Rallying Career
In 1963, Andersson raced for the first time as a works driver at the Swedish Rally in a Mini. He impressed the team boss, Stuart Taylor, for him to be given a Mini Cooper S for the RAC rally. He went on to race for Saab in 1964 and 1965 but he felt he was in the shadow of Erik Carlsson whom Andersson believed was given better machinery by Saab. In 1965 he raced the first three rounds of the championship with Lancia, finishing 3rd in all of them. He also drove in the Swedish Rally Championship, and won the Swedish World Rally in a Lotus Cortina. In 1967, he won the Monte Carlo Rally with Lancia.
Despite being signed to Ford for 1968, Andersson competed in Daytona 24 hours with Lancia and also on the Monte Carlo Rally. At the end of the 1970 season, he was approached by Alpine who he began to race for in 1971. Andersson won the Monte Carlo Rally, Rallye Sanremo, Österreichische Alpenfahrt and Acropolis Rally with an Alpine A110, taking Alpine-Renault to the International Championship for Manufacturers title. In 1972, he came second on the Monte Carlo rally with Jean Todt as his co-driver. After the inauguration of the World Rally Championship in 1973, Andersson, driving mainly a Toyota Celica, achieved seven podium places in his 28 outings in the series and won the 1975 Safari Rally in a Peugeot 504, co-driven by Arne Hertz.
Read more about this topic: Ove Andersson
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