1959 Saab Quantum II

In the post-War era, racing of all types was booming. Many of the cars circling the American road racing circuits were built in Europe. A special breed of special builders constructed their own races in small-town machine shops and home garages. Some were attractive and effective, others were crude and rudimentary. Some were built in low volumes while others successfully built hundreds. Walter Kern was one of those individuals who had a passion for racing and for constructing his own specials. His Saab Quantum models were a series of 5 cars beginning with the Quantum 1 of 1959. It wore a basic aluminum body with a computer engineered chassis by Walter Kern at IBM in his spare time. It raced in the SCCA H-Modified class.

The next example, the Quantum II, was built in a similar fashion and design to the Quantum I. Power was from a three-cylinder Saab two-stroke, water-cooled engine. The two-stroke engine was attractive to Kern because it used no oil. The name 'Quantum' was chosen because of Walter's background as a physicist. The Saab components came from Bob Wehman (who was General Manager of Service and Spare Parts for Saab Motors, Inc.) and Ralph Millet who was President of Saab Motors. Russell Blank of Eugene Engineering Corp. built the chassis. The suspension was believed to be a standard Saab setup.

The cars that followed were the Quantum III, Quantum IV, and the Quantum V. Two examples of the Quantum II, nearly 60 examples of the Quantum IV, and just one of the Quantum V were created.

Years after the car's racing career had come to an end, the car was owned by Richard Blank. His father, Russell Blank, was clearing out his father's shop - Eugene Engineering - and the car was found in a corner. The car was brought back to his home and into a shed; his kids named it 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.'

The car is currently in the care of a Saab enthusiast who also owns Quantum I and a Formula S.

By Daniel Vaughan | Jul 2014