The 1976 Swedish
Rally was a two-man show. More than 34 special stages
with no speed limits - a total of 700 km - were covered by Stig Blomqvist
and Per Eklund at record speed in a bid to outdo each other. Per was 14
seconds ahead of Champion Stig at the halftime rest halt. Afterwards, the
team management spent an anxious time waiting as the two drivers battled
it out along the special stages an right up to the finish. There was just
no point in ordering them to hold back. But the cars lasted the distance.
Per won - and his car was taken straight to the museum.
This rally Saab is the most highly developed competition 96 ever built.
It puts out more than 165 hp - 100 more than the standard version. That
would never have been thought possible when the V4 engine was new in
1967. The most the manufacturer promised it could deliver was 95 hp but
the competition management under Bo Hellberg and Bo Swan&eaccent;r
managed to squeeze more than that out of it. The very first rallywinning
V4 (Åke 'The Brewer' Andersson, Riihimäki Rally, January 1967)
already had 93 hp on tap.
Other milestones in the development of the rally engine were its
enlargement to 1740 cc in 1969, crossed-over induction pipes in 1971, and
twin exhaust outlets in 1973 - all this and much else besides went into
making the Saab V4 one of the most reliable and successful rally cars
ever to be passed by the inspection authorities.