How Wink became a SAAB fan

The story of my current SAAB 93F ice racer began several years before I ever set eyes on it,

Shortly after I graduated from high school in 1969, a friend invited me to the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) Trans Am race at Donnybrooke Speedway near Brainerd, Minnesota. He worked with the SCCA as a Technical Inspector, basically making sure the race cars were were equipped with the proper safety gear and safe to drive at speed, It was a terrific experience that pretty much set me on the course of my life. I was invited to join the Tech crew and I gladly leaped at the opportunity.

Later that summer I worked with the Tech crew at an SCCA regional race. My transportation was the family's Chevy II station wagon, and I planned to sleep in the back as it was a weekend event. Another Tech Inspector took pity on me and offered the floor of his motel room. I found out that he raced on the ice in a SAAB. I knew very little about SAABs, and I kept him up very late asking questions about the cars and about ice racing.

My first car, 1960 SAAB 93F

A couple of weeks later I bought my first car from him, a 1960 SAAB 93F* that had been upgraded from the standard 750cc three-cylinder two-stroke engine to a later 850cc engine of the same design. The idea of a small front-wheel drive car designed by aircraft engineers intrigued me. It turned out not to be terribly reliable, but I loved that tiny car. Friends with muscle cars of the era bragged about how fast their car could turn a quarter-mile. My response was to ask how often they did that. Their usual reply was that they had never tried it, but the potential was there. Then I'd ask what kind of fuel mileage they got. The answer was often around 10 to 12 mpg. I countered with, “My SAAB gets over 30 mpg every day.”

On a very hot summer day, the engine developed a rod knock. In the following weeks, I built my first SAAB engine. At the time, a rebuilt crankshaft from the local SAAB dealer, Morrie's Imports, for the 850 was $100. But for an extra $50, I could get a GT crankshaft which had different counterweights. It went back together with the upgraded crankshaft, and that SAAB became my daily driver once again.

Until... one sub zero day. Let me tell you what happens to salted roads in sub zero temperatures. Salt used to melt the snow only works to about 0 degrees F. Below that it becomes a slimy slush and slimy ice. The engine started just fine that morning as I headed to broadcasting school in Minneapolis. Along the usual route, a city bus stopped suddenly in front of me as a late passenger ran in front of it trying to make sure they weren't left behind. I wasn't prepared and the SAAB smacked the buses' rear bumper about distributor level. The studded snow tires I had on the car were completely useless in that particular situation.

My dad helped me to tow the car home (again) and it sat in the driveway until I could afford to get it fixed. After a few months someone knocked on the door and asked it if might be for sale. When the potential buyer asked about price, my ten-year-old brother, who had tagged along to interfere as ten-year-old brothers often do, responded to my asking price with, “For this piece of junk?” As I recall the buyer thought my price was reasonable and hauled it away.

The Next SAAB 93F

Fast forward five years. The radio biz was not as exciting as I thought it might be. Long hours, low pay, limited benefits. When I quit my last paying radio job, I decided to follow my passion of things automotive. I took a job as a mechanic in a Volkswagen shop in St. Paul, The Old Volks Home. I knew the owner through motorsports activities, especially through ice racing.

As the annual St. Paul Winter Carnival Cup race on frozen Lake Phalen approached, the boss was looking for a car so his business would have a presence at the event. The sanctioning body, International Ice Racing Association (IIRA), had banned him from actually racing. Not sure if that was because he had a pretty nasty temper or that he was just a bad driver.

On the grid at the 1977 Uncola 100 Ice Race on Lake Phalen.
Photo by Kate Westberg.

We ran across a 1960 SAAB 93F raced the previous winter season that was for sale. The SAAB had been built by a couple of local guys who both worked in race shops. Consequently there was a lot of fabrication that looked quite professional. From what I have been able to piece together, the SAAB was entered in only two races in 1976, and did not finish either of them.

Because I had SAAB experience, I was put in charge of getting it ready to race again, and I would be the driver. I enlisted the help of Dan Jones, a SAAB tech at Morrie's who had helped other Saab ice racers to build their cars. Dan worked cheap; take him out for ice cream and he was happy to assist. The engines that came with the package price were disassembled, so Dan and I picked out the best parts and built an 850cc engine. A very stock 850cc engine.

Since this was to be my first experience at wheel-to-wheel racing, I enlisted my roommate, Jerry, as co-driver. He had experience racing a Triumph Spitfire with SCCA, but had not driven on ice, nor was he experienced with front wheel drive. The car was finally ready to go the Saturday of race weekend. My recollection is foggy, but I think Jerry ran a few laps to make the field, though near the back. A couple of much faster cars started behind our SAAB, and as soon as the green flag fell, they passed Jerry.

Unfortunately for them, they could not see the pileup happening in turn one. The studded tires on the race cars kicked up a cloud of snow and ice chips, aided by sub-zero temperatures and wind, and drivers were unable to see what was going on. There are various theories as to what caused the first cars to spin out, but the end result was a chain reaction that left lot of race cars destroyed. Both of the fast cars that passed our 93 at the green flag, both Saab Sonetts, were among the cars that were wrecked. Fortunately Jerry was able to see that there was something amiss ahead of him and ducked off the plowed track, avoiding the melee. Also fortunately there were few injuries. Nancy Youngdahl received a broken nose aboard her Mini, and Phil Shockley was limping after his newly completed Sonett V4 was reduced to rubble

What's left of Ken Cich's Saab Sonett 850

The race was red-flagged so the wreckage could be removed. Once the race started again, very few of the competitors in our class were part of the action. We had to make a couple of pit stops to rectify problems missed during the rebuild, most notably the bolts on the intake manifold backed out, but we were able to keep it in the race. I was driving when the checkered flag fell, having completed just enough laps to be considered a finisher in the 100 mile race. As the only finisher in our class – Class B, FWD, under 1000cc – we were awarded the 1^st place trophy.

The following week at the Old Volks Home, I was preparing to get the SAAB ready for the next race in nearby Forest Lake, when the boss let me know that we would not be entering that or any other races. In addition, my services as a mechanic were no longer needed. Can't say as I blame him on the latter part. I am not a fast mechanic, more of a half-fast mechanic.

The SAAB was his, and I would not see it again for several years. It was sold to the owner of another VW repair shop who intended to take it ice racing again. Whenever I ran into him at a race, I let him know that if he was ever interested in selling that car, that I would be interested in buying it.

After several years of publishing NINES, the Saab Club Magazine, I got the call. Too many projects, not enough time, the ice racing SAAB was for sale. We negotiated a price and I hauled it home.

The engine turned over by hand, but it needed brake work and plenty more to make it race worthy again. It went into storage while other Saab projects took precedence.

* The SAAB 93F was built only in 1960, as an interim model between the 93B and the 96. The "F" designation was because the doors were hinged at the front, below the A-pillar. All previous SAAB cars had "suicide doors", hinged at the B-pillar. SAAB is an acronym for "Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolag" (Swedish Aircraft Company). All capital letters were used until sometime in the 1960s. After that "Saab" is acceptable.

To Be Continued....