The short story of how I became a SAAB enthusiast - PART 1

My first SAAB

In 1969, I was 18 years old and intended to get my drivers license. I began to practice driving with my older brother as instructor. He had a SAAB 96 of the 1963 model. The same model as Erik Carlsson drove when he won the Monte Carlo Rally. - Erik won many rallies with that model! 

It was a nice and alert little rascal, for its time. It had a 3-cylinder two-stroke engine with 38 horsepowers. Not that much, but the weight was only 860 kg, there was front wheel drive and road holding was on a par with a sports car. I was hoping to buy something like that after working for a few months.

My brother had a family with his wife and two children and did well with the small car. But now they were expecting another child and was going to buy a bigger car, a SAAB 95. It had the same engine and the front, but a larger cargo space and large door in the back.

This meant that I got the opportunity to buy the 96! It was neat gray with red interior and I was very happy! Soon, I started competing in rallies. Great fun! But I wanted something faster ... I switched to the newer Saab 96 V4 - stronger and faster! 

This picture is from a swedish rally, in Skänninge, Östergötland. The driver, in the left seat, is me.

Many more SAAB cars followed, both 2-strokes and V4s, some standard and some modified. I look forward to telling you more about them in my upcoming posts.

                                      That’s all for today!    Be careful out there !   
                       Only fly low and slow--- may the blue smoke be with you !