The Saab 96 is an automobile manufactured and marketed by Swedish automaker Saab from 1960 to January 1980, replacing the Saab 93. The 96 featured aerodynamic two-door bodywork, four-passenger seating and at first a two-stroke, three-cylinder engine, later a four-stroke V4.
Erik Hilding Carlsson was a Swedish rally driver for Saab. He was nicknamed "Carlsson på taket" as well as Mr. Saab.
Rallycross is a form of sprint style motorsport, held on a closed mixed-surface racing circuit, with modified production or specially built touring cars. It is mainly popular in the Nordic countries, the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Great Britain. An inexpensive, entry level type of rallycross is the Swedish folkrace or its Norwegian counterpart, the so-called bilcross. The folkrace is most popular in Finland where it was founded back in the late 1960s. In Europe, rallycross can also refer to racing 1:8 scale off-road radio-controlled buggies.
Stig Lennart Blomqvist is a retired Swedish rally driver. He made his international breakthrough in 1971. Driving an Audi Quattro for the Audi factory team, Blomqvist won the World Rally Championship drivers' title in 1984 and finished runner-up in 1985. He won his home event, the Swedish Rally, seven times.
Andrew Nesbitt is a rally driver and businessman from Newtownhamilton, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. He is currently co-driven by James O'Brien from Co. Cork. He is best known for driving the Subaru Impreza but first made his name driving a Toyota Celica on the 1996 Donegal International Rally. He defied the odds to beat top drivers such as Bertie Fisher and Austin MacHale. Since then he has had a host of rally wins. In 2000 he broke all records by winning the Donegal International and winning all 22 stages. He went on to become Tarmac Champion in 2000 and 2002. Andrew has taken a number of wins since 2002, but has failed to reclaim the tarmac title. He was often leading rallies or was in a strong position, until mechanical failures let him down. More recently he has performed very well, but has been unable to compete in a full season. Andrew's car is currently sponsored by Rutledge Joblink and Cross-Refrigeration. His car is prepared by McKinstry Motorsport. In 2004 Andrew realised his dream by entering the WRC for the first time. He entered the snow event in Sweden and finished a very respectable 28th, in what is a very specialist event. He was 5th amongst the privateer crews. One of the most remarkable achievements of Andrew's career was winning the Jim Clark Memorial Rally for three consecutive years, breaking the record in the process. On 11 and 12 August 2007 at Maasmechelen in Belgium Nesbitt contested his first ever round of the FIA European Championships for Rallycross Drivers with a 550+bhp strong spare Saab 9-3 T16 4x4 of Swede Per Eklund. Nesbitt recently acquired a Solar energy company, Cool Power, which he later incorporated into Cross Energy, under the Cross-Group, along with its fruit ripening, hire and refrigeration departments. With Cross Energy, Nesbitt introduced Northern Ireland's first solar powered car charger.
Tom Trana, was a Swedish motor rally driver. This Värmland sportsman was Volvo's counterpart to Saab's Erik Carlsson. It has been said that he had to drive the rear-wheel drive Volvo more enthusiastically than Carlsson, with the front-wheel drive Saab.
Arne Hertz is a former rally co-driver from Sweden.
The Hankiralli is a Finnish motor rally, in the European Championship. In 1981, Finnish driver Ulf Grönholm was killed in practice for this event. His son, Marcus Grönholm, later went on to become the 2000 and 2002 World Champion rally driver. Swedish driver Stig Blomqvist won the event twice, in 1971 and 1977, in a Saab 96 V4.
Ove Andersson, nicknamed Påven, was a Swedish rally driver and the first head of Toyota's F1 programme.
Thomas Rådström, nicknamed "Rådis", is a rally and rallycross driver from Sweden.
Simo Lampinen is a Finnish former rally driver, and one of the first of the "Flying Finns" who came to dominate the sport.
The Embassy/ERA European Rallycross Championship was the forerunner of the FIA European Rallycross Championship. It was organised in 1973 and 1974 by automobile clubs from Austria, Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands, Sweden and Finland under the supervision of the Thames Estuary Automobile Club (TEAC) of Great Britain on behalf of the manufacturer of Embassy cigarettes, tobacco company W. D. & H. O. Wills. At the end of 1974 the organisers founded the European Rallycross Association (ERA), before the motor sport of Rallycross was officially recognised by the FIA in 1976.
The 1984 World Rally Championship was the 12th season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) World Rally Championship (WRC). The season consisted of 12 rallies following the same schedule as the previous season. Stig Blomqvist beat the defending world champion and Audi teammate Hannu Mikkola to the drivers' title. Audi took their second manufacturers' title, ahead of Lancia and the debuting Peugeot.
The 1988 World Rally Championship was the 16th season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) World Rally Championship (WRC). The season consisted of 13 rallies, following the same schedule as the previous season.
The 1973 Swedish Rally was the second round of the inaugural World Rally Championship season. Run in mid-February around Karlstad, Sweden, the rally was the only snow and ice rally of the WRC calendar, a distinction it would keep as it remained a fixture of the WRC through the years. Only in 2007 would it finally be joined on the schedule by a second snow rally in Norway.
The Ford World Rally Team, also known as the Ford Motor Co. Team prior to 2005, is Ford Motor Company's full factory World Rally Championship team. In its current form, it has been a competitor since the 1997 season, when Ford Motor Company's motorsport arm selected the Malcolm Wilson Motorsport company to run its factory team, entering the Ford Escort World Rally Car. The new team took their first victory in the 1997 Acropolis Rally.
Lars-Erik Torph was a Swedish rally driver. He debuted in the World Rally Championship in 1980 and took his first points at his home event, the Swedish Rally, in 1984. Driving a Toyota Celica TCT, a Toyota Supra 3.0i and an Audi Coupé Quattro, he went on to finish on the podium four times. After just turning 28, Torph and his co-driver Bertil-Rune Rehnfeldt died while spectating the 1989 Monte Carlo Rally, after Lancia driver Alex Fiorio lost control of his Delta Integrale and crashed into them.
Trofeu is a line of 1/43 scale diecast vehicles made by Replicar in Portugal. The company was started in 1989, in Espinho just south of Oporto - the same town where Metosul and Luso Toys had previously been made in the 1960s and 1970s. Trofeu products are mainly contemporary rally cars alongside their stock counterparts.
The 2000 Race of Champions took place on December 10 at Gran Canaria. It was the 13th running of the event, and the ninth running at Gran Canaria. The International Masters contest was held for the final time this year before a format shake-up for 2001, which opened up the main competition to non-rally drivers.
Kennet Michael Jernberg is a former rallycross driver from Kinna, Sweden.
Swedish 
Dave Whittock
