SaabsUnited Historic Rally Team: Here we go again!
Tomorrow, Wednesday 13´th of July to the 17´th of July the Midnightsun Rally will take place in Västerås, Sweden.
In light of this and the fact that Rally cars are in my heart, I grew up when Saab still had a factory team, I went to Sundbyberg in Stockholm yesterday to meet a group of people with a passion for Saab, Rally and Performance.
I am talking of course about, The SaabsUnited Historic Rally Team, SUHRT.
It’s been a public holiday here in Hobart and with the beautiful conditions we’ve had today, I hope you’ll forgive me for having made the most of it and enjoying they day. The Wooden Boat Festival was fantastic.
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It’s also Valentines Day, an occasion we’ve never covered from a Saaby perspective.
Do you have any Valentines Day Saab stories that are fit for sharing? Did you drive off from your wedding with cans a-clunking from your Saab? Shared a memorable romantic drive? Meet your partner at a Saaby event? Have you ever given/received any Saaby gifts for Valentines day and if so, what sort of punishment did you receive?
It doesn’t have to have happened on V-day, any slightly romantic Saaby story will do.
Send in your stories (photos welcome) and I’ll share them all together later in the week. They can be inspiration for next year 🙂
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Congratulations to Nicola on picking up his new Saab 9-5 2.0T Aero. It’s his fifth Saab and the tenth new one in his family since 1982!
10 points to the film buff who can tell me the name of the road the photos were taken on, and the 1960s film it’s famous for (some crazy driving!).
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Can you imagine a top-ten list where a Saab finishes above a Ford Mustang, a Mitsubishi Evo, a Ferrari F40 and a Bugatti Veyron?
Popular Mechanics has paid tribute to some of the pioneering cars of the turbocharging era. The Saab 99 Turbo is second, with only the Porsche 911 Turbo before it.
It’s a fantastic list and well worth reading.
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Some fact on Superbowl advertising……
Car ads were four of the top 10 most watched ads during the Superbowl.
Car ads were five of the top 10 most likes ads shown during the Superbowl.
But sadly….
Car ads were zero of the top 10 ads from the Superbowl with the best recall.
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And finally, spotted by Jos on Twitter……
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It didn’t take long 🙂
Lewis is an Xbox, Forza and Saab fan, so naturally he was quick to download the new special pack that includes the Saab 99 Turbo.
He’s also been applying some custom rally livery in the classic Saab fashion…..
Looks just like the Saabs United Historic Rally Team (and a few somewhat more famous blokes from years ago, too 🙂 )
I’m not an online gamer, so I don’t know exactly how these things work, but apparently you can get hold of Lewis’ work at his Forza storefront (you can look it up under lwslade).
Nice work!
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You can also see video of the Saab 99T in Forza.
Thanks again to Jorgen from the Saab United Historic Rally Team for a bit more ForzaVision featuring the Saab 99 Turbo they’ve just added.
View the car in racing action here.
And here’s some new video…..
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3StnJEw6Fs
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The Incas look fantastic! From the Forza garage…..
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOImYuhaEP8
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Big thanks to Jorgen from the Saabs United Historic Rally Team for this one.
He’s downloaded the latest expansion pack for Forza3, which includes the Saab 99Turbo that you voted for in a poll run by Jalopnik!
Here’s some video of his first few runs….
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5t1XPtRJVo
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httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=It1BCco9FhQ
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That’s the coolest thing I think I’ve ever seen 🙂
Get the low-down on the community choice classics pack.
It’s been a little since we updated the SUHRT website but that doesn’t mean the team has been idle.
Far from it, in fact!
The last few months have seen the guys add two more cars to the garage. The question, now, is which historic rally cars these ones will made into replicas of.
First, to the two new cars.
Jörgen picked up this blue 99Turbo 2-door notchback:
And Vladimir Antonov purchased this green 99Turbo, which is also a 2-door:
Both cars will be rally-prepared eventually and the team is currently deciding which historic Saab rally cars to re-create.
The options are as follows:
1. Stig Blomqvist RAC 1979 Red
2. Stig Blomqvist Swedish Rally 1981 Blue
3. Stig Blomqvist Swedish Championships 1980 Black
4. Ola Strömberg Swedish Championships 1980 White
It’s definitely going to be a busy winter for the guys as they prepare these two cars.
Which ones would you choose?
Here’s a heads-up to keep a lookout for the November 2010 edition of Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car magazine.
As you can see from the front cover, above, there’s going to be quite the Saab feature in the November edition. Actually, there’ll be a couple of them.
From Mark McCourt, Associate Editor:
Sports & Exotic Car editor Dave LaChance and I enjoyed spending some time with GM engineer and Saab guru Gary Stottler, and his fantastic 99 EMS and 99 Turbo, last fall, and our cover story “Gudmund’s Glory” is the result of this visit.
A second special Saab feature in this same issue, “Looking Back, Moving Forward,” is the outcome of my July trip to the 2010 9-5 Aero media ride-and-drive event at the Monticello Motor Club, where Vintage Saab Club of North America president Bruce Turk’s Sonetts II and III were so beautifully displayed. We were able to tease some interesting comments from Victor, Jan-Ake and Jason Castriota about their favorite vintage Saabs, and how these older cars might play into the future of Saab design.
Sounds like some very interesting reading. My copy is on its way 🙂
I’m not sure exactly when this will hit the news stands, but I recommend US readers keep an eye out for it.
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