‘Saab 96 two-stroke singing.”
Watching and, more importantly, listening to the above-titled YouTube video clip of a mid-60s Saab 96 rally car tackling a gravel stage in snarling snap-crackle-and-popping fury is a better introduction to the charm of these feisty little Swedish cars than I can manage with mere words.
Sounds and smells often take a back seat to the visuals that can pop up unexpectedly on memory’s monitor. But when they’re triggered, they can transport you back in time with an astonishing degree of intensity.
A V-12 Matra Formula One car on a misty long-ago Mosport morning. The smell of Castrol R “bean oil” cooking off a Manx Norton single that’s being rhythmically revved to warm it up in a racetrack paddock and emitting a ripple of crisp-edged thuds on the way up and a unique twitter on the way down. These are just two memories that come readily to mind…. More info