"SAAB - from airplane to world-class car With it's up market styling and indisputable class, it is hard to understand why SAAB hasn't developed the notoriety of some of its competitors. But those who have driven a vehicle produced by the Swedish manufacturer will never go back to anything else. These are cars built to last, built to drive. They are safe, quiet and refined, offering the driver every creature comfort imaginable. Saabs come in a range of models, from small hatchbacks to super-charged V6 turbos and the ever-popular convertible. Likewise, buyers

On December the 12th in 1949, the Swedish aircraft manufacturer Saab began regular production of its first ground-based vehicle: a green Saab 92. The uniquely designed car with its aircraft heritage, aerodynamic profile, front-wheel drive and two-stroke engine rolled off the production line a few weeks later, challenging the automotive mainstream.

Fifty years, and nearly 3.3 million cars later, Saab's unique approach to designing and engineering cars continues to challenge conventional wisdom. From prototype to regular production. In 1944, Saab-the acronym of Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget or Swedish Aircraft Company Limited-decided to begin making cars as a supplement to its aircraft production. Gunnar Ljungstrom, who had been employed as wing designer at Saab since 1937, was instructed to create a new car.
After styling designer Sixten Sason joined the project, an aircraft-inspired and very advanced car gradually emerged. The first prototype, designated the Saab 92.001, was ready in 1946. One year later, on June 10, 1947, a second car-designated the Saab 92.002-was unveiled. The two cars were used to move Saab's entire car department to Trollhattan and by 1949, Saab was ready to produce 20 pilot vehicles of the new Saab 92 model.

The 92 designation was a logical progression from the earlier Scandia (90) and Safir (91) aircraft projects. Cars instead of aircraft. The area of the Trollhattan workshop that was available for producing cars was only 190,000 sq. ft. and accommodated the entire production process-bodywork panel pressing and body assembly, engine and transmission production, upholstery and painting departments,
final assembly and final adjustments. As the first cars began rolling down the production line, the last Saab 21 propeller fighter aircraft rolled out of the factory. Aircraft production was being moved to Linkoping. The first three regular production cars were ready for delivery on January 16, 1950.

All of them were green. When the first Saab cars hit the showrooms, they received enormous interest. An estimated 15,000 to 35,000 people lined up to see them. However, production was only four cars a day, and only 1,246 cars were produced in the first year-all the same bottle-green color. The transversely mounted, two-cylinder, two-stroke engine had a displacement of 764 cc and developed 25 horsepowers. The engine and transmission were integrated into one unit and,
like all subsequent Saab models, the car had front-wheel drive.
The unit construction, all-welded steel body was strong and torsionally stiff, and due to the streamlined body design, the car had a drag coefficient of only 0.35. Production records in Trollhattan. A production rate of more than 10,000 Saab cars a year was not reached until 1958. The rate then rose swiftly to around 90,000 cars by the mid-1970s. The highest annual total was recorded in 1986, when 134,112 cars rolled off the production line.

In the 1960:s SAAB started doing something which they were going to be very good at: Rally. Some very famous SAAB rally drivers were Erik Carlsson "on the roof" and Stig Blomqvist. Erik got his reputation when he and his co-driver Gunnar Palm had been stuck in the mud in the SAFARI-RALLY 1964.
They walked out of the car, rolled it a few times on the roof and then they went on driving. The news spread fast to the finish line and the people wanted to see the rolling act again, so they did it one more time. The winners didn´t want to be worse, so they also tried to roll their car over , but their car with a flat roof became a trap and their car got stuck on the roof which, needless to say, was quite embarrassing for the winners. SAAB stopped competing in rally in the early 1980:s because of the new rules in the sport.

In addition to the cars produced in Trollhattan, Saab cars have also been assembled in Linkoping, Arlov, Malmo, Mechelen (Belgium) and Nystad/Uusikaupunki (Finland). Production today is concentrated to Trollhattan and Nystad, the latter plant producing the special Saab 9-3 Viggen model and all 9-3 Convertibles. In 1999 Saab produced about 132 000 ,the best production year for Saab so far.

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