I can't really think of a good way to introduce this project or myself, so I guess I'll jump right in with this:
Recently I had an opportunity to save a couple of old Saabs from a farm where they had been parked for over a decade. They were mine to take, provided I got them off the property in an extremely short window of time, otherwise the property owner was going to call the scrapper and have them hauled off (and they did, and all the other cars on the property went to the crusher). I rescued the c.1965 Saab 95 wagon, with the infamous 3 cylinder, 2-stroke Saab engine that every car enthusiast over a certain age can tell tall tales about - and a 1968 Saab 96 with the Ford V4.
I sold the rarer, older wagon to a collector, but have plans for the '68. It's little remembered today, but for several years in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Saab was a major contender in the Baja 500 and Baja 1000 races. In fact, Saabs won the 2-wheel drive class four years in a row. Saabs first ran the race in 1967, the cars entered were stock, save for some auxiliary lights and some truck tires. They came in last place. You'll find a short write up of the event below, scanned from the winter '67 Saab dealer newsletter (which is in the public domain, having been printed without a copyright notice).
In 1968, the team returned with a lightly modified car - and won their class. And kept winning it, for several years in a row. The suspension was reinforced, the car extensively lightened, and the engine lightly tuned. In 1969 Saab officially became involved and the cars became more highly tuned and modified.
Saab Prints by
trollpowersaab, on Flickr
A distinctive feature of these cars was the routing of the exhaust over the roof to gain ground clearance. Unfortunately, this is one aspect I won't be replicating because I want to keep my car street legal. I also probably won't build a roll cage, or at least not one which would meet modern requirements, as I have no real need to actually race the car. I've decided that rather than build an all-out replica of the '68 entry, to go with a slightly softer version that would still be street legal and tractable. The suspension and body will be reinforced, some lightening will be undertaken (there's honestly not much that can be taken out of this car, it's pretty basic as is), and appropriate lighting, rack, skid plate, wheels and tires fitted. I also have plans for an original bed conversion kit which allows the seats to be transformed into a bed by using some extra brackets and mounting points. So it will be a sort of lightweight camper, potentially.
Don't hold your breath watching this thread for updates though, as it will take some searching to round up all the necessary parts for this build. 50 year old Saab stuff isn't always easy to find (then again, you'd also be surprised by what you can still get through any normal car parts store). Also living in Texas, I have no plans to wrench on anything until summer is over.
