As the replacement of the 93 launched the 96 in 1960, which had the same body shape but the rear part was made a bit “fuller” in order to allow more place on the rear seats. The engine was still a two stroke but now with 841 cc, which produced 38 BHP in standard trim. As was the case with the 93, the 96 was swiftly discovered as a powerful rallye weapon which in particular on the northern snowy routes excelled and also won the Monte Carlo Rallye. The fact that driver Erik Carlson topped in more 100 kg at the scales did not seem to bother. The special rallye version was called GT850 or Sport or later Monte Carlo. In this trim, with three carbs the engine produced 68 BHP. A specific feature, common to two stroke engines was the free wheel function of the gearbox, allowing gear changes without declutching.
In 1967 the two stroke engine was replaced by the Ford V4, produced in Germany. There is an interesting story about that, apparently Ford bought two Saabs in 1960-61 to test the new V4 engine for the FWD Cardinal, which eventually was presented as the Ford Taunus 12M. Now whether Saab found out about this or independently considered the engine to be the appropriate one for its cars, fact remains that it took 6 six years, before the next Saab V4. At the same time Matra got the 1.7 litre version for its 530 model. The front part of the car was changed a little with square headlights, and in this form the car was kept into production until 1980. During its production many small changes were applied, including a double barrel carburetor for the V4 in 1977. Although the V4 was also used in rallyes, the screaming two strokes will always be remembered as the real Saabs, which are as a matter of consequence also much more expensive to obtain these days.
All models together saw a total production figure of 547,221 cars. The total number of 95s, the station wagon version, was 110,527.
Shown is a 1962 two stroke version, pictured at the special venue for “everyday” classics at the Concours d’Elegance at Het Loo in 2004 and a later V4 that participated in the Tour Auto in France in 2005
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