Few today realise how tough the Spa-Sofia-Liège rally was, yet Erik Carlsson and Gunnar Palm twice made the podium in a Saab 96 Sport
WORDS TON ROKS PHOTOGRAPHY LUUK VAN KAATHOVEN
Gunnar Palm is standing beside the century-old Olidan powerplant of Trollhättan, the home of Saab. In front are three 96s: a standard white Sport and two rally cars, from which Palm (85) saw a lot of scenery fly by as co-driver for Erik ‘On the Roof’ Carlsson.
“It’s a miracle what we did with those cars,” says Palm. “We had much less power than everyone else, so Erik’s motto was to never take his foot off the throttle. Our Saabs were also relatively heavy and they understeered, but the general handling was very good. They were strong and reliable – and the mechanicals were straightforward. In addition, we always made sure that we were prepared to the extreme. As a result, on more than one occasion we were able to outperform the bigger factory teams, which had budgets that were five to 10 times ours.”
Our presence here in Trollhättan began with Dutch collector Michiel Bakker, a great fan of the idiosyncratic Swedish brand. Some time ago Bakker learned that the 96 Sport Carlsson and Palm drove on the 1963 Spa-Sofia-Liège rally was somewhere north of Stockholm in the hands of an enthusiast, and was due to be auctioned. He immediately leapt into action and bought it. “The previous owner had taken over the car from the factory, but without an engine,” Bakker explains. “He managed to get hold of a correct triple-carburettor unit, and restored the car to the way it was when Palm and Carlsson drove it.”
After some additional light restoration work, Bakker hatched the idea of making a pilgrimage with the car back to Trollhättan where it was built, and arranging a meeting with Palm. That plan was welcomed with open arms not only by the former co-driver, but also by Peter Bäckström, curator of the Saab Car Museum. As well as P97349, Bakker has brought along his very original 96 Sport road car, which graced the Saab stand during the 1963 Paris Salon. Meanwhile, Bäckström has manoeuvred something special out of the museum to complete the trio – a 96 wearing start number 283 and numberplate P77558, the car in which Carlsson and Palm won the Rallye Monte-Carlo in 1963. Except this is not the real deal, but an exacting replica. “Many Saab works cars were crashed or, if they survived, were sold to other competitors and
