporation (BMC), the brand that manufactured Austin, Morris, MG and Austin-Healey cars.
This is how Pat Moss came to drive different models such as the Morris Minor and Austin Healey over the next few years. In the Liege-Rome-Liege Rally, she took fourth place driving the Austin Healey. This made her the first woman ever to reach the top 10 in this long-distance rally. She also won the Women’s European Championship. But she wanted to be the best. In 1960 she returned to race again in the Liege-Rome-Liege Rally, and with sheer tenacity, she won, racing the heavy Austin-Healey 3000. This also made her the first woman to win an international rally. That same year, the Royal Automobile Club (RAC) presented her with the Driver of the Year Award. But the rules did not allow women to enter the club’s banquet hall and this rule had to be suspended while she was presented with her award.
Rally together.
Pat Moss would surely disagree with us if we gave her all the credit for her successful wins. Her long-time co-driver Ann Wisdom was instrumental in helping Pat win. For six years, from 1956 to 1962, Ann was sitting alongside Pat as both women drove in and won rallies across Europe. Interestingly, Ann suffered from bouts of carsickness. Why she would choose to subject herself to rally driving is anyone’s guess. She was, however, one of the very first women to use her exceptional navigational skills to earn money. MINI was therefore intent on ensuring that the Pat Moss Edition paid proper tribute to the competitive spirit of both these dynamic women. This is why MINI designer Morgane Bavagnoli decided to incorporate a bar made of engine pistons on the dashboard on the driver’s side so that they formed an “M” and a “W” for Moss and Wisdom. They symbolise the closeness of the pair and the seamless synergy of both automobile and engine.
Believe in yourself.
One race that surely brought Moss and Wisdom closer together was the Tulip Rally in Holland. Not only did Ann get carsick, but she was also pregnant at the time. However, this was no reason for “Wizz” to leave her teammate “Mossie” in the lurch. Pat already had experience driving the series Mini. Shortly after it was released, Pat purportedly drove it at a small rally in the UK, which she promptly won. So in May 1962 both women got into their red Mini with a white roof to race against 143 other teams and they earned Mini its first ever international win. They left the male teams of Porsche, Volvo, Mercedes-Benz and all the rest in the dust. And so the side scuttles of the Pat Moss Edition commemorate this historically significant win with “1962, Noordwijk-Monte Carlo-Noordwijk, 2500 km, Mini Cooper, N°104, Born to compete” written in elegant lettering.
But that’s not all. Even the side scuttles themselves, which are the crowning touch of every MINI, have been lovingly embellished by the designer. Next to a very sporty “Pat Moss” imprint, with elements that are reminiscent of rally stripes, is a tulip symbol representing their Tulip Rally win. Among a sea of tulip symbols, one bloom stands out. “It stands for the remarkable performance of this two-woman team. This is why this element appears on the steering wheel and on the rims's floating caps as well,” explains MINI Designer Morgane Bavagnoli.
Even if you win, keep your feet on the ground and play fair.
Triumphs of this kind have a way of motivating people to strive for more. After her co-driver Ann retired following their Tulip Rally victory, Pat had a succession of people in the passenger seat. One of them was the famous Swedish rally driver Erik Carlsson, who would never leave her side thereafter. Formerly her rival on the racetrack, they married in 1963. Not only were they a dynamic duo in the cockpit, they also made a wonderful writing team, and in 1965 they published a book they co-authored, “The Art and Technique of Driving”.
Four years later Pat had a baby girl and still continued to race, albeit not as often. In 1974 she retired from racing. At just 42 years old, she could look back on an unbelievable career during which she achieved three outright wins and seven podium finishes at international rallies. She was crowned European Ladies’ Rally Champion five times and received eight Coupe des Dames wins at the Monte Carlo Rally, which set another world record.
One tulip stands out, in the same way as the amazing performance of this two-woman team.
Mini Designer Morgane Bavagnoli
In 2008 Pat Moss-Carlsson died at the age of 73 in Tring, northwest of London. She left behind an incredible legacy. As part of a collaboration between MINI and Paper Magazine a couple of years ago, her daughter Suzie Rawding had this to say, “I think one way to sum it up is that she is a true icon. She did put her heart and soul into everything, and whatever she did, she seemed to do well. But the best thing with mom is that she treated everyone the same.”
So what can we add to this story today, 8 March 2022, on International Women’s Day? Maybe just this: let’s all try to be a little more like Pat Moss!
Hinweis (English disclaimers below):
Die offiziellen Angaben zu Kraftstoffverbrauch, CO2-Emissionen und Stromverbrauch wurden nach dem vorgeschriebenen Messverfahren VO (EU) 715/2007 in der jeweils geltenden Fassung ermittelt. Die Angaben berücksichtigen bei Spannbreiten Unterschiede in der gewählten Rad- und Reifengröße. Die Werte der Fahrzeuge basieren bereits auf der neuen WLTP-Verordnung und werden in NEFZ-Äquivalenzwerte zurückgerechnet, um den Vergleich zwischen den Fahrzeugen zu gewährleisten. Bei diesen Fahrzeugen können die CO2-Werte für fahrzeugbezogene Steuern oder andere Abgaben, die (zumindest unter anderem) auf CO2-Emissionen basieren, von den hier angegebenen Werten abweichen. Die CO2-Effizienz-Spezifikationen werden gemäß der Richtlinie 1999/94/EG und der Europäischen Verordnung in der jeweils gültigen Fassung festgelegt. Die angegebenen Werte basieren auf dem Kraftstoffverbrauch, den CO2-Werten und dem Energieverbrauch nach dem NEFZ-Zyklus für die Klassifizierung. Weitere Informationen über den offiziellen Kraftstoffverbrauch und die spezifischen CO2-Emissionen neuer Personenkraftwagen können dem "Handbuch über den Kraftstoffverbrauch, die CO2-Emissionen und den Stromverbrauch neuer Personenkraftwagen" entnommen werden, das an allen Verkaufsstellen und unter https://www.dat.de/angebote/verlagsprodukte/leitfaden-kraftstoffverbrauch.html erhältlich ist.
Disclaimer:
The values of fuel consumptions, CO2 emissions and energy consumptions shown were determined according to the European Regulation (EC) 715/2007 in the version applicable at the time of type approval. The figures refer to a vehicle with basic configuration in Germany and the range shown considers optional equipment and the different size of wheels and tires available on the selected model. The values of the vehicles are already based on the new WLTP regulation and are translated back into NEDC-equivalent values in order to ensure the comparison between the vehicles. [With respect to these vehicles, for vehicle related taxes or other duties based (at least inter alia) on CO2-emissions the CO2 values may differ to the values stated here.] The CO2 efficiency specifications are determined according to Directive 1999/94/EC and the European Regulation in its current version applicable. The values shown are based on the fuel consumption, CO2 values and energy consumptions according to the NEDC cycle for the classification. For further information about the official fuel consumption and the specific CO2 emission of new passenger cars can be taken out of the „handbook of fuel consumption, the CO2 emission and power consumption of new passenger cars“, which is available at all selling points and at https://www.dat.de/angebote/verlagsprodukte/leitfaden-kraftstoffverbrauch.html