Saab from the ‘60s a nod to history at BCIC RB26

Sixty years after it rolled out of the factory in Trollhättan, Sweden, a Saab 96 will face the starter at First Citizens King of the Hill (May 24) and BCIC Rally Barbados 2026 (May 29-31). This nod to the dominant rally cars of the past is crewed by Scottish couple Robin and Vanessa Hamilton, returning to compete in the island for the sixth time.
  With an 841cc two-stroke three-cylinder engine and three-speed gearbox, their 1966 Saab is the same spec driven by Swedish ace Erik Carlsson to win some of the most challenging rallies in period: the RAC Rally of Great Britain 1960-’62; Acropolis Rally 1961; Monte Carlo Rally 1962-’63, all later part of the World Rally Championship (WRC).
  Naysayers attributed the Monte and RAC wins to the front-wheel-drive and narrow tyres (both ran in icy conditions) but the Acropolis win and three second places in dry and dusty Greece told a different story. While the WRC did not start until the 1970s, the European Rally Championship (ERC) first ran in 1953, Carlsson the near winner in 1959.
  Fresh back from the 900-mile round trip from their home base just south of Edinburgh to deliver the car to Portsmouth ready for shipping on Tuesday, Hamilton said: "I had always wanted to rally one of these since seeing them on the RAC Rally as a wee boy. Spectating on the Roger Albert Clark Rally back in November, there was one competing, which made my mind up and I bumped into an old Saab enthusiast who put me in touch with Paul Lucking, a real wizard with two-stroke engines who agreed to build an engine."
  Hamilton has been working on the project for nearly a decade, having bought a Saab 96 in 2017, which he describes as a “basket case”. Fortunately, there was a spare body shell with it, on which he has been working on and off ever since.
  The Hamiltons marked their 10th wedding anniversary with a ‘bucket list trip’ to Rally Barbados in 2017; Robin is a double Scottish Tarmac Champion and Vanessa a three-time top female co-driver in their domestic championship. But like many newcomers, they caught the bug; with some additional holiday visits thrown in, this is their sixth time competing – and in a sixth different-spec car.
  In order, the list so far is: Talbot Sunbeam, MG Metro 6R4, Talbot Sunbeam Lotus and Ford Escort MkI - an engine upgrade between 2024 and ‘25, changed its class. Hamilton has a 100 per cent finishing record - his best result 41st overall in RB22 in the Sunbeam Lotus with Steve McNulty co-driving – and a few class trophies.

BCIC Rally Barbados (May 29-31, 2026) is a tarmac rally with around 20 special stages run on the island’s intricate network of public roads, under road closure orders granted by the Ministry of Transport, Works & Water Resources; First Citizens King of the Hill (May 24), run under a similar arrangement, features four timed runs on a roughly four-kilometre stage, with the results used to seed the running order for the main event.