Saab 900 Talladega Challenge 1996

Saab 900 Talladega Challenge 1996 is a challenge that has changed a lot and proved in practice the quality of Saab cars, cars that are not specially prepared for difficult challenges, but were ordinary cars selected from the production line.

In October of 1996, Saab Automobile brought over 6 randomly selected standard production 1997MY Saab 900 models to the Talladega International Speedway to test their endurance on the track over the course of a 8 days.

The Long Run

The 6 Saab 900 vehicles included naturally aspirated, turbo’d and V6 equipped vehicles. Journalists from all over the world were invited to participate including notables such as legendary SAAB rally personality, Simo Lamipinen of Finland and of course Erik Carlsson.

This event was titled the “Talladega Challenge” and was the 10-year anniversary of the first time Saab came to Talladega Speedway back in October of 1986 with a series of standard production 9000s known as the “Long Run”.

Saab 900 Talladega Challenge 1996 video

Here is the detailed video that captures this event:

It was on the 24 of October 1996. When the sun went down over the Talladega Super speedway in the USA a SAAB 900 rolled over the finish line. It had been driving with the pedal at the floor, for 24 hours a day for 8 days, and beat 40 international records.

Taken directly from the factory this SAAB 900 2.0 Turbo has among others beaten the international record for the distance 25.000 miles (40.000km), with an average speed of 226,450 km/h including refueling, tire change and service.

SAAB celebrated this by building a special version of the 900 with a sports interior with leather, chromed handles, a sportier exterior look and more. The model was only available during a short period between 1997 and 1998.

Average speed during the different distances