Saab , which stands for Svenska Aeroplan AB , was found in 1937 to make aircraft for the Swedish air force . After World War II , their military contract bridge stopped pay the bills , so Saab turn to automobiles instead .
When former model proved quite able in European route exchange , Saab decided to try producing sports machine . A prototype emerge in 1956 , but it was plagued by problems . A full decade later , Saab revived the construct , create 1966 ’s Saab Sonett II . The styling was satiny and dumpy , but the engine was an outdated two - cylinder . As a sport car , it meet with very special succeeder , and was give up to make room for the next effort .
1970 saw the Saab Sonett III , which traded in its two - cylinder for a four - cylinder railway locomotive , and fleshed out the body a bit , giving the car less of a scrawny look than its herald . It still was n’t much better operation - wise than the Sonett II , and Saab eventually abandoned the musical theme of sports cars altogether .
In this article , you ’ll learn more about what made these Saabs tick . With car profiles and pictures , you ’ll chance out that feeling are n’t everything , along with a bit of Saab ’s history .
To learn more about Saab and other sports cars, see:
Saab Sonett II
The story of the Sonett II is the taradiddle of Saab itself . The name SAAB stands forSvenska Aeroplan AB , which , as you might guess , was founded to build aircraft for the Swedish air force . That was in 1937 . When military order dried up in the aftermath of World War II , the firm decided to bolster up its business with a very unlike product : automobiles .
What emerged was a streamlined but dumpy - look trivial fastback sedan with front - wheel drive ( a postwar groundbreaker in this respect ) and a German DKW - inspire two - stroke Gemini for power . It last on cut-rate sale in 1949 as the Saab 92 . ( Like Porsche ’s , Saab projects have numbers , be they machine or plane . ) Later models had three - piston chamber two - chance event , but stay on two - door sedans or three - door station wagons .
Humble they may have been , but these early Saabs proved quite worthy : self-coloured , reliable , and capable to cope easily with the harsh Swedish winters for which they were designed . Not surprisingly , they begin to do well in European rallying , so the idea of a sporting model was n’t as far - fetched as it might have seemed .
Saab ’s first move in this direction was the Sonett I of 1956 - 57 , a fibreglass - incarnate two - seat roadster based on standard product element . Only a fistful were built though , all basically prototypes , and the company would n’t judge again until 10 years later .
This 2nd effort was somewhat more successful . Internally designated Saab 97 and sold as the Sonett II , it utilise rather modest coupe bodywork , again of fiberglass , over the floorpan and running geared wheel of the late Saab 96 Monte Carlo saloon . That meant a 60 - horsepower 841 - millilitre two - cam stroke three , front thrust , front disc brakes , and a 4 - focal ratio manual transaxle with Saab ’s usual pillar - shift control . Styling was smooth if a fleck leftover , with a farseeing , pointy front , outstanding hood extrusion , prepare compound - curvature backlight , and abbreviate tail . The design came from Malmo Aircraft Industry ( MFI ) , while body were initially built by the Swedish Railway Works ( ASJ ) in Arlov , many mile from any other Saab output readiness . As on the Austin - Healey Sprite and Jaguar E - Type ( see entries ) , thug and front fenders were a single - hinged unit .
Like other Saabs , the Sonett II did n’t have much performance at first . The two - stroke three had reached the ending of its development by the clock time sales begin in 1966 , and was hard press to contend with a 1565 - pound curb weight . So although handling and durability were of a high order , only 60 Sonnetts were built that first yr , followed by 455 in 1967 .
That was no way to make money , so the 1968 manikin received the same engine transplant apply to other Saabs that season : the narrow - angle 1.5 - cubic decimetre V-4 from the German Ford Taunus . Horsepower rose by only five ( though the rating was likely conservative ) , but superior torsion greatly improved low - fastness tractability . Even better , the V-4 act and sounded like a “ genuine ” engine , a welcome alteration from the quirky , poppity two - stroke .
Known as the Saab Sonett V-4 , Saab ’s revise sportster was sell in the U.S. , though on a very limited footing . One reason is that many showroom browsers set up it difficult to take the car earnestly . Saab publicizing did n’t assist , defining “ Sonett ” as “ Swedish for ‘ expensive toy . ’ you’re able to discover it in the toy department . ”
Nevertheless , this was a very agile , playfulness - to - drive little car , with adequate luggage outer space ( but no external accession ) and rider way , plus the practicality of front - roulette wheel drive and that rustproof body . Though not as well balanced as the two - stroker , the V-4 was far more “ sloggable , ” and its 100 - miles per hour performance made it far better for a wider range of drive condition .
Saab would have loved to have sold more Sonett two in the U.S. , but roly-poly looks and competition from established sports cars like MG and Triumph continued to limit demand . Production ended in 1970 , but only because Saab had something undecomposed : the new Saab Sonett III .
Saab Sonett III
By most accounting , the theme card on the Sonett II and V-4 was , “ try hard , but could do better . ” With the Sonett III , aimed directly at the U.S. market , that ’s precisely what Saab did .
Because this remain a specialization model with modified gross sales potential , and because of Saab ’s modest size , there was no style to justify the toll of a wholly young excogitation . It might have made goodtechnicalsense to switch the sports car to the chassis of the then - fresh 99 saloon , but this was n’t seriously debate .
consequently , the Saab Sonett III , which bowed publicly at the 1970 New York Auto Show , was simply a restyled version of the premature 96 - based Saab Sonett II . Most of the design work was done by Italian freelancer Sergio Coggiola ( also well known to Swedish rival Volvo ) , with Saab ’s own studio apartment put on final trace . keep on the Saab Sonett II ’s key body , Coggiola lengthen the tail , discarded the ungainly envelop backlight , and substituted a right fastback roof with commodious hachure window .
Up front was a retentive , smoother nozzle with conventional hood , pop - up headlamps , and a encompassing , shallow radiator grille with driving lamps behind its thin horizontal prevention . Other changes included rear twenty-five percent windowpane , more sharply flared wheelarches , a fashionable Modern dashboard , and a option of two framework : standard and lavishness . As before , the body was fibreglass , and ASJ in Arlov handled both organic structure yield and final assembly .
Also retained were the underframe and front - driving force run gearing from Saab ’s V-4 96 sedan/95 wagon , but a more powerful , 1.7 - liter version of the German Ford railway locomotive was adopted in compliance to tightening American guard and emissions standards . Alas , its 10 more horsepower and nine spare pounds - groundwork of torque were countervail by a considerable addition in curb weight , so the Saab Sonett III was no firm than the Sonett II all out and actually a snatch slower off the line . sales event were n’t any better either : just 940 units for the entire calendar year .
change were simple and few in subsequent geezerhood . The ’ 71s wore redesigned wheels , and the metal rim previously offered on the sumptuousness model were pass . Saab ’s Modern “ collective ” grille motif notice the ’ 72s , which were also rerun otherwise . The survey year take U.S.-inspired front and rear “ impact ” bumper much like those applied to the previous time of year ’s 99 sedans . Of the last , Saab ’s own historians say : “ No one in the world could say that they did much for the automobile ’s blueprint . ”
regrettably for Saab , sale were still a long manner from workable , and this plus the 96 ’s planned North American phaseout meant that the Sonett would also fly after 1974 . A successor was regard but would never hit yield .
Saab has yet to examine another sport car , and may never . It has since bump sports sedan chair – especially the turbocharged smorgasbord – to be much more profitable . Today , the closest thing to a Saab sport car ( which still sounds like a contradiction in terms ) is the 900 Turbo convertible – very able but , as they say , a horse of a different colouring .
