Tim:

Keep us posted on what happens. And good luck.

Doug Mepham

At 03:30 PM 03/10/2007, you wrote:

>Historic SAAB to compete at Elkhart Lake Vintage Rally
>
>A rare 1950 SAAB 92 is set to compete in a renactment rally in Elkhart
>Lake, Wisconsin, home of Road America Raceway. The driver/navigator team is
>nearly as historic as the car. Jon Davis of Houghton, Michigan, will be
>behind the wheel, while Tim Winker of Twig, Minnesota, will try to keep the
>team on time. The 2007 Elkhart Lake Historic Rallye celebrates the 55th
>anniversary of the SCCA sponsored Monte Carlo style rallies held in
>conjunction with open road sports car races during 1951 and 1952. The rally
>will be held on October 5 and 6, 2007, and includes a tour of the original
>Elkhart Lake race course that used public roads.
>
>1950 was the first year that SAAB produced cars, and this is the earliest
>92 known in the U.S, the 218th of only 1246 Saabs to roll off the
>production line in Trollhattan that year. SAAB did not begin importing cars
>to the U.S. until the introduction of the model 93 in 1956. This 92 was
>imported to the U.S. by a private owner. When it was purchased by Saab
>enthusiast Larry Williams of Waterloo, Iowa, it bore a small dash plaque
>from the 1952 Elkhart Lake Rallye.
>
>Williams found the rusty 92 at Trio Motors in Flint, Michigan, where it had
>been sitting for over 25 years. He acquired it in 1991 and dragged it home.
>He was able to get the car's 750cc, two-cylinder engine unstuck and even
>running, then went on to hand fabricate many floor and body pieces that had
>rusted out. The car had been repainted grey at some time in its life, and
>much of that was flaking off. Williams was able to get down to the original
>green paint on much of the car, but bare metal was sprayed with black
>primer. That is how the body still appears today.
>
>Once it was safe to drive on the street, he drove it to a Saab Owners
>Convention in Wisconsin, a 500 mile round trip. In a true test of faith in
>the 92, Williams ran it around the autocross course at the convention.
>
>After Williams passed away in 1998, the SAAB 92 went to Tom Donney, another
>Iowa Saab collector. He, too, has driven the 92 to Saab events, including
>Saab Owners Conventions in Hilton Head, SC (1998) and Troy, Michigan
>(2007). On a recent trip to Sweden, Donney acquired many parts to do a
>restoration of the 92, and intends to bring the car closer to original
>condition over the next few years.
>
>= = = = =
>JON DAVIS - Former SCCA ProRally Champion Jon Davis ran his first rally in
>1959 in a Triumph TR3. He later switched to the more robust SAABs and took
>many trophies in both two-stroke and V4 SAAB 96s. When SCCA instituted the
>ProRally Championship in the 1970s, Davis was one of the first to get
>involved. He ran a very competitive Saab 99 for many years, but the car
>suffered regular engine problems due to aftermarket parts. Davis was one of
>the first to compete in the Production Class, driving a Saab 99, and
>captured the National Championship in 1980 and 1981, with Harry Ward as his
>co-driver.
>
>TIM WINKER - Tim Winker's rally career began when he was a student at the
>University of Minnesota in 1969. He competed locally for many years, and
>occasionally ventured across the country for a National Rally. Over the
>years he has also raced cars on the ice and road race courses, driven and
>co-driven on stage rallies, and navigated on several prestigious endurance
>rallies such as One Lap of America, Alcan 5000 and Targa Newfoundland.
>Winker was also part of a Saab factory organized team of journalists that
>drove a Saab 900 to a world speed record at Talladega International
>Speedway in 1996, and set the fastest lap during his stint at the wheel.
>Tim Winker
>-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
>Vintage Ice And Gravel Rally Racing Association
>[ V. I. A. G. R. R. A. ]
>
>


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