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Saab Sonett - the road fighter from the aircraft factory

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Created on January 25, 2013

Text:

Bruno von Rotz

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Archiv

35

Archiv

35

Saab Sonett II (1967) - pretty illustration from a sales brochure

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Saab Sonett V4 (1968) - an extremely rare car in the sixties

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Saab Sonett Super Sport (1956) - one of the six prototypes

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Saab Sonett II prototype (1965) - the front design by Björn Karlström largely corresponds to the production vehicle

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Saab Sonett II prototype (1965) - the early design by Björn Karlström was already relatively close to the later production vehicle

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Saab Sonett II prototype (1965) - rear view of the design by Björn Karlström, clad in sheet steel

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Saab Sonett II prototype (1965) - the second of the two Sonett II prototypes, somewhat more elongated in design by Sixten Sason

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Saab Sonett II (1966) - at the Paris Motor Show in 1966

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Saab Sonett II (1966) - Saab called the creation a "new extreme sports car"

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Saab Sonett II (1966) - the two-stroke sports car weighed 660 kg and was designed to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 12.5 seconds

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Saab Sonett II (1966) - the entire front could be opened up

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Saab Sonett II (1966) - elongated front, squat rear

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Saab Sonett V4 (1969) - cost more than a Triumph TR 6

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Saab Sonett II (1967) - the front-wheel drive sports car impressed with its good driving characteristics

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Saab Sonett II (1966) - at a slalom race event in Switzerland

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Saab Sonett II (1966) - Interior with two sports seats, the steering wheel is covered with leather

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Saab Sonett V4 (1967) - available from 1967 with a four-cylinder engine

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Saab Sonett V4 (1968) - visually, the transition from two to four-stroke engine had left almost no trace on the car

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Saab Sonett V4 (1969) - the V4 version can be recognized by the distinct hill on the hood

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Saab Sonett V4 (1968) - sporty seating position in the small sports coupé

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Saab Sonett V4 (1968) - the inner door lining with window crank and door opener

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Saab Sonett V4 (1968) - with plastic body and Cologne V4

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Saab Sonett V4 (1970) - in a beautiful yellow plastic dress

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Saab Sonett II (1970) - the entire front could be opened up

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Saab Sonett II (1970) - sporty ambience in the coupé, but red speed range already at 5,000 rpm

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Saab Sonett V4 (1968) - Presentation in a sales brochure

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Saab 96 (1967) - the model 96 among its siblings, including the famous Sonett, illustration from sales brochure

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Saab Sonett III (1971) - exhibited at the 1971 Geneva Motor Show

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Saab Sonett III (1971) - with manually operated folding headlights

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Saab Sonett III (1971) - the folding headlights in action

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Saab Sonett III (1971) - rear view

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Saab Sonett III (1971) - the drag coefficient was given as 0.31

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Saab Sonett III (1971) - the flat front required some modifications to the engine

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Saab Sonett 97 (1972) - one of the last versions

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Saab Sonett III (1971) - the sporty seats - seen at the 1971 Geneva Motor Show

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Saab Sonett Super Sport (1956) - einer der sechs Prototypen

Saab Sonett II Prototyp (1965) - die Frontgestaltung von Björn Karlström entspricht weitgehend dem Serienfahrzeug

Saab Sonett II Prototyp (1965) - der frühe Entwurf von Björn Karlström war schon relativ nahe am späteren Serienfahrzeug

Saab Sonett II Prototyp (1965) - Heckansicht des Entwurfs von Björn Karlström, eingekleidet in Stahlblech

Saab Sonett II Prototyp (1965) - der zweite der beiden Sonett II Prototypen, etwas gestreckter gestaltet von Sixten Sason

Saab Sonett II (1966) - auf dem Autosalon von Paris im Jahr 1966

Summary

The Saab company was founded in 1937 as an aircraft factory. The Saab airplanes became famous, but as early as 1945 Saab engineers designed the first passenger car. The first sports car, called the Sonett, was then presented in 1956 and developed over several generations into a popular, albeit relatively expensive, special model. This vehicle report tells the story of the Saab Sonett and shows it in many historical illustrations, some of which have never been shown before, and in four brochures. There are even press documents and price lists.

This article contains the following chapters

Only six Sonett prototypes in the fifties
The second generation
Start of production for the Sonett II
Transition to the four-stroke engine
Plastic body from Italy for the Sonett III
A rarity today

Estimated reading time: 7min

Preview (beginning of the article)

The Saab company was founded in 1937 as an aircraft factory. The Saab airplanes became famous, but already in 1945 Saab technicians designed the first passenger car. The lines could not deny that the draughtsmen were used to designing airplanes. Based on a design by Sixten Sason, a wooden model was built for aerodynamic tests. The first prototypes flew in 1946. The first Saab was presented to the press on June 10, 1947, but the car was not available until December 1949. It had a transversely mounted 25 hp two-cylinder two-stroke engine that drove the front wheels. During the first twelve months of production, 1,246 Saab 92s were delivered. All were painted a uniform green. On May 6, 1954, the 10,000th Saab 92 left the factory, and from mid-1952 it was even available in other colors.

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Images of this article

Saab Sonett Super Sport (1956) - einer der sechs Prototypen

Saab Sonett II Prototyp (1965) - die Frontgestaltung von Björn Karlström entspricht weitgehend dem Serienfahrzeug

Saab Sonett II Prototyp (1965) - der frühe Entwurf von Björn Karlström war schon relativ nahe am späteren Serienfahrzeug

Saab Sonett II Prototyp (1965) - Heckansicht des Entwurfs von Björn Karlström, eingekleidet in Stahlblech

Saab Sonett II Prototyp (1965) - der zweite der beiden Sonett II Prototypen, etwas gestreckter gestaltet von Sixten Sason

Saab Sonett II (1966) - auf dem Autosalon von Paris im Jahr 1966

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