Gunnar Palm (born 25 February 1937,

Kristinehamn Kristinehamn is a locality and the seat of Kristinehamn Municipality, Värmland County, Sweden, with 17,839 inhabitants in 2010. Geography Kristinehamn is situated by the shores of lake Vänern where the small rivers ''Varnan'' and ''Löt' ...

) is a former Swedish

rally Rally or rallye may refer to: Gatherings * Demonstration (political), a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade * Pep rally, an event held at a United States school or college sporting event Sport ...

co-driver A co-driver is the navigator of a rally car in the sport of rallying, who sits in the front passenger seat. The co-driver's job is to navigate, commonly by reading off a set of pacenotes to the driver (what lies ahead, where to turn, the severity ...

. He is the brother of racer Torsten Palm. He lives with Gunilla Nilars.

Racing career

Palm won the 1963 Monte Carlo Rally, co-driving for

Erik Carlsson Erik Hilding Carlsson (5 March 1929 – 27 May 2015) was a Swedish rally driver for Saab. He was nicknamed "''Carlsson på taket''" ("Carlsson on the roof" in reference to Astrid Lindgren's children's book character) as well as ''Mr. Saab'' ...

, in a

Saab Saab or SAAB may refer to: Brands and enterprises * Saab Group, a Swedish aerospace and defence company, formerly known as SAAB, and later as Saab AB ** Datasaab, a former computer company, started as spin off from Saab AB * Saab Automobile, a fo ...

. The event was the first professional rally the pair entered. They went on to several top finishes during 1963 and 1964, in particular the East African Safari Rally and the Liège-Sofia-Liège rally. Co-driving for

Hannu Mikkola Hannu Olavi Mikkola (24 May 1942 − 25 February 2021) was a Finnish champion world rally driver. He was a seven-time winner of the 1000 Lakes Rally in Finland and won the RAC Rally in Great Britain four times. Career Mikkola's rally career ...

, in 1970 Palm won the -long World Cup Rally in a Ford Escort RS1600. In 1972, the duo won the Safari Rally, also in an Escort RS1600. Palm collaborated with many of the world's most successful rally drivers, including

Rauno Aaltonen Rauno August Aaltonen (born 7 January 1938), also known as "The Rally Professor", is a Finnish former professional rally driver who competed in the World Rally Championship throughout the 1970s. Career Before WRC was established Aaltonen compe ...

Ove Andersson Ove Andersson (3 January 1938 – 11 June 2008), nicknamed ''Påven'' ("the Pope"), was a Swedish rally driver and the first head of Toyota's F1 programme. Early life Andersson was born in Uppsala and grew up on a remote farm. His father bough ...

Tony Fall Richard Anthony Fall (23 March 1940 – 1 December 2007) was a British rally driver. He was born in Bradford. He began his rallying career as a club rally driver in a Mini. He was considerably better than his peers, however, and was soon spo ...

Timo Mäkinen Timo Mäkinen (18 March 1938 in Helsinki, Finland – 4 May 2017) was one of the original " Flying Finns" of motor rallying. He is best remembered for his hat-trick of wins in the RAC Rally and the 1000 Lakes Rally. Career Mäkinen's start in ...

, , and Tom Trana. Palm co-drove with Söderström to win the 1967

European Rally Championship The European Rally Championship (officially FIA European Rally Championship) is an automobile rally competition held annually on the European continent and organized by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The championship has b ...

in a

Lotus Cortina Lotus Cortina is the commonly used term for the Ford Cortina Lotus, a high-performance sports saloon, which was produced in the United Kingdom from 1963 to 1970 by Ford in collaboration with Lotus Cars. The original version, which was based on ...

After racing

In 1973, Palm quit racing, joining the public relations department of

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

. By 1999, he was director of Ford public relations in Sweden. Palm has also served as a

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

color commentator A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main ( play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and ...

for Sveriges Television (SVT). Palm was awarded the Prince's Motor Medal in 1996 by Prince Bertil's widow, Princess Lilian.

Sources

Rally Base.nl''Motorsport Magazine''Speed Hunters
*Robson, Graham. ''The Daily Mirror World Cup Rally 40: The World's Toughest Rally in Retrospect'' a
Google Books
(retrieved 24 July 2017) *Connor, Robert. ''The 1968 London to Sydney Marathon: A History of the 10,000 Mile Endurance Rally'' a
Google Books
(retrieved 24 July 2017) Swedish rally drivers 1937 births Living people {{Sweden-autoracing-bio-stub