Welcome to FormulaSAAB.com
Formulasaab.com is the home of the official Quantum Formula S Online Registry.
→ The Resources section includes two kinds of information.
- Information about the Quantum Formula S that is found in sources like company sales information, magazine articles, books, and letters.
- Restoration resources such as vendors, services and parts information.
→ Each car has its own Registry page accessed via the menu. It is organized alphabetically by the owner's last name.
If you have any additions or corrections to the information here, please send me an
.
→ Become a member and stay in touch.
Benefits of membership:
- You are automatically included on the mailing list when I send out updates.
- You may ask to be an author and post your own content.
To become a member, choose the Create an account link at the bottom of the Login Form to the left.
Note: Please use your real name. Submissions that are not recognizable as a real person are summarily denied.
Please enjoy.
Your humble webmaster and registrar,
-STEFAN
Vidar on ice, 2nd video
As a followup to the previous video that Vidar sent, here's another that features him briefly.
Vidar takes the Formula S out on the Norwegian ice
I received the following message from Vidar on February 21st and this looks like so much fun that I think I will have to give it a try someday!
Hello stefan!
this weekend i was driving the quantum on ice,with norwegian saab-friends.
We had a great time! The quantum woorked fine,but the studded tyres was to slippery,the car floated on the surface.need much longer studds(nails).Will built a new gear-box ,with 8:39 and spec 1 gears,think that will suit the quantum better,and maybe port the engine a bit for more Rpm.But strong and great fun to drive,it was.
Send you a link with a You Tube video we made.
Vidar H Schevik!
Sikkert greit å sende denne linken videre hvis du vil at noen andre skal se (da slipper de å søke)
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 29 February 2012 15:32 )
Karl Ludvigsen's article and a Formula S experience
Karl Ludvigsen is best known for his many years as an automotive journalist. In one of his articles (January 2006) written for Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car he details his *almost* getting to drive a GT-40 in the 1967 Daytona 24 Hours.
He needed an international competition license, needed to go to school to get it, and needed a car to drive in that school. That's where the Formula S comes in.
Here is the entire article on the Bentley publishing page: http://www.bentleypublishers.com/ludvigsen/hemmings.htm#jan06
Here is an excerpt from the article that deals with his time in the Formula S.
"There was only one problem: though I'd been to the odd SCCA driver's school, I possessed nothing resembling a current international competition license. My best shot at one was a driver's school at Marlboro, Maryland in November of 1966. A good result there might suffice to get my ticket. For this I needed a current-model racing car - something else I conspicuously lacked.
The solution came from Hank Rudkin of the Pepperidge Farm Rudkins. Tall, sandy-haired Hank was the backer of an effort in Seymour, Connecticut to build a Saab-powered single-seater called the Quantum Formula S. This was a successor to an earlier sports-model Quantum Saab that I'd tested at Lime Rock, a car that John Fitch and I judged only marginally controllable.
The Formula S was a big step in the right direction, a trim little racer with a twin-tube frame that served as its fuel tank and a ring-a-ding Saab two-stroke in the back giving 85 horses. Saab components were ingeniously adapted to its parallel-wishbone suspension, rack-and-pinion steering, drum brakes, wheels and four-speed transaxle. With a car buildable from a base kit priced at a mere $1,347 FOB Seymour, the ultimate aim was to establish Formula S as a one-make SCCA category.
With Rudkin's manager/racer Bill Kerrigan I arranged to borrow his demonstrator Formula S complete with trailer and tow car. I dragooned fellow General Motors wage slave Matthias Klinke into accompanying me to Marlboro for the school. We wheeled the red racer through tech inspection but then had the damnedest time getting it to run. The solution lay in isolating an ignition wire that was shorting out against the frame. With that sorted the super-tuned Saab burst into raucous life.
All went well at the school. I had a blast driving the Quantum at Marlboro, where a small oval combined with a tight road circuit to create a demanding track. We walked the track, did our usual solo bits and then had a race at the end in which I didn't embarrass myself or the Saab."
Recently, Steve Knoll, the historian of the Washington DC Region of the SCCA scanned a series of photos from a collection taken at Marlboro and other east coast tracks in the 60's. Among them, were a couple shots of Ludvigsen in the Formula S!
I can't display images that are within that YahooGroup page, so I have copied a version to my own server with full recognition that I did not take these photos nor do I own them or any of the rights to them.
Original photo taken by Bill Dobbins at the 1966 Drivers School at Marlboro Raceway.
Citation:
Dobbins, Bill (photographer) and Knoll, Steve (scanner). "Is this you Glen?" Marlboro_Raceway · Marlboro Motor Raceway YahooGroup. 2009. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Marlboro_Raceway/photos/album/209901720/pic/872367536/view
Original photo taken by Bill Dobbins at the 1966 Drivers School at Marlboro Raceway.
Citation:
Dobbins, Bill (photographer) and Knoll, Steve (scanner). "Glen, is this Karl Ludvigsen's Quantum?" Marlboro_Raceway · Marlboro Motor Raceway YahooGroup. 2009. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Marlboro_Raceway/photos/album/209901720/pic/909898341/view
Interestingly, there is mention of Karl also driving one of the earlier Quantums, though it is unclear whether it was the Quantum One, Quantum Two, or one of the Quantum III's.
Last Updated ( Friday, 02 March 2012 09:29 )Formula S arrives in Norway
Vidar's car arrived earlier this month. He sent these photos that show it arrived in fine condition and now sports a set of studded snow tires!
He also added a short video of the car's first start in Norway!
Vaughn starts over
Vaughn sent this note the other day (along with this photo):
"Men,
It's 1965, and my new Quantum IV just arrived from the factory..see attached photo. After I install the bellypan, (the instructions start with the bellypan already installed, presumably at the factory) I'll start assembly of the kit, using the original Quantum instructions.. I gave up trying to solve the steering rack question, and am just going with the standard SAAB rack that came with the car, and assume the factory made a mistake on all the front bulkheads when they went into production, although that still doesn't seem possible."
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