Racing Swedes: The Saab turbo that made its mark

The Swedish company’s first car with a turbocharged engine remained famous as the V.I.T 1977, the first mass-produced model equipped with this supercharging system (the BMW 2002 Turbo and Porsche 911 Turbo, born a few years earlier, were actually cars intended for very limited production). Perhaps not everyone knows, however, that the decision to rev the naturally aspirated 2.0 four-cylinder engine Saab 99 This was not the first one considered: initially, in fact, to squeeze more power from the engine in Trollhättan, they thought of doubling its displacement and cubic capacity, in order to obtain a 4.0 V8. Something very similar was done with monster model Based on a Saab 93 and the idea of ​​appearing was undoubtedly brilliant, but in the end logic prevailed: Scania, the industrial vehicle manufacturer controlled by the red Griffin at the time, was ahead of the turbochargers and was therefore very simple, for the designers, to apply these technologies on the car engine. Thanks to its very compact turbo kit, the Saab 99 Turbostrong 145 hp, did not blame the “gaps” in the power delivery, ensuring a solid boost from low revs. The qualities that in 1979 allowed Stig Blomqvist to win the Swedish Rally are valid for the World Championship: no turbocharged car before that had managed a similar feat.