Monthly Archives: April 2006

E85 racer

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Swede Team Motor isn’t the only race team I’m hoping to follow this year.

Anders Weglin Racing is another privateer running a 9-3 sport sedan around Sweden’s racing tracks. This car is somewhat different though, in that it runs it’s 2 litre engine on E85, pushing out around 500hp and a top speed of 282 km/h!!

This car is running against Vipers and Corvettes, so it’s serious business. Like STM, Saab is on board with the Weglin team. It’s good to see some grass-roots racing sponsorship and I can’t help but think that Saab’s image amongst Sweden’s motoring enthusiasts is enhanced by this. They always were identified as the sporting choice out of the Swedish car companies and it’s great to see that being maintained there. If only it could happen a little more abroad.

I’ll publish more about this Anders Weglin Racing as it comes to hand.

SLC2006-R1-SUPERCAR-002.jpg
Image from SLC.se

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And for those of you that are interested – in addition to Toyota announcing e85 vehicles for the US market in the near future, you can now add Chrysler to the mix. They’ve announced a plan for e85 in Jeeps and a Dodge starting in 2007.

I hope Jay’s getting closer to a start date for the biopower 9-5 in the US.

Introducing…..

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Trollhattan Saab has a little brother.

It’s only a baby, so be kind as it has very delicate feelings. It’s name is Alfablogger.

Alfablogger.jpg

If you’re at all interested, please feel free to drop on in. Whilst I’m Saab through and through, I’ve always had a crush on Alfas and hope to get one as a project car one day. They make perfect project cars as there’s always something that needs to be done on them!!

There’s only 20 or so entries on there, but if you’d like somewhere to start, there’s Clarkson’s review of the new 159. As you read it, think to yourself “The 9-5 could have been on this chassis…..”

Entry #900 – SOTW

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I’m pretty chuffed about this one. Entry number 900. Not just because it’s another great Saab O The Week photo, but also with the fact that a site I started on a whim just over a year ago has made it to 900 entries. I’ve learned a heck of a lot in that time and “met” a lot of fantastic Saab enthusiasts. I don’t have a single complaint to make about the entire experience.

This week’s SOTW shot is a poignant one. A Swedish car photographed in what could be an Australian countryside setting, but is actually in Sweden – owned by a Swedish guy who’s currently living in Australia. A nice set of connections there.

The owner of this beautifully straight 900 is David B. He’s from Stockholm but currenly living in Perth, Western Australia. He bought the car last year, but has had to leave it in his family’s care at home whilst he trudges around Perth in a Ford Falcon. Poor bloke.

A great shot of a great machine – and a fitting car for entry number 900.

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please click to enlarge

If you’d like your car featured as a Saab O The Week entry, then simply take a great photo involving your Saab and email it to me (there’s an email link in the left sidebar).

The SOTW gallery is growing and there’s some magnificent vehicles in there. Check ‘em by clicking on the following link: Saab O The Week

Very Quick Snippets – Saab Recall Notice

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Hi all. Extremely busy today, but hoping for some more motorsport coverage in the next 24 hours.

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There’s been a Saab Recall reported at Consumer Affairs. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has forced a recall of over 11,000 9-3s from 2001 in order to fix a fuel line problem.

On some of the vehicles, the fuel pump retaining taps that secure the fuel line to the pump were damaged during production.


NHTSA warns that the problem over time could cause a fuel leak and fire.

Saab dealers will secure the fuel line to the pump with a bracket that will hold even if the retaining tab breaks.

The Saab 9-3 recall is expected to get underway in May.

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GM are hiring more designers. I’ll write more about one notable Saab concept design later. Thanks to WooDz for finding it (damn, the links are back on my home PC, grrrrr!).

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Autoweek are writing up the smaller Saab story from last week, though they report it as a competitor for the BMW 3-series, which I think is a typo.

They’re also saying it’ll be based on the Opel Astra, a base consistent with what’s been previously mentioned about this car.

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The next post will be post number 900 on this site. Any ideas what it should be about??

Weekend Racing: Swede Team Motor

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As promised, here’s a rundown on Swede Team Motor’s racing for the meeting at Mantorp Park last weekend.

It’s was car 93, the diesel powered Saab 9-3 Sports Sedan, running in the Swedish Endurance Trophy (or SLC for short). This was the first of 6 SLC meetings to be held this season. The meet consisted of one 3-hour race on Saturday and a 6-hour race on Sunday.

STM diesel Apr 1.jpg
Diesel power – click to enlarge

Old Saabs Don’t Die…..

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…..they just beat the daylights out of each other on a Saturday afternoon!!

Here’s the old 99′s and 900′s that I was talking about in the Snippets entry earlier today. Thanks to Mats for sending me the photos.

He got these shots at a local race meet, in Trollhattan, over the weekend. Given my love for 99s and the rarity of them here in Australia, I’m sobbing as I view these. But as long as they had fun…..

99racers1.jpg

More pics after the jump:
Continue reading →

That 9-3 Monster (again)

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I just received some more pictures of that 9-3 Sports Sedan that I showed here last week. These were sent in by Tim, who happens to own the Viggen featured in our first ever SOTW calendar, but I digress….

There’s some great detail here. Note how far they’ve had to push the engine back into the engine bay. Ay Carumba!

Don’t know much else about the car, but the magic stat being bandied around is the rather beefy 805hp figure. It’s also AWD. I’m not sure if this has been bred purely for show or for racing (and if so, what kind). Can’t wait to find out though.

One pic here…..

Monster9-3.jpg

…..and a few more after the jump:
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Saab Snippets – April 24

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Swede Team Motor commenced it’s 2006 season this weekend at Mantorp Park.

I’m hoping to provide some ongoing coverage of STM’s season here on Trollhattan. The team runs two 9-3 Sports Sedans, one on gasoline and the other running on diesel. They also have a Saab96 that they’ll be racing in some historic races when the time comes.

Their site is mostly in Swedish, but there’s plenty of good photos that we English-speakers can dribble over at the link above.

STM 9-3 SS Aero.jpg
Photo: stm / Jonas Stellemark

If anyone can link me up with some Per Eklund news, I’d be grateful. The usual source is quiet at the moment.

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I received some great photos from Mats of a race meet he went to over the weekend. I’ll post them later today. Needless to say they made me shudder when I saw what they were doing to those poor little 99′s, which are a rarity here in Oz.

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Targa Tasmania starts tomorrow. I did some pretty full coverage of this event last year as there was a Saab 99 Turbo entered. Contrary to the entrants list (xls speadsheet), Dan won’t be bringing the little red 99 down to Tassie for this year’s event.

I’ll probably still get along to view a few stages on the weekend, though.

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Occasional TS commenter Tom Lease has had an article featured in the San Francisco Chronicle, reproduced on SFGate.com, about his ride, a 2001 Saab 9-5 Wagon.

Looks like it’s a column entitled “My Ride”, where people write about the car they drive and what sets it apart.

Way to go, Tom!

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I found some photos of my first Saab over the weekend. A shiny, red 1972 Saab 99E. It was in magnificent condition, body-wise, though it had a few mechanical issues.

Seeing it again almost made me cry. My ex-wife wrote it off and whilst that’s not why she’s now my ex-wife, let’s claim it as a contributing factor for the purposes of this blog.

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My queries about the size of the Malaysian Saab market have been answered. They’re hoping to sell 50 of the new 9-5′s this year, which will make up about 35% of group revenue.

Let’s call it ‘small’ for the moment, but growing.