Car that helped Saab take off; CLASSIC CARS with IAN JOHNSON This week: Saab 96

Evening Chronicle (Newcastle, England), July 11, 2008

Byline: IAN JOHNSON

IN THE 1960s it was just as trendy to drive something individual as it is now. That stylised image of millions of men in Gannex macs wearing trilby hats and stringback gloves driving round in run-of-themill cars like the Ford Anglia was far from the truth.

There was a rising tide of people who wanted to be seen in something which more readily reflected their personality than homebrewed wheels ever could.

And this is where the Saab 96 came in.

Produced over 20 years from 1960 until January 1980, the 96 was a development from the old Saab 92 chassis and opened vast new horizons for a company which had been, and still is, deeply involved in aircraft production.

And boy did the neat little 96 take off.

It became the car which transported Saab to international fame because of its refreshingly different approach to motoring, its safety innovations and motor sport successes.

It became the first Saab model officially imported to the UK and spawned a dynasty.

As first designed, the 96 had a 750cc, 38hp threecylinder Saab two-stroke engine. However, in 1967 the 96V4 appeared, with the Ford Taunus engine.

The V4 engine produced 65hp (48 kW) and the car made 0-100 km/h in 16 seconds and was the making of this 90mph classy Swedish model.

The Saab 96 had the gear lever mounted on the steering column, a vanishing trend late in the 1960s, but it appeared the rally-driving community seemed to like it. The gearbox originally had three gears - unsynchronised - but later, a four-speed synchronised option was offered.

An interesting feature was a free-wheel system.

This was introduced to overcome the problems of overrun for the two-stroke engine.

This was retained in the four-stroke variant until the end of production and added to the mystique of the Saab fraternity.

Rallying and the Saab 96 went together hand in glove. It was driven most famously by Erik Carlsson in international events.

His most famous victories were in the 1960, 1961 and 1962 RAC Rallies and the 1962 and 1963 Monte Carlo Rallies.

These top-line successes boosted the image of the little Saab tremendously. Famous rallying names such as Simo Lampinen, Per Eklund, Pat Moss-Carlsson and Stig Blomqvist have also been connected with the Saab 96.

A total of 547,221 were manufactured.

CAPTION(S):

SPAWNED A DYNASTY - the Saab 96 opened vast new horizons for the Swedish manufacturer