Carlsson started the 1959 Rally of Portugal leading the European championship. His closest competitor was Paul Coltelloni, a works Citroën team driver, but to prevent Carlsson from winning, Citroën had bought Coltelloni an Alfa Romeo. As the event passed through Spain, the blue Saab Carlsson was sharing with British Rally Champion John Sprinzel began suffering from a grabbing front brake. Cresting the brow of a hill in the gathering dusk at over , the crew spotted a closed railway level crossing only yards in front of them. Heavy braking caused the car to spin and roll over into the barrier, where they narrowly avoided being hit by the passing train. Despite this incident, and the subsequent electrical problems it caused, they finished third and it was enough to finish fourth for Carlsson to win the championship. However, shortly before the prize ceremony, they were told they would be given a 25-point penalty for their car having white competition numbers on a black background, instead of the other way around. Still, 25 penalty points only pushed them down to 4th place, so the European championship would be safe. It was only at the prize ceremony itself that they discovered that they had been given an additional 25-point penalty, putting them in eighth position. When they asked why, they were told they had been given 25 penalty points "per door".