SAAB, which stands for “Swedish Aeroplane Corporation”, is a Swedish high technology aerospace and defense company seated in Linköping. It is generally oriented towards safety and defense, aviation, advanced space technology and civil security. SAAB operates on the global market, offering leading global products, services, and solutions in three strategic fields: defense and safety solutions, systems and equipment, and especially aeronautics. Equipment refers to simulators based on laser technology for directly-guided weapons.

Gunnar Ljungström made the first sketch of the automobile in 1945 and showed it to Sven Otterbeck, the deputy director of Saab, who then presented it to the management board, and it was soon decided to start the development of cars. Since Saab was an aircraft factory and nobody was actually capable of making cars, Ljungström was trusted with this job, as he had spent some time working in the British automobile industry and was therefore the only one familiar with this branch of production. When the manufacture of the first prototype started, they realized that they needed somebody who knew something about car design. They turned to an ex-employee of Saab, Sixten Sason, who had been working in the meantime in industrial design. As early as the 1930s, he made a plan for a car of a truly futuristic and aerodynamic design. In addition, Sason had an idea for a futuristic fighter aircraft with a “double-delta” wing in 1941, which would come to life 14 years later as the Saab Draken. This influence is noticeable in his car designs. The design was returned by the management board and the car was redesigned several times, until the well-known Saab shape was reached. The first complete model was named Ursaab, which means “original Saab” or “first Saab”. Since they were aircraft manufacturers, they did not have workers who had experience with shaping steel, as they had only worked with aluminum, and they had to hire local blacksmiths to shape the steel manually according to their drafts. The first prototype was named 92001. This was the project number at Saab, while, for example, project 91 referred to a single engine trainer aircraft.

The next problem was the color. To improve the appearance of the car and increase the chances of obtaining the approval of the management board, it was decided that the cars must be painted. Since they were not experienced, a nearby locomotive factory was trusted with this job. As the locomotives were mostly painted black at the time, the factory only had this color, so the cars were painted black. This was therefore the first color of Saab cars, and not green which went on to become a trademark of this brand.

The final shortcomings were eliminated as a result of different analyses, and in 1947, after expenses were calculated, the management board approved the beginning of serial production only two years after the project was started. A total of 4 prototypes (92001-92004) were manufactured and serial production began in 1949.

The first model, Saab 92, was manufactured until 1952, and it included a two-cylinder two-stroke engine based on a DKW design, with 764 cc engine displacement and 25 hp. A redesigned 92B model, which came out in 1952, had a larger boot and the engine output was raised to 28 hp. Erik Carlsson won a Swedish motor rally in 1955 driving this model. By 1956, a total of 20,128 vehicles of this model had been manufactured.

In 1956 a new model, Saab 93, was introduced, and it had a new three-cylinder two-stroke engine developed together with the German company Heinkel. It had 748 cc engine displacement and 33 hp. This model is significant for Saab because it was the first one to be exported. Export was always essential for Saab, and the American market was the most important one. The 93 model was manufactured until 1960 and 52,731 vehicles were made, with most of them exported to foreign markets, primarily the USA.

Four years later, the Saab 96 model, a further development of Saab 93, was introduced. Even though the Saab 93 engine remained, the Saab 96 had a longer back section, and a station wagon version named Saab 95 was also available. The engine was improved, so it had 841 cc engine displacement and 38 hp (1960-1964), 40 hp (1965), and finally 42 hp (1966-1968) when 3 carburetors were included. In 1962, a GT version with a 52 hp engine and a maximum speed of 150km/h was developed. This model had disc brakes at the front.

People at Saab realized that in order to achieve technological progress, they had to turn to four-stroke engines, which were cleaner and more economical. After extensive research into the engines of several manufacturers (Hansa flat engine, Lancia V4 engine, Triumph straight-four engine), they chose the Ford four-stroke engine used in the Ford Taunus 12m. Thanks to its short construction, the V4 could be inserted into the existing engine space with few modifications, and it proved to be very good during the analyses. The manufacture of the 96/95 model ceased in 1978 in Sweden, but lasted until 1980 in Finland. Until that moment, a total of 547,221 vehicles of the 96 and 110,527 vehicles of the 95 model were produced.

Only 5 Saab Sonetts, whose prototype is now known as Sonett I, while some people call it Super Sport or Saab 94, were manufactured between 1955 and 1957. Ten years later, Sonett became a commercial vehicle and it was manufactured between 1966 and 1974. The engine and other components were taken from the models 95s and 96s of that period. The models Sonett II, V4 and III were manufactured.

Saab was aware right from the outset of the fact that it couldn’t survive by solely making sales on the domestic market. This is why it was decided right away that the models being developed should have good sales potential on the world’s biggest market – the American market. Having that in mind, the sixties marked the development of the Saab 99 model, which was conceptually very different from its predecessors, all of which originated from the aged Ursaab model. Sixten Sason designed the Saab 99 model.

The engine, as a component, was essential for Saab; it was always chosen carefully and a lot of attention was given to making sure that it was powerful enough, even in its weakest version, in addition to its high reliability. The initial idea was to put the British development bureau Ricardo in charge of developing a completely new engine. Once they realized that the cost of such development would be too high for a small company like Saab, they asked Ricardo to use their connections with the British automotive industry in order to find a suitable engine. Ricardo introduced Saab to Triumph, a company that offered their straight four-cylinder engine, which was actually a halved V8 engine from the Triumph Stag model. In its initial version, the engine had 1.7, and later 1.85 liters of displacement volume, and, in addition to the carburetor, it could work with the D-Jetronic fuel injection system.

The original agreement that the British would make the engines was soon abandoned because Saab was not satisfied with the quality of manufacture by the British company. Saab took over the manufacture after the engine had been upgraded. In terms of construction, the transmission was similar to the one found in the Mini, but the lubrication system was separated from the engine. The initial version had 4-speed transmission. The engine was tilted at 45 degrees from the central axis, which made it compact and enabled the hood to be lowered. The transmission, which was one unit with the engine, provided quite a short “engine-transmission” structure, which enabled Saab to install the engine lengthwise, as with rear wheel drive, but keeping the front wheel drive.

The advantage of this solution was the fact that the engine was located in the middle of the front axle, which gave the car excellent traction on snow and muddy terrain.

In 1968, Saab began to manufacture the 99 model with a 1700 cc and 80 hp engine. In 1970, the power had already increased to 87 hp, and the 99E model with electronic fuel injection was introduced. In 1973, the B20 engine was introduced, and it represented a largely modified Triumph engine with 1,850 cc. It had 1971 cc and it is regarded as the first independent Saab engine. The variant 99EMS, i.e. B20 with the D-Jetronic fuel injection system made by Bosch was offered as well. Manufacture in Sweden ceased in 1981 and in Finland in 1984, whereas the Saab 90 model, with certain changes, was manufactured until 1987.

Saab’s history is made up of not only successes, but also mistakes which provided valuable lessons. Together with Lancia, Saab decided to put the Saab 600, which was a somewhat modified Lancia Delta, on the domestic market. Saab had experience working with the Italians since it had been distributing some Lancia models on the Swedish market. The sales started in the spring of 1980 and were going well until the beginning of winter, when it became apparent that the heating system of this Italian vehicle was not cut out for the Scandinavian climate. After that, the sales came to a sudden halt and were never revived, and in 1986, sales were completely stopped.

The Saab 9000 Turbo model became well-known for the Talladega track in Alabama, USA. This endurance test showed the world what quality really is and serves as proof that Saab has always put quality over quantity. The test began on October 7, 1986 and, after 100,000km of non-stop driving, it was finished 20 days later with an average speed of over 213km/h. The test was performed using three standard Saab 9000 Turbo models and an additional one used for recording purposes. In the course of that test, many records were broken, including two world records.

The beginning of the nineties was marked by the collaboration between Saab and the American company General Motors, the aim of which was technological exchange between the two companies. This alliance, which would later lead to complete acquisition of Saab by General Motors, was extremely important for the small Swedish company since it was aware of the fact that it didn’t have enough money to develop new models. In partnership with GM, the Saab 9000 was equipped with the 3.0 V6 engine as the most exclusive Griffin model.

To celebrate the 30^th anniversary of installing the turbocharger, in 2007 Saab introduced the 9-3 Turbo X model with a 2.8l generator and 280 hp paired with a six-speed manual transmission or automatic transmission. This model is known for the advanced all-wheel drive system XWD, designed by Haldex in partnership with Saab. Within this model, Saab paired the XWD with eLSD, electronically controlled limited slip differential. This system was incorporated into 9-3 sedan and SportCombi models from 2009, as well as the next generation of 9-5 models, when it became the standard for all Saab cars.

At the 2010 Paris Motor Show, Saab introduced its first electric car, the 9-3 ePower. This model was based on the 9-3 SportCombi model, it was equipped with a pack of 35.5kWh Li-ion batteries, its maximum speed was 150km/h, and it was estimated that it could travel 200km after a single charging. This model awaits the beginning of serial production under the auspices of NEVS, the new owner of Saab.

SAAB currently has 13,300 employees, with annual production of EUR 23 billion, and around 17% of the yearly income invested in R&D. SAAB continues to expand its business globally, and today it has a strong presence in several European countries, South Africa, Australia, and America.

Source: www.sabclubserbia.rs