<p><span style="display:block;text-align:center;clear:both"><img style='max-width: 390px;' src="https://d29fhpw069ctt2.cloudfront.net/photo/53322/preview/tall-building-view_preview_caa8.jpg" alt="Tall Building Viewphoto" loading="lazy"></span>Saab, which stands for Svenska Aeroplan AB, was founded in 1937 to make aircraft for the Swedish air force. After World War II, their military contracts stopped paying the bills, so Saab turned to automobiles instead. When early models proved quite capable in European road rallies, Saab decided to try producing sports cars. A prototype emerged in 1956, but it was plagued by problems. A full decade later, Saab revived the concept, creating 1966_s Saab Sonett II. The styling was sleek and squat, but the engine was an outdated two-cylinder. As a sports car, it met with very limited success, and was discontinued to make room for the next attempt. It still wasn_t much better performance-wise than the Sonett II, and Saab eventually abandoned the idea of sports cars altogether. In this article, you_ll learn more about what made these Saabs tick. With car profiles and pictures, you_ll find out that looks aren_t everything, along with a bit of Saab_s history.</p><br><br><p><img loading='lazy' src='https://cdn.stocksnap.io/img-thumbs/960w/4TPXLOZSVU.jpg' style='clear:both; float:left; padding:10px 10px 10px 0px;border:0px; max-width: 390px;'>The name SAAB stands for Svenska Aeroplan AB, which, as you might guess, was founded to build aircraft for the Swedish air force. That was in 1937. When military orders dried up in the wake of World War II, the firm decided to bolster its business with a very different product: automobiles. What emerged was a streamlined but dumpy-looking little fastback sedan with front-wheel drive (a postwar pioneer in this respect) and a German DKW-inspired two-stroke twin for power. It went on sale in 1949 as the Saab 92. (Like Porsche_s, Saab projects have numbers, be they cars or airplanes.) Later models had three-cylinder two-strokes, but remained two-door sedans or three-door station wagons. Not surprisingly, they began to do well in European rallying, so the idea of a sporting model wasn_t as far-fetched as it might have seemed. Saab_s first move in this direction was the Sonett I of 1956-57, a fiberglass-bodied two-seat roadster based on standard production components.</p><br><br><div style="clear:both;"></div><p>Only a handful were built though, all essentially prototypes, and the company wouldn_t try again until 10 years later. This second effort was somewhat more successful. Internally designated Saab 97 and sold as the Sonett II, it employed rather <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/search?searchtext=modest%20coupe">modest coupe</a> bodywork, again of fiberglass, over the floorpan and running gear of the latest Saab 96 Monte Carlo sedan. That meant a 60-horsepower 841-cc two-stroke three, front drive, front disc brakes, and a 4-speed manual transaxle with Saab_s usual column-shift control. Styling was smooth if a bit odd, with a long, pointy front, prominent hood bulge, fixed compound-curve backlight, and abbreviated tail. The design came from Malmo Aircraft Industry (MFI), while bodies were initially built by the Swedish Railway Works (ASJ) in Arlov, many miles from any other Saab production facility. As on the Austin-Healey Sprite and Jaguar E-Type (see entries), hood and front fenders were a single-hinged unit. Like other Saabs, the Sonett II didn_t have much performance at first.</p><br><br><p>The two-stroke three had reached the end of its development by the time sales began in 1966, and was hard pressed to cope with a 1565-pound curb weight. That was no way to make money, so the 1968 model received the same engine transplant applied to other Saabs that season: the narrow-angle 1.5-liter V-4 from the German Ford Taunus. Horsepower rose by only five (though the rating was likely conservative), Titan Rise Male Enhancement but superior torque greatly improved low-speed tractability. Even better, the V-4 acted and sounded like a "real" engine, a welcome change from the quirky, poppity two-stroke. Known as the Saab Sonett V-4, Saab_s revised sportster was sold in the U.S., though on a very limited basis. One reason is that many showroom browsers found it difficult to take the car seriously. Nevertheless, this was a very nimble, Titan Rise Male Enhancement fun-to-drive little car, with decent luggage space (but no external access) and passenger room, plus the practicality of front-wheel drive and that rustproof body.</p><br><br><p>Though not as well balanced as the two-stroker, the V-4 was far more "sloggable," and its 100-mph performance made it far better for a wider range of <a href="https://wideinfo.org/?s=driving%20conditions">driving conditions</a>. Saab would have loved to have sold more Sonett IIs in the U.S., but dumpy looks and competition from established sports cars like MG and Triumph continued to limit demand. Production ended in 1970, <a href="https://git.shaunmcpeck.com/brittanyiqu135">improve nitric oxide</a> but only because Saab had something better: the new Saab Sonett III." With the Sonett III, aimed directly at the U.S. _s precisely what Saab did. Because this remained a specialty model with limited sales potential, and because of Saab_s small size, there was no way to justify the cost of a completely new design. It might have made good technical sense to switch the sports car to the chassis of the then-new 99 sedan, but this wasn_t seriously considered. Most of the design work was done by Italian freelancer Sergio Coggiola (also well known to Swedish rival Volvo), with Saab_s own studio applying final touches.</p>
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