History
Saab was originally created as a division of the Swedish
Aeroplane Company (Svensk Aeroplan Aktiebolag in Swedish).
The company had been established in 1937 for the express purpose
of building aircraft for the Swedish Air Force. With World
War II nearing its end, the company began looking for new
markets in which to expand and in the late 1940s began manufacturing
automobiles.
|
|
In 1944, Project 92 began, with the goal of creating the first
Saab passenger car. Five years later, the Saab 92 began production.
The design highlighted the company's roots in aviation. Notably,
the car's drag coefficient of 0.30 was the
lowest of any production car at the time.
 |
In
1955 the SAAB 92 was reworked and became the SAAB 93. The engine
was upgraded from two to three cylinders but unusually remained
a two stroke. The car received a facelift, including the first Saab
with the brand's trademark trapezoidal grille. A wagon variant,
the 95, was added in 1959 and would remain in production for the
next twenty years. The decade also saw Saab's first foray into true
performance cars with the Saab 94, the first of four Saab Sonetts.
The Saab 900 Turbo was James Bond's vehicle of choice in many of
the John Gardner Bond novels of the 1980s, beginning with Licence
Renewed. In the second novel, For Special Services, the 900 was
dubbed the "Silver Beast". |
|
