Event report riginally published in Automobile Quarterly Volume 36, Number 3; May 1997
“For my next act, I will set myself on fire.” So said Craig Breedlove after one of his speed records went awry. That was what I did not want to do when Saab invited me – along with 119 other automotive journalists – to participate in a speed record attempt at the Talladega Superspeedway in northwest Alabama. Yes, I wanted to write my name in the same record book with the catastrophically eloquent Mr. Breedlove, but I certainly did not want a disastrous conclusion.
It was an awesome opportunity. Dubbed the Saab 900 Talladega Challenge, it was a patently commercial effort by Saab to set 33 new speed records with the 900 models much as it did 10 years ago with the 9000, though this time with journalist as well as professional drivers at the wheel. It’s an old and effective public relations ploy. But journalists on the track so they’ll write about it. Drivers have gone after speed records for personal glory, for patriot’s pride or the strictly mercantile motivation, though usually for a combination of the proceeding. From Camille Jenatzy to Ab Jenkins to…ahem… John Matras and Automobile Quarterly.
The cars were Saabs plucked randomly from the assembly line by an FIA representative. Included were the 2.0-liter turbo four, 2.5-litrt V-6 and, not sold in the United States, 2.0-liter naturally aspirated four-cylinder models. For 25,000 mile and 25,000 km records, Saab’s pro drivers ran ‘round-the-clock. The journalists, drawn from Saab’s markets worldwide, competed for distances of 10 km and 10 miles to 1,000 km and 1,000 miles. American drivers won every record available. (Insert U-S-A, U-S-A chant here).
It wasn’t an unadulterated test of driving ability. As the drivers in a week and a half effort, Americans benefited from engines broken in by earlier teams, faster laps coming when the air was cool and dense. And the earlier shift one drove, the more records would accrue. Sure, you had to keep it between the wall and the infield holding the pedal down for over 145 mph for an hour of running through Talladega’s 33-degree banking and 4,000-foot long back straight as well as somehow not scrubbing off too much speed in the corners while not driving too high and thus too far. Whew. Slipstreaming wasn’t allowed, but drafts weren’t always avoidable, and at 140 mph, the tow can start up to 2,000 feet back. Touchy moments came when three or four cars were involved in a passing situation, and no one, of course, wants to lift and lose valuable momentum. And one of Saab’s professional drivers, at night and in a thunderstorm, was pushed into the wall by a sudden gust of wind, making that car an impromptu display of the 900’s crashworthiness.
That hadn’t been Saab’s objective. Instead, the company had smarted from early reports of poor quality in the 900. If hour after hour in full throttle and 5800 rpm means anything, then Saab proved its point. A holed radiator and a torn half-shaft boot, both effects of track debris, were the only repairs needed. You can look it up. Saab has new FIA international records and so do I. And I didn’t have to set myself on fire.
Additional memories that there wasn’t room for in the original story: Talladega was in dire need of repaving when the event was held, which is another way of saying that while the surface was smooth, it was definitely wavy. While we were taking nose-to-tail track familiarization laps, I was following Saab rally legend Erik Carlsson, both of us in Saab 900s that would be used for record setting. Behind Carlsson, I could see that his car was bouncing almost to full suspension travel. Especially at 140 mph, it looked quite scary. The I realized my car was doing the same thing, except it didn’t feel like it, even on the 33 degree banking and flat out. And with stock suspension. Well done, Saab.
High speed track drivers in endurance event such as this have found that lap after lap, drivers tend to lift off the throttle. To counter this, Saab equipped all the record cars with a red light on the dash that would stay illuminated when the throttle pedal was floored. If it goes out, put your foot back down.
I looked for other contemporary reports on the 1996 Saab 900 Talladega Challenge, but the only other I could find on the event on the internet was one by Motor Trend.
Saab commemorated the Talladega Challenge with a special Talladega Edition which included three-spoke Saab Super Aero alloy wheels (on US market cars with seven-spoke Saab BBS alloys for the rest of the world) with 205/50R16 Michelin Pilot high-performance tires, special leather interior trim with chrome inner door handles, plus color-matched front spoiler and rear “turbo” spoiler, color-matched door mirrors, and color-matched bumpers with blacked-out bumper trim. And there was special “Talladega Edition” badging on the rear of the cars.
The 1997 Saab 900 Talladega Edition has begun to gain a following, with those who know willing to pay a premium. recently, Classic.com has tracked the current sale prices of the Saab 900 (not specifying whether Talladega or not) here. A 1997 Saab 900 Convertible Talladega Edition sold on Bring A Trailer for $10,200 in 2021, originally carrying an MSRP of $42,250. There are a couple of errors on the article, one saying that the car commemorated the ten years earlier Saab 9000 record setting effort rather that the 1997 event, and saying that the Talladega had Saab BBS wheels instead of the Saab Super Aero alloy wheels.
