Andrew Cowan

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Cowan at the wheel of a Mitsubishi Lancer 1600 GSR during the 1975 Safari Rally.

Andrew Cowan, (born December 13, 1936) is a Scottish former rally driver, and the founder and senior director of Mitsubishi Ralliart until his retirement on November 30, 2005.

1 Early years
2 Behind the wheel
3 Behind a desk
4 See also
5 Footnotes

[edit] Early years

Cowan was raised in Duns, a small town in the Scottish Borders, where he established a longstanding close friendship with future Formula One world champion Jim Clark, also a young farmer and the same age as himself. According to Cowan their lifestyles were a great help in their subsequent careers: "We each had to have a car. We were able to drive in fields, off road, and of course through all the twisty roads around here where there was practically no traffic in those days. That definitely refined our driving skills. We had advantages that other drivers didn't."^[1]

Both men were active in the Berwick and District Motor Club during the 1950s, but while Clark gravitated to open-wheeled racing, Cowan ventured off-road, and took part in the 1960 RAC Rally, eventually finishing 43rd of over 200 starters in a Sunbeam Rapier.

Impressed by his success, his father bought him a newer, more powerful Rapier as a replacement, and behind the wheel of his new vehicle, he won the 1962 Scottish Rally, an achievement he later declared to be his "Most Important Moment". He returned the following year to successfully defend his title,^[2] and as a result the Rootes Group invited him to become their 'works' driver.^[1]^[3]

[edit] Behind the wheel

Once established as a professional driver, Cowan scored many notable successes with both Rootes and subsequently Mitsubishi, for whom he signed in 1972. Aside from his two Scottish Rally titles, he won the 1968 London-Sydney Marathon,^[4] four consecutive Southern Cross Rallies (1972–75), the 1977 Rallye Bandama Côte d'Ivoire, and the world's longest rally, the 20,000-mile South American Marathon in 1978. He was also competitive in the Safari Rally where he recorded a top four finish four times in five years, and latterly the Paris-Dakar Rally where his best result was second overall in 1985.^[5] He retired as a driver in 1990.^[1]

For his achievements in 1977, he was awarded the British Guild of Motoring Writers' Driver of the Year Award, the Jim Clark Memorial Trophy for "outstanding achievement by a Scottish driver", and the British Racing Drivers Club's John Cobb Trophy for a British driver of outstanding success.^[1]

[edit] Behind a desk

In 1983, Mitsubishi Motors asked him to establish a European base for their motorsport activities, and so he founded Andrew Cowan Motorsports (ACMS). Based in Rugby, Warwickshire, it would evolve into Mitsubishi Ralliart, and his cars took Tommi Makinen to four consecutive WRC Drivers' titles (1996–99), as well as winning Mitsubishi their only manufacturers' crown in 1998.

In 2003, Mitsubishi Motors officially took over the business and renamed it Mitsubishi Motorsport, although Cowan remained as "Sporting Advisor" for the next two years, until his retirement aged 69.^[6]