Mats Eriksson was born and raised in Mockfjard, Dalarna, in the middle of Sweden.
Mats began developing an interest in cars already at the age of six, and it was American cars that were at the top of the list. A relative, who worked for a Ford dealership, would bring home brochures to the young Mats. Among these were the 1963 Thunderbird, and a 1964 Mustang, thus sparking his lifelong passion for Ford.
At the age of 8 the artist in Mats began to develop. Hot rods and dragsters were the subject of choice for his drawings, much to the frustration of his art teachers. They didn’t quite understand what those strange, but well drawn and creative vehicles represented. Another thing they didn’t understand was the word HEMI, which seemed to find its way onto every drawing. They thought the fanciful student must have invented this creative word himself. That anyone with a little interest in fast cars understands this word is clear. However, it wasn’t so clear that a second grader in little Mockfjard, far from the motor mecca on the other side of the Atlantic, understood this was one of the most monstrous motors a racecar could have.
But the interest was there, and in 1967 he laid his hands on his first issue of Start o Speed, which he continued to buy regularly after that. In 1968 his collection expanded to include Hot Rod Magazine from the U.S. In its pages were the most fantastic and cool cars, which Mats avidly studied, but it was a little difficult for a ten year old Swede to read.
As a 12 year old, it was time for the first moped, which Mats bought for 30 ”Swedish dollars”. He built it, as well as he could, into a drag bike with a two speed Sachs motor. There was a long line of mopeds that received the same treatment, until he was old enough to get his first motorcycle. In 1974 he bought his first Husqvarna 125cc for 4000 crowns. At the same time he started to form other plans; a car should be the next project.
In 1975 he purchased a 1962 Ford (of course) Falcon, from dragracing legend Per Åke Bjorns in Falun.
When you’re 17 and in high school, your pockets are not overflowing with money, and there definitely wasn’t any to put towards building a racecar. But with some elbow grease and determination, Mats fixed the rust with a gas welder in his yard over the next year. When school was finished he started working at the pre-fab house factory in Mockfjard. Here, he earned the money for his first drivetrain in the Falcon, a 351 4 valve motor with a rug transmission and 9″ rear end.
To transport his ”dream” to the races, he bought a Ford Transit, which was converted to a car hauler.
In 1978 Mats drove his first passes at an airstrip in Hudiksvall. It wasn’t direct success, and he decided to tear the car apart.
The rust repaired floor went to the junk yard, and the first tube chassis began to take form. A new motor was also obtained.
In 1984 he raced the entire season, but without the results he wanted. It went too slow with the 429 Ford motor. New ideas and more money were needed…
The 1st of January, 1985, Mats started his own company, and ME Racing Service was born. He rented out his mechanical and welding ability, and handled car transporting among other things. Thus, he was able to draw in the money to build a new Ford 513 motor. The Falcon was also worked on in hopes of finding the right set up for the ”ultimate” pass. It was this ’85 season that saw Mats make his first 8 sec. run!
The next year, another legend entered the arena. Bo Redin provided his wild Hemi motor, and it was time to go to Santa Pod in England to try their luck. Things could not have gone better. With an 8.45 sec. run they became the fastest in Europe in the SA class! At this time, the Pro Stock cars were running 8.20 times. They were not far after the ”big dogs” in European dragracing.
1987 saw the Ford motor go back in the Falcon, and a good time of 8.56. But the turbo cars in the same class had too good of a handicap, so Mats quit racing the Falcon. Only a few races were driven over the next few years. Instead, Mats concentrated his focus on the company, and in 1988 started to build up his metal fabrication business.
In 1990 an acquaintance from the U.S. moved back home to Sweden. Jan Antonsson, who had lived in the states for many years and worked with chassis fabrication there, sparked some new ideas for Mats. Together, they started up serious chassis production, with chrome moly tubing as a specialty.
In 1991 Antonsson returned to live in the U.S. At this time Mats became interested in racing again, and was able to buy a ’56 Crown Victoria body from Carl Ruth in the U.S. The body arrived in a container in ’91, and it was time to start a new project!
2001 the Green Goblin was finished and Mats did start to race again 2002.
2009 Green Goblin was the first ProMod car under 6.1 sec when Mats did run 6.09sec at Hockenheim, Germany. The same year he did also run 5.98sec witch was the first run under 6sec in Europe. This season the Green Goblin Team did endup as European Champion, Nordic Champion and Swedish Champion. Green Goblin did have track record on all tracks we did race that year.
So with that season in the back, Mats was the "Driver of the year" in Dragracing in the Swedish car magazine Bilsport. He did get the "Eagle of the year" from EDRS/Speedgroup. Mats did also get the "Royal Motorsports Medal for the season 2009.
From 2013 one of Mats sons Lars-Göran "LG" Eriksson is part owner of ME Racing Service AB.
Today, ME Racing Service, AB is an established and well know name in the the racing world, as a leading and innovative chassis manufacturer. We supply chassis to many of the elite in both rally and dragracing. Mats also has a place in the SFI chassis committee in the U.S. This committee is responsible for forming the safety and structural regulations for dragracing around the world. ME Racing Service AB is also certified by FIA/SBF to build roll cages for international rally and racecars.