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Rally History: “Saab & Carlsson Win Monte Again!”

Goran Aničić
February 13, 2017Goran Aničić1 commentErik CarlssonMonte Carlo RallyrallySaab 96Saab Motorsport
Erik Carlsson (with co-driver Gunnar Palm) on the way to a second Monte Carlo Rally victoryErik Carlsson (with co-driver Gunnar Palm) on the way to a second Monte Carlo Rally victory

Magazine Autoweek this week reminds us of the glorious history of the Saab brand in rally sport.

Autoweek magazine in an article “Throttle-Back Thursday: When two-stroke Saabs and moon-faced Swedes ruled Monte Carlo” brings us a reminder of the great victory of Erik Carlsson and Saab at Monte Carlo Rally 1963:

In 1962, a little two-stroke Saab ripped and snorted its way to victory in the legendary Monte Carlo Rally with Erik Carlsson — a “moon-faced 250-lb Swede,” as our correspondent Jean Dupont deemed him — at the wheel.

The next year, he and the 841-cc chainsaw-on-wheels repeated the feat, all despite treacherous roads that helped knock 196 of the 296 entrants out of the running. Gunnar Palm was his co-driver.

Saab didn’t take victory in the Monte Carlo Rally ever again, but we have no doubt its success in motorsport helped make it a left-field enthusiast favorite right until the Trollhattan assembly lines shut down for good.

Also, See the original article from 1963 published in the “Autoweek” magazine:

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Tags:Erik CarlssonMonte Carlo RallyrallySaab 96Saab Motorsport
Goran Aničić
the authorGoran Aničić
For over 15 years, Goran Aničić has been passionately focused on Saab automobiles and everything related to them. His initial encounter with Saab cars took place back in 2003 when the first Saab 9-3 and sedan version were introduced. At that moment, he was captivated by the car's Scandinavian design logic and top-notch engineering, and everything that followed stemmed from that first encounter. Later on, through his work at the editorial team of the Serbian automotive magazines "Autostart" and later "AutoBild," he had the opportunity to engage more closely with Saab vehicles. In 2008, he tested the latest Saab cars of that time, such as the Saab 9-3 TTiD Aero and Saab 9-3 Turbo X. In 2010, as the sole blogger from the region, he participated in the Saab 9-5ng presentation in Trollhättan, Sweden. Alongside journalists from around the world, he got a firsthand experience of the pinnacle of technological offerings from Saab at that time. Currently, Goran owns two Saabs: a 2008 Saab 9-3 Vector Sportcombi with a manual transmission, and a Saab 9-3 Aero Griffin Sport Sedan from the last generation, which rolled off the production line in Trollhättan in December 2011.
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1 Comment

  • December 2015 Saabnet.com Photo of the Month (provided by Dan Haugh [Landjet]) is the ad that Saab made after Eric Carlsson won the Monte Carlo Rally for the 2nd year in row (“Only one car won the Monte Carlo Rally: SAAB… and for the second year in a row”

    http://www.saabnet.com/tsn/photo/1512.html

    Reply

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