On April 21, 1999, Kurt Oblinger wrote
>The SAAB 99 engine has a common heritage with the Triumph Toledo 1500
>and the TR7 slant 4's. The engine was designed by Triumph for SAAB but
>the development of the engine took different paths with both companies
>over the years. Although similar, I don't think there are many parts
>from the SAAB that would be interchangeable with the Triumph.
Kurt, with respect - I think there's a bit of confusion arising here on
origins and what things were called.
The Triumph Toledo effectively replaced the Herald and used the 1296 8 port
head engine and was rear wheel drive from the start.
The 1500 was an uprate of the former Triumph 1300 saloon (different from the
Toledo) and used front wheel drive but later went rear wheel drive.
As far as the 1850cc engine is concerned, as I recall it was originally
designed for general Triumph use on the longer term but was first seen by
the company as a power unit for some of its products being made at that time
in Israel. Indeed, I certainly recall some euphoria in the company when it
was announced that Saab had chosen the Triumph engine (from a wide choice of
other Euro engines being made at the time) by other companies. Initially,
Triumph made the engines for Saab but quite soon afterwards, Sweden started
making the units themselves. One of the early modifications was to radically
alter the porting to allow better breathing (and more power). I understand
though cannot prove that after Triumph had introduced this power unit in the
early 1970's Dolomite, it wanted to copy the Saab improvements but was
unable to because Saab would not agree to it. In consequence, the Dolomite
Sprint appeared on the UK and European markets with Standard Triumph's own
16 valve head - probably the first mass produced post-war engine to have
such multi-valve technology. The Sprint was aimed at the BMW 2002 range and
enjoyed considerable success - especially in saloon car racing.
Regards
Jonmac
Book 2: http://www.toolbox.ndirect.co.uk/crocus
Triumph Over Triumph magazine: http://www.cyberware.co.uk/~chips11
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