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2008 Saab 9-X BioHybrid
The schedule of press conferences for the Geneva auto show is packed, with each brand getting only... Read More
2008 Saab 9-X BioHybrid
The schedule of press conferences for the Geneva auto show is packed, with each brand getting only... Read More
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Since September 1996, the word "Saab" loosens some special feelings. Before that time I regarded the make as a safe Swedish car without distinguished looks, but with good driving qualities. Then there was the Saab Talladega Challenge.
In 1986 the Swedes set the world record with the 9000 turbo on the 100,000 km (63,000 miles) with an average speed of 213.299 km/h (132,537 mph). That was only one of the 21 international and two world speed records for production cars, which Saab set at the Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. Eighteen of them have never been broken.
My fastest hour
In the fall of 1996 Saab went back to Talladega, to try and break their own records with five 900 turbo’s, two 900 V6s and one 900 2.0I Coupe. Two of the turbos were driven by professional Saab-drivers, while automotive journalists from all over the world drove the other cars. That is, by those who owned an international competition license. And I was one of them.
In short, one of my early morning stints with the 900 turbo on the fastest racetrack in the world proved to be real quick. On the still damp oval I broke the one-hour speed record with an average of 229.212 km/h (or 142.426 mph), the fastest hour of my life – almost.
The Saab 900 turbo was completely standard and because of its honest character and its obedience under stressed circumstances, the car won a place in my heart, next to some other outstanding machines I raced with. Too bad, a week later the record was pinched away from me by one of my fellow Americans by 0.15 km/h (0.096 mph).
