The drivers

Per Eklund

Saab · Toyota · Audi · Metro 6R4

Photo: Liftarn via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain

Per Eklund never won a world championship rally in the Group B years, but he finished on the podium six times in four different makes of car, and he was the man the privateer and second-string teams turned to when they needed a fast, dependable Swede.

Grouve Sport documentary

Episode 7 — The Underdogs: Toyota, Opel, Nissan, Mazda, Renault, Citroën, Porsche & Ferrari

The privateers and second teams of Group B.

From Saab to Group B

Born on 21 June 1946, Eklund was a Saab factory driver from 1970 to 1979 and Swedish champion in 1978. In 1982, a year after Saab had withdrawn, he took a privately entered, Clarion-sponsored Group A Saab 99 Turbo to fourth place in Sweden, ahead of Michèle Mouton‘s works Audi, and then joined Toyota for a run of second places in Portugal, New Zealand and on the Ivory Coast. He finished the year fifth in the drivers’ championship.

Four makes in five years

• Toyota Celica – second three times in 1982, third on the 1983 Ivory Coast Rally and third on the 1984 RAC Rally.
• Audi quattro A2 – fourth in Finland in 1983 and third in Sweden in 1984.
• MG Metro 6R4 – seventh in Finland and on the RAC Rally in 1986, in Austin Rover machinery.

His usual co-driver for much of this period was the British navigator Dave Whittock.

Six podiums in Saab, Toyota and Audi machinery, and Metro 6R4 machinery.

European and national championships

Eklund was fourth in the 1984 British championship. He won the 1985 South Swedish Rally’s European classification in an Audi Quattro A2 with Dave Whittock, and in 1986 he was runner-up on the ADAC Rallye Deutschland and third on the Hunsrück. See European and national championships.

Career in the Group B years

World Rally Championship podiums of the driver, year by year (1982–1986). win 2nd 3rd

1982

0wins

3 podiums

1983

0wins

1 podium

1984

0wins

2 podiums

1985

0wins

0 podiums

1986

0wins

0 podiums

0 WRC wins · 6 podium finishes, 1982–1986

In pictures 3 photos

More from Drivers

Jean RagnottiRenault's asphalt ace: Tour de Corse winner in 1982 and on the Maxi Turbo's debut in 1985.Read more →Bruno SabyFrench champion with Renault, winner of the tragic 1986 Tour de Corse for Peugeot.Read more →Lars-Erik TorphTwo second places in three starts in 1986: Toyota's young Swede in the final Group B season.Read more →Björn WaldegårdThe first world champion, five Group B-era wins and Toyota's master of the African rallies.Read more →Miki Biasion1983 European champion in the 037, winner in Argentina in 1986 in the Delta S4, and later a two-time Group A world champion.Read more →Attilio BettegaLancia works driver from Molveno with four world championship podiums. Killed on 2 May 1985 on the Tour de Corse — a year before Toivonen.Read more →

Sources

1. Wikipedia (EN), Per Eklund — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Per_Eklund
2. Jonkka's World Rally Archive (juwra.com), results and entry lists 1982–1986 — https://www.juwra.com/

All text is original writing for Grouve Sports Management Group, based on the sources above. Facts checked on 21 October 2026.

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