The SAAB Way - Part 1
The early development of Saab cars had a profound influence on the subsequent history of the marque. Its reputation across the world as a producer of rugged, practical, innovative and immensely driveable cars has been, and still is, the envy of many of its competitors.

To get a better understanding of how this came about it is necessary to appreciate something of the economic and social background of the small country which spawned not only this gem but also Volvo, and many other world-beating names like Husqvarna, Scania-Vabis, Electrolux, Sandvik and Ericsson.

Although Sweden has much in common with its Scandinavian neighbours there has always been rivalry between them. Sweden had a small population and an essentially rural economy. At the beginning industrialisation was slow in Sweden at a time when changes were occurring rapidly in Britain and other parts of Europe. But gradually this changed. Sweden had abundant reserves of important resources like timber and minerals, notably iron and copper, which were eventually exploited to the benefit of the whole population. During the late nineteenth century manufacturing for the home market quickly became subsidiary to exports, as new products and inventions were developed to satisfy growing demand abroad, especially in North America.

A key factor behind the success of the Swedish economy was its foreign policy. In the face of a massive build-up of military strength in Germany the country declared its neutrality at the outbreak of war in 1914. This enabled it to survive through two world wars and establish a healthy economy. The Welfare State came early here as successive socialist governments sought to share the wealth widely. This included investment in industry and in public services like railways, roads and electricity. All this activity gave the country a strong competitive advantage over its neighbours who were very much preoccupied with recovery from the ravages of war.

That sets the scene for the Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget (SAAB), which was originally set up on the back of Aktiebolaget Svenska Järnvägsverkstäderna (ASJ, the Swedish Railroad Works) to manufacture military aircraft, to establish a car production facility at Trollhättan in the mid-forties. An important aspect of this development was the clean start, the almost complete absence of any previous tradition, which enabled the design and production teams to proceed, unfettered by any preconceived ideas.

Initial experience of car production was built up through assembly under licence, as was the case with the establishment of aircraft production. It was an act of faith in the future to go forward with the development of an in-house design in 1945. The project was headed by Gunnar Ljungstrom, a brilliant engineer with a background of innovation and development in both car and aircraft manufacture. He particularly liked the concept of the pre-war DKW and proceeded to adapt this design to suit Swedish conditions. The team also included another radical designer, Sixten Sason, whose ideas perfectly complemented Gunnar’s engineering thoughts. Together they conceived a small car with monocoque body (now common-place) with an extremely low drag coefficient (0.32) so that it could be driven by a small, low-powered engine. By the summer of 1946 the original prototype 92001 was ready for testing. That led to various modifications which were eventually embodied in prototype 92002 which appeared in May 1947 and that became the master for the construction of tooling for the production model Saab Type 92. In fact four such prototypes with alternative arrangements of suspension, steering and drive-train, were built and tested covering almost 200k miles.

Most of this testing was carried out in Sweden, a lot of it on country roads around Trollhattän, by drivers who were experienced in rallying or racing. So the new car had to perform well on atrocious corrugated earth and gravel roads (not unlike the forest roads used as special stages in today’s rallying) and endure severe arctic winters typical in Sweden at that time. The development team were firmly focused on the home market, with the comforting thought that if it worked there it would work anywhere! It is important to appreciate the advantages of the large wheel size (15 inch diameter rims) and the smooth under-body floor pan in dealing with deeply rutted road surfaces, and the good power-to-weight ratio of the 2-stroke engines chosen for the 92. Good road-holding was ensured by designing-in a low centre of gravity in conjunction with torsion springs at front and rear. Also by taking the drive direct to the front wheels the car was given greater stability as power was applied at or after the apex of the corner.

The public announcement of the Saab 92 in 1947 revealed that production was expected to commence in 1949 (the first 20 pre-production cars emerged in the summer of that year and series production finally began in December. By naming Philipsons Automobile AB as the main agent for the initial production Saab were indemnifying themselves against much of the risk involved in launching this new venture. But they needn’t have worried. Public interest in Sweden was great. Saab’s sporting reputation began almost immediately - within a month of production starting a Saab 92 driven by K G Svedberg took the honours at the Östergötland Runt.
More rally history in the next issue.

Mike

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