SAAB V4 Rally

    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.