Tom Trana (29 November 1937 – 17 May 1991), was a Swedish motor rally driver. This

Värmland Värmland () is a ''Provinces of Sweden, landskap'' (historical province) in west-central Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Dalsland, Dalarna, Västmanland, and Närke, and is bounded by Norway in the west. Name Several Latinized version ...

sportsman was

Volvo The Volvo Group (; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distribution and sale of truck ...

's counterpart to Saab's Erik Carlsson ("Carlsson på taket" - "Carlsson on the roof"). It has been said that he had to drive the

rear-wheel drive Rear-wheel drive (RWD) is a form of engine and transmission layout used in motor vehicles, in which the engine drives the rear wheels only. Until the late 20th century, rear-wheel drive was the most common configuration for cars. Most rear-whee ...

Volvo more enthusiastically than Carlsson, with the

front-wheel drive Front-wheel drive (FWD) is a form of internal combustion engine, engine and transmission (mechanics), transmission layout used in motor vehicles, in which the engine drives the front wheels only. Most modern front-wheel-drive vehicles feature ...

Saab.

Early life

Trana was born in Kristinehamn,

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, on 29 November 1937. His father was Ivar Trana, who was an engineer at Albin Motor in Kristinehamn.

Career

Originally a Volvo mechanic, Trana started his career in his hometown in the 1950s through Einar Nyqvist. He showed strong driving performances with his own Volvo P1800 and with a British BMC vehicle. He came to the attention of the Volvo works team and its leader, Gunnar Andersson, himself twice European Rally Championship, as early as 1962. For 1963, he was given a works drive and won the British RAC Rally in the same season. Volvo won the European Rally Championship in 1963 with a special 122S. Also in 1963 a 122S driven by Tom Trana finished a very close second to Jaguar in the European Touring Car Championship. A year later, Trana was again the overall RAC Rally winner. He achieved further wins in the 1964 Acropolis Rally in

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

in 1964 and in his home event, the Swedish Rally in 1965. These achievements earned him a definitive place in the top league of motor sport and the nickname the "Horseman of the Apocalypse". Soon thereafter, the Swede was in collision with a transporter and his co-driver Gunnar Thermaenius died. Trana was cleared of any guilt, in the subsequent legal proceedings. Nevertheless, he changed from daredevil to careful driver, who could still be very fast but without the conquering carefreeness that is linked to success. In addition, Volvo withdrew its works team for more than ten years, following a further fatal accident on the 1966 Akropolis Rally, in which two mechanics died. It continued to provide generous support for private entrants, however. Tom Trana changed to Saab for 1967, which resulted in relative success, including a win in the 1967 Norwegian Rally. He also took the Swedish Championship, in 1968. He rallied with Saab until 1972, when he finally hung up his helmet and retired from rallying.

Postscript

Tom Trana died on 17 May 1991 at age 53. Volvo only officially returned to motor sport at the end of the 1970s, sending the Volvo R-Team (R stood for Rallycross, Rallying and Racing) to the FIA Rallycross European Championships of the years 1978 to 1980. Driven by Per-Inge Walfridsson, the legitimate successor to Tom Trana as a representative of the Swedish car maker, Volvo succeeded in 1980 (with a 343 Turbo) against the Norwegian Martin Schanche (Ford Escort RS 1800) and won the Rallycross EC title.

References

This article was partly translated from the German Wikipedia.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Trana, Tom 1937 births 1991 deaths Swedish rally drivers European Rally Championship drivers European Touring Car Championship drivers Sportspeople from Kristinehamn Racing drivers from Värmland County