Name: The SAAB Story
Uploaded: 2021-06-10T07:23:41.000Z
Duration: 17 min 48 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Saab have always been – a little different.

For example, in the 1960s their main car, well their only car, had a 2-stroke 850cc

engine that meant you had to add oil every time you filled up, and the interior converted

into a bed for those remote Swedish road trips.

Oh, and their parent company made fighter jets!

But did you know you can still buy a Saab today, and why isn't it called a Saab?

The story starts, oddly enough, with Germany's

surrender at the end of the first World War.

The peace treaty severely limited what aircraft Germany could produce, so the Swedish company

Svenska Aero was set up in 1921 to assemble German aircraft.

At the start they were little more than a way to get around the trade embargo, and many

parts supposedly manufactured in Sweden were actually made in Germany and smuggled out.

But during the 1920s and 30s both Svenska Aero and rival ASJA started to assemble other

aircraft like the British De Haviland Tiger Moth, and by 1929 they were designing their

With the threat of World War 2 hanging over Europe, the Swedish government charged both

companies to produce a steady stream of military aircraft.

They couldn't rely on aircraft from other nations, especially as their partner up until

Both Svenska Aero and ASJA merged to form AFF in 1937, then SAAB Aeroplan in 1939.

Although Sweden was neutral during the war, there were fears that they would be drawn into

the conflict, fears that were heightened when the Soviet Union invaded Finland in the 1939

Saab's first plane was the 1942 Saab 17 bomber and reconnaissance aircraft, followed

by the Saab 18 twin-engine bomber in 1944 and Saab 21 fighter in 1945.

After the war the governments around the world had all the military aircraft they needed,

so Saab needed to do something with their spare production capacity.

Car production in war torn Europe was almost non-existent, and the US was concentrating

What Saab needed to do was produce a Swedish car.

The car would be named “Ursaab” which means “original Saab” and would be designed

by Sixten Sason and engineered by Gunnar Ljungström in less than 6 months.

Both men would go on to create every Saab until the late 1960s.

You can tell the car was designed by a bunch of aircraft designers, because it looked like

But that sleek design produced 50% less drag than contemporary cars.

With just a 2-stroke 18hp engine it wasn't going to win any drag races, but it would

Saab's first production car, the 92, was released in 1949.

Saab had an excess of military green aircraft paint after the war, so the only colour the

Saab put their car through wind tunnel testing, quite a rare thing at the time, giving the

car a low drag factor of just 0.3, and it didn't use standard chassis construction

These things helped the 2-stroke 25hp engine allied to a 3-speed manual gearbox get the

And that 2-stroke engine required an oil / fuel mix, so the filler cap had a label to remind

To help sell the car, and to provide additional testing, Saab took the 92 rallying just 2

By 1952 they were winning races, starting with the 'Coupe des Dames'

By 1953 the car was improved as the 92B, and Saab purchased paint that wasn't green to

Foreign car companies had recovered and were once again targeting Sweden.

The 92 had sold 20,000 cars and was replaced by the Saab 93 in 1955.

The car was a little bigger and better appointed, but the big news was a more powerful 3-cylinder

As Sweden had many remote, unpopulated areas, the cars could be converted for sleeping.

The 93 was the first car it would export, with the USA being its main market.

They used their advertising to highlight their aircraft roots, something they would return

They started small, exporting just 300 in 1956.

With limited spare parts on hand, Saab initially restricted sales to only a few areas in America

to ensure their customers received good service.

By the end of the 1950s the USA was their main export market.

Many were exported to the Pacific Northwest where Scandinavians loggers had settled.

With sales taking off in the USA and Saab being seen for rallying success, they produced

a lightweight sports car for the American market.

Leaning on their aircraft division, the Sonett used a lightweight aluminium frame, allowing

its tiny 748cc engine to get it to 99mph.

Unfortunately, it wasn't a success, and only 6 were made.

With the Sonett a failure, Saab took a different tack with the GT750 in 1958, a sporty version

It could get to 60mph in 15 seconds, compared to the standard car's 27 seconds.

You really couldn't expect blistering speeds in the 1950s!

Saab rally drivers found if they kept the revs and momentum up, they could win.

They won the Great American Mountain Rally in New England in 1956, and the Monte Carlo

Erik Carlsson was one of their top drivers and had a long and illustrious career, winning

in Saabs from the mid 50's to the late 60s.

He was known as “Carlsson on the roof” because of his habit of occasionally rolling

the car and having to get out and right it again,

something that was made slightly easier with Saab's round shape!

Saab kept improving the 93, and in 1959 produced an estate or wagon version.

To make better use of the small engine it received a 4-speed gearbox.

Despite the hiccup with the Suez crisis in the mid 50's that introduced temporary fuel

rationing in Sweden, times were good, and by 1959 Saab was exporting over 6000 cars

Saab was known for its quirky 2-stroke engined cars and developed a small but fiercely loyal following.

The Saab 96 has a more powerful engine: 42hp. New rear seats - there's room for three.

Bigger boot. New wraparound rear window. New instrument layout with safety padding.

All new features making the Saab 96 stronger, roomier, more beautiful.

Drive the Saab 96, you'll be spellbound! Saab, the Swedish car with aircraft quality.

The 93 was replaced by the Saab 96 in 1960, a more refined and powerful car, but it still

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