Saab 96 - Driving with mind and heart

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Saab 96 - Driving with mind and heart

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Created on March 9, 2026

Text:

Martin Sigrist, translated by DeepL

Photos:

Daniel Reinhard

72

Bruno von Rotz

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Saab

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Volvo / Werk

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Archiv

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Saab 96 (1964) - In 1964 it was hardly foreseeable that the 96 would survive until 1980

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Saab 96 (1964) - When cars were still members of the family

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Saab 96 (1964) - Different from the others

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Saab 96 (1964) - Back then it was a fully-fledged family car

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Saab 96 (1964) - Thanks to the right mixture and modern oil, the two-stroke plume stays away

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Saab 96 (1964) - The Saab 96 has its own charm like a Swedish house

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Saab 96 (1964) - The shape is based on the Ursaab 92001 from 1946

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Saab 96 (1964) - The track is 122 cm front and rear

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Saab 96 (1964) - Driving pleasure in two strokes

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Saab 96 (1964) - Flying tail as a feature of the teardrop shape

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Saab 96 (1964) - Flowing shapes over flowing water

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Saab 96 (1964) - For downhill driving there is a freewheel to protect the two-stroke engine

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Saab 96 (1964) - Big journeys are also possible with the small Saab

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Saab 96 (1964) - A leisurely rattle over hill and dale

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Saab 96 (1964) - Indicator lights do not yet need to be orange

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Saab 96 (1964) - Saab thought cars a little differently right from the start

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Saab 96 (1964) - Saab's view of the future seemed promising in 1964

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Saab 96 (1964) - Very original appearance of the 1964 Saab 96

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Saab 96 (1964) - Carefully maintained, the Saab was a real long-distance runner

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Saab 96 (1964) - Comparatively strongly inclined windshield

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Saab 96 (1964) - The concept was almost 20 years old in 1964

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Saab 96 (1964) - The snub nose with the googly eyes correspond to the childlike scheme

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Saab 96 (1964) - The cw value is around 0.37

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Saab 96 (1964) - Nothing looks like a Saab

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Saab 96 (1964) - Elaborately built die-cast radiator grille

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Saab 96 (1964) - A small sheet metal shell protects the distributor from splash water

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Saab 96 (1964) - Radiator blind in winter position

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Saab 96 (1964) - The radiator sits behind the engine

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Saab 96 (1964) - Aluminum radiator fan with safety cage - Sweden stop

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Saab 96 (1964) - two-stroke engine with the fan shaft screwed onto the cylinder cover

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Saab 96 (1964) - The aluminum part on the manifold holds the intake air preheating to the air filter in winter

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Saab 96 (1964) - Sleeve for the intake air preheating, which is removed in summer

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Saab 96 (1964) - engine compartment ventilation with three positions - winter closed, transition period middle notch, summer off

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Saab 96 (1964) - The engine exhaust ventilation is reduced in the fall by means of a cover

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Saab 96 (1964) - Despite the longitudinal installation of the engine, the entire drive is very compact

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Saab 96 (1964) - As a family car, two-door models were sometimes more popular than four-door models, because of the children who couldn't open doors

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Saab 96 (1964) - The radio looks through the glove compartment lid

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Saab 96 (1964) - The 1964 Saab 96 had dual-circuit brakes in a diagonal design for the first time

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Saab 96 (1964) - Large panoramic rear window

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Saab 96 (1964) - Headlights with adjusting screws

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Saab 96 (1964) - Behind the cooling intake is the engine, not the radiator

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Saab 96 (1964) - The 1964 Saab had round instruments for the first time

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Saab 96 (1964) - Interior ventilation under the side panel

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Saab 96 (1964) - Body detail of the self-supporting body

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Saab 96 (1964) - Einar Englund from Enköping was the first owner

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Saab 96 (1964) - security lock and plaque with the owner's address

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Saab 96 (1964) - The side windows do not slide, but swing down at a pivot point

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Saab 96 (1964) - Wind deflector to leave the windshield partially open when it fogs up in winter

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Saab 96 (1964) - Elegant steering wheel with horn ring

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Saab 96 (1964) - Easy-to-read round instruments

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Saab 96 (1964) - Steering wheel circuit diagram -

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Saab 96 (1964) - Simple but robust interior

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Saab 96 (1964) - The Saab makes no extraordinary demands on operation

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Saab 96 (1964) - Saab has had an ignition starter lock since 1962

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Saab 96 (1964) - Dimmer for the instrument lighting, to the left of it the fan for the interior ventilation

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Saab 96 (1964) - Optimistic speedometer display

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Saab 96 (1964) - Time clock and accessory thermometer

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Saab 96 (1964) - Self-talking controls for temperature, air flap and defroster, next to the choke

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Saab 96 (1964) - Few but valuable switches, built for eternity

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Saab 96 (1964) - The cable pull for the radiator roller blind

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Saab 92 prototype (1946) - The first Saab was technically based on a DKW F8

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Saab 92 (1953) - with two-stroke engine - at the Geneva Motor Show in 1953

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Saab 92 (1951) - still without the typical radiator grille

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Saab 93 (1956) - rear with drawbar axle instead of trailing arms

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Saab 93 (1957) - Presentation of the 1957 model in October 1956

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Saab 93 (1956) - cutaway model of the engine

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Saab 96 Sport (1963) - three-cylinder two-stroke with three carburetors and 52 hp

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Saab 93 (1956) - Sectional drawing of engine and gearbox

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Saab 93 (1956) - longitudinal section through engine and gearbox

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Saab 93 (1956) - built in this form for two years

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Saab 93 F (1960) - rear view with (too) small rear window

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Saab 93 (1960) - Installation of the front engine

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Saab 93 (1960) - the body parts are pressed, steel with a thickness of 0.9 to 2 mm is used

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Saab 93 (1960) - when building a Saab, emphasis is placed on good rust protection - here an underbody protection is sprayed on

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Saab 93 (1959) - the quality of the paint surface is meticulously checked - if something is wrong, it is sanded and painted again

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Saab 93 (1959) - an automatic conveyor system takes the cars from station to station

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Saab 93 (1959) - the car stops at around 30 stations until it is ready for a test drive

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Saab 93 (1960) - the individual sheet metal components move from the sheet metal presses to the body assembly line in a specific sequence

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Saab 96 (1962) - Production - the bodies of the Saab 96 are assembled at the Trollhätten plant

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Saab 96 (1964) - the proximity to aircraft construction was repeatedly proclaimed, here the Saab 69 in front of a Saab 35 Draken jet

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Saab 96 Sport (1962) at the Geneva Motor Show - old form and 'modern' performance

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Saab 96 (1963) - fashionably slightly outdated, but very streamlined shape

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Saab 96 (1962) - the shape is reminiscent of an egg

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Saab 96 (1963) - the dashboard could have come from a glider, remarkable the padding to increase safety

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Saab - a whole family fits into the Saab

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Saab 96 (1962) - Saab 96 in a contemporary advertising image

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Saab 96 (1964) - the Saab 96 was exported all over the world, the most important export market was the USA

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Saab 96 (1967) - the V4 engine from Ford fitted easily into the engine compartment of the Saab 96

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Saab 96 (1967) - the V4 engine with 1,498 cm3 and 65 hp in front of the front axle, good accessibility to all relevant components was guaranteed

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Saab 96 (1966) - the V4 engine from Ford in the Saab

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Saab 96 (1962) - early version of the successful Saab - Oldtimer Sunday Morning Zug on August 5, 2018

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Saab 96 (1963) - Erik Carlsson on the Saab 96 during a speed test at the 1963 Monte Carlo Rally

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Saab 96 (1962) - Erik Carlsson and K. E. Svensson at the start of the East African Safari 1963

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Saab 96 (1964) – Alles andere als hölzern

Saab 96 (1964) – Als Autos noch Familienmitglieder waren

Saab 96 (1964) – Damals war das ein vollwertiger Familienwagen

Saab 96 (1964) – Dank richtiger Mischung und modernem Öl bleibt die Zweitaktfahne aus

Saab 96 (1964) – Der Saab 96 hat einen eigenen Charme wie ein Schwedenhaus

Summary

The Saab 96 from 1964 belongs to the last, perhaps best version of the Swede with a two-stroke engine and proves how convincingly a supposedly "simple" engine concept could be combined with high quality.

This article contains the following chapters

Driving instead of flying
Soothing companion

Estimated reading time: 8min

Preview (beginning of the article)

It floats slightly, but with a little throttle through the bend, the line can be stretched and the little Swede then pulls straight where you aim the steering wheel. Despite clearly under-revving, it is amazing how easily and without jerking the three-cylinder two-stroke converts the accelerator pedal movement into propulsion. But the idea was actually quite different: The small, rattling mixture burner would get its power from the revs; the whole thing combined with a roaring background noise that could not be ignored. But that is not the case with our 1964 Saab. In Switzerland, where Trabants and the like were still offered to us on a trial basis at the time, but were no longer sold when the last DKW two-stroke engine was discontinued, people are hardly used to encountering cars with the background noise of a gang of "Töfflibuben" - adolescents on their bicycles with auxiliary engines.

Welcome to Zwischengas!

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Images of this article

Saab 96 (1964) – Alles andere als hölzern

Saab 96 (1964) – Als Autos noch Familienmitglieder waren

Saab 96 (1964) – Damals war das ein vollwertiger Familienwagen

Saab 96 (1964) – Dank richtiger Mischung und modernem Öl bleibt die Zweitaktfahne aus

Saab 96 (1964) – Der Saab 96 hat einen eigenen Charme wie ein Schwedenhaus

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