Saab Sonett Racecars Remembered in Grassroots Motorsports Magazine (Reprint)
- Charles Christ
- Steve Church
- Stefan Vapaa
- Mary Anne Fieux
- Randy Cook
- Ed Diehl
- George Vapaa
- Jon Ewing
- William Harding
- Chris Moberg
- 1960 93F
- 1973 97 Sonett III
- 1968 97 Sonett V4
- 1964 Quantum Formula SAAB
- 1967 Brand'X' Sports Racer
- Racecar Group Photos
Crews
- Tom Cox
- Chip Lamb
- Sune Nilsson
- Laura Briggs
- Don Wollum
Last Updated: Mar 26, 2006
7/26/2003
VSRG is grateful to the publishers of Grassroots Motorsports magazine for allowing us to reprint a famous article (at least to us) from 1995. It focused on two vintage Saab Sonetts that were still active in modern motorsports competition at the time. Each car was unique even though they were both based on the Sonett chassis and body.
One of the cars featured was the radically modified and nationally recognized road racing Sonett built by John "Jack" Lawrence. Just a few years after this article was printed, Jack began from scatch to engineer and build a tube-framed chassis to Sonett specifications. He then migrated his proven drivetrain and modified Sonett body to the new chassis. Jack remained very competitive with his new car until his very recent retirement from racing (at 70+ years of age!).
The second Sonett example captured in the article was the 1974 Sonett prepared by Ken Payne. Ken put this car up for sale in 1997, and Chris Moberg and I co-purchased it. I've been using the car's steel-cased rallye transmission (with limited slip differential) and its 'Jackman' wheel rims on my 1973 racing Sonett. Chris is storing the remainder of the car as a complete chassis, planning for a day when he'll re-enter it in vintage racing events.
Grassroots Motorsports is 'The Hardcore Sportcar Magazine' that always contains a mix of valuable articles and real-world product evaluations to benefit anyone interested in cool street cars, autocross, road racing or vintage racing. Please visit their website by using any of the links provided here.
Steve