My father Ingemar Johansson was a great racing-driver. He was active within motor-sport from early 50s until middle 60s
From the beginning he was competing in Rally and during a period in the same team as Erik Carlsson "Carlsson on the roof" in the Swedish SAAB-team.
In the early 60s he competed in his Saab, a two-stroke engine, at the Nurburgring in Germany where he out-classed competitors like Fiath Abarth and DKW. For a couple of seasons he even competed in the same team as “Carlsson på Taket” (Carlsson on the roof)
It was mostly endurance races, 6 or 12 hours, but also 500 km. (1 mile=1,6 km)
I think my fathers lap-record for track 22 km in his class is yet to be beaten.

In 1963 he was about to quit racing with standard cars on race-tracks, just as Opel were about to start motor-rally in Sweden. The Team Principal Ragge Eklund wanted an older driver with more experience, so Ingemar was asked to drive for Opel. He drove for Opel for one season without success.
The car had not been tested to cope with the tough conditions on Swedish roads.

Growing up hearing many amazing stories, my dream of being a racing-driver too, was starting to grow.
During shorter trips I often sat in my fathers lap behind the wheel, even all by myself on smaller roads. He often told me to save my shoe-soles for driving, not dancing!
In 1999 Johan Rajamäki wrote in a Swedish motor-magazine about test-driving a Formula 1 car. Luckily my brother read the article and we both applied. I guess that was the beginning of my dream coming true.
In May –99 I entered a cockpit for the first time ever. It was an Arrows-95 with over 500 bhp. The running-cost were very high, however not as much as the repairs, so you took it very easy and thought of your savings…
With good instructions from Rajamäki never to floor it whilst your front-wheels turned…..
horse-kick, helmet pressing back against…

After 8 laps of the shorter track at Anderstorp, testing was complete.

Rajamäki was at Anderstorp race-track every week, where I spent most of my time talking to other drivers. I learned that having my own race-car would not be as expensive as I first thought. There was this great gang of “older” men driving for fun, all around the south of Sweden and northern Europe. One of the men told me about a car for sale in Helsingborg. It was now or never! I went down to look at the car, fell in love with it!! Now there was only one problem remaining!
How will I get my wife to approve of this?
So when she asked me what I wanted for my fiftieth birthday, I simply told her that I wanted a race-car. The answer was positive! She knew I had always been interested in motor-sport. I got my own car in October 2000. The formal owner had told me that the car was ready to race so the rest of the year I tested the car at Anderstorp race-track trying to get to know the car, AND convincing my wife of the minimal risks of driving. My excitement for next season was growing.