Former Mercedes-Benz works racing driver Ewy Rosqvist has died aged 94 on 4 July 2024. “Mercedes-Benz will always remember this extraordinary woman and her achievements and honour her memory,” says Marcus Breitschwerdt, CEO of Mercedes-Benz Heritage GmbH. “She has done a lot for motorsport – and at the same time she shaped the image of women in motorsport, especially as an overall winner against the strongest of her time.”
The motorsport driver was born Ewy Jensson on 3 August, 1929 in Stora Herrestad (Ystad, southern Sweden). Her parents ran a farm, Ewy was the only girl among the five children. After attending agricultural school, including training in livestock farming, she studied veterinary medicine for two semesters and qualified as a veterinary assistant. In this profession, she looked after a large area with widely scattered farms. This resulted in her first contact with Mercedes-Benz: Her father bought a Type 170 S (W 136), with which the young woman covered up to 200 kilometres on narrow dirt roads every day.
She achieved better and better driving times and sharpened her driving reflexes. In her autobiography “Journey through Hell” she describes this time as follows: “After two years, I was already driving so well that in the evening, despite all my interruptions at the farms, I was usually back one and a half to two hours earlier than my colleagues.” Her marriage to motorsport enthusiast engineer Yngve Rosqvist in 1954 brought the young Swede into contact with rallying: She accompanied her husband in 1954 at the Midnight Sun Rally (Svenska Rallyt till Midnattssolen) and took the wheel for the first time: “I was allowed to drive on some intermediate stages, and I enjoyed it so much that I decided to take part in a rally as soon as possible,” the racing driver later recalled. In 1956, it then started with the Midnight Sun Rally. A few years later, she and her husband parted ways.
Ewy Rosqvist was very involved in rallying, winning the Women’s Cup at the Finnish Rally of 1,000 Lakes four times and the women’s classification at numerous other rallies throughout Europe. In 1959, she won the European Women’s Cup in a Volvo ahead of Pat Moss, the sister of Stirling Moss. She received the trophy in January 1960 at the award ceremony of the Monte Carlo Rally presented by Princess Grace Patricia of Monaco. Ewy Rosqvist also won this trophy in 1960 and 1961. She also picked up the women’s trophy in international rallying (Coupe des Dames) in 1959 and 1961.
Her successful commitment to rally driving as a private passion could no longer be combined with her working life in the long run. So in 1960, Ewy Rosqvist accepted a contract as a works driver for Volvo. Two years later, Mercedes-Benz brought the successful rally driver to the Stuttgart works racing team together with her co-driver Ursula Wirth. Rosqvist and Wirth set off for the first time in the four-day Svenska Rallyt till Midnattssolen (12 to 16 June 1962) in a Mercedes-Benz 220 SE and secured the women’s cup. This was followed by 6th place at the 22nd Rajd Polski (2 to 6 June 1962) and 12th place in the Liège–Sofia–Liège Rally (29 August to 3 September 1962). At the “Coupe des Dames” at the Rally of the 1,000 Lakes (17 to 19 August 1962), which runs around 2,000 kilometres across Finland, the women’s team Rosqvist/Wirth stands at the top of the podium before the duo finally wins the Argentinian Touring Car Grand Prix (25 October to 4 November 1962). Ewy Rosqvist manages to finish each stage in the best time. In addition, she increased the average speed compared to the previous year’s winning team (Walter Schock and Manfred Schiek, also in a Mercedes-Benz 220 SE) from 121.234 km/h to 126.872 km/h.
In the years that followed, Ewy Rosqvist continued to secure excellent positions in renowned rallies and endurance races. In 1963, this included 16th place in the overall standings and winning the women’s cup at the Monte Carlo Rally, 12th place at the 11th International Rally Acropolis, class victory up to 2,500 cc in the six-hour race at the Nürburgring (with Ursula Wirth and Eberhard Mahle) as well as 3rd place at the Argentinian Touring Car Grand Prix behind their teammates Eugen Böhringer and Klaus Kaiser as well as Dieter Glemser and Martin Braungart, each in 300 SE (W 112).
In 1964, Ewy Rosqvist, together with Eva-Maria Falk, won the class up to 2,500 cubic centimetres at the Monte Carlo Rally, took the 5th place in the Monte Carlo Rally. Place in the Acropolis International Rally and secures 3rd place in the Spa–Sofia–Liège Rally. The successful Swedish driver finally ended her active career at the 1964 Argentinian Touring Car Grand Prix, which she finished in 3rd place with Eva-Maria Falk. In June of the same year, Ewy Rosqvist married the then Director of Motorsport Activities at Mercedes-Benz, Baron Alexander von Korff, in the chapel of the old castle in Stuttgart.
After the death of her husband in 1977, Baroness Ewy von Korff-Rosqvist lived in Stuttgart for a few more years. She later returned to Stockholm, but always remained closely associated with the brand, also as a brand ambassador for Mercedes-Benz Classic. In 2019, she reports on her victory at the Argentinian Touring Car Grand Prix in 1962 in a short film clip. “Ewy Rosqvist: An Unexpected Champion” which can be accessed via the Mercedes-Benz USA YouTube channel: Ewy Rosqvist: An Unexpected Champion – YouTube.
