Saab 92
Encyclopedia
Saab 92 is an automobile
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...

 from Saab
Saab Automobile
Saab Automobile AB, better known as Saab , is a Swedish car manufacturer owned by Dutch automobile manufacturer Swedish Automobile NV, formerly Spyker Cars NV. It is the exclusive automobile Royal Warrant holder as appointed by the King of Sweden...

. The design was very aerodynamic for its time, and the cW value (drag coefficient
Drag coefficient
In fluid dynamics, the drag coefficient is a dimensionless quantity that is used to quantify the drag or resistance of an object in a fluid environment such as air or water. It is used in the drag equation, where a lower drag coefficient indicates the object will have less aerodynamic or...

) was 0.30 (the same as a Porsche 996
Porsche 996
The Porsche 996 is the internal designation for the Porsche 911 model manufactured and sold between 1998 and 2005. It has since been replaced by the Type 997...

 and better than the Ferrari F40
Ferrari F40
The Ferrari F40 is a mid-engine, rear-wheel drive, two-door coupé sports car produced by Ferrari from 1987 to 1992 as the successor to the Ferrari 288 GTO. From 1987 to 1989 it was Ferrari's fastest, most powerful, and most expensive car...

). The entire body was stamped out of one piece of sheet metal and then cut to accommodate doors and windows. Full-scale production started December 12, 1949, based on the prototype Saab 92001
Saab 92001
thumb|right|350px|UrsaabThe first Saab Automobile was the SAAB 92001, the Ursaab.As the Second World War was drawing to a close, the SAAB company, a manufacturer of warplanes, realised that it needed to enter a different market. An automobile project was envisaged codenamed XP92, meaning...

. All of them were of the Deluxe version. A standard version was advertised, but nobody was interested in buying it so no standard versions were produced.

The engine was a transversely mounted
Transverse engine
A transverse engine is an engine mounted in a vehicle so that the engine's crankshaft axis is perpendicular to the long axis of the vehicle. Many modern front wheel drive vehicles use this engine mounting configuration...

, water-cooled
Watercooling
Water cooling is a method of heat removal from components and industrial equipment. As opposed to air cooling, water is used as the heat conductor. Water cooling is commonly used for cooling automobile internal combustion engines and large industrial facilities such as steam electric power plants,...

 two-cylinder, two-stroke
Saab two-stroke
The first Saab two-stroke engine was based on a DKW design. The SAAB engine, a two-cylinder with 764 cc engine displacement and 25 hp was transversally placed in the 1950 - 1956 Saab 92, giving it a top speed of . With the 1954 model engine output was raised to...

 764 cc, 25 hp (19 kW) thermosiphon
Thermosiphon
Thermosiphon refers to a method of passive heat exchange based on natural convection which circulates liquid without the necessity of a mechanical pump...

 engine based on a DKW
DKW
DKW is a historic German car and motorcycle marque. The name derives from Dampf-Kraft-Wagen .In 1916, the Danish engineer Jørgen Skafte Rasmussen founded a factory in Zschopau, Saxony, Germany, to produce steam fittings. In the same year, he attempted to produce a steam-driven car, called the DKW...

 design, giving a top speed of 105 kilometre per hour. The transmission had three gears, the first unsynchronised. In order to overcome the problems of oil starvation during overrun (engine braking) for the two-stroke engine, a freewheel
Freewheel
thumb|Freewheel mechanismIn mechanical or automotive engineering, a freewheel or overrunning clutch is a device in a transmission that disengages the driveshaft from the driven shaft when the driven shaft rotates faster than the driveshaft...

 device was fitted. The suspension
Suspension (vehicle)
Suspension is the term given to the system of springs, shock absorbers and linkages that connects a vehicle to its wheels. Suspension systems serve a dual purpose — contributing to the car's roadholding/handling and braking for good active safety and driving pleasure, and keeping vehicle occupants...

 was by torsion bars.

All early Saab 92s were painted in a dark green
Green
Green is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 520–570 nanometres. In the subtractive color system, it is not a primary color, but is created out of a mixture of yellow and blue, or yellow and cyan; it is considered...

 colour similar to British racing green
British racing green
British racing green or BRG, a colour similar to Brunswick green, hunter green, forest green or moss green , takes its name from the green international motor racing colour of Britain. Although there is still some debate as to an exact hue for BRG, currently the term is used to denote a spectrum of...

. According to some sources, Saab had a surplus of green paint from wartime production of airplanes.

Saab's rally
Rallying
Rallying, also known as rally racing, is a form of auto racing that takes place on public or private roads with modified production or specially built road-legal cars...

 history already started two weeks after the 92 was released, when Saab's head engineer Rolf Mellde
Rolf Mellde
Rolf Mellde was an engineer specialized in engines and a car racing enthusiast.His grandfather August Johansson built one of the first cars in Stockholm and sold it to Lars Magnus Ericsson. His father, Evald Johansson, taught car mechanics at a school in Stockholm so it was natural that Rolf...

 entered the Swedish Rally
Swedish Rally
The Uddeholm Swedish Rally , formerly the Swedish Rally, is an automobile rally competition held in Värmland, Sweden in early February. First held in 1950, when it was called the Rally to the Midnight Sun with start and finish at separate locations, seventeen years later both start and finish...

 and came second in his class.

Only 700 1950 models were made. In 1951, the German VDO instruments were replaced by American Stewart-Warner
Stewart-Warner
Stewart-Warner is a US manufacturer of vehicle instruments, a.k.a. gauges. The company was founded as Stewart & Clark Company in 1905 by John K. Stewart. Their speedometers were used in the Ford Model T. In 1912 John Stewart joined with Edgar Bassick to make vehicle instruments and horns...

 components.

In 1952 Greta Molander won the 'Coupe des Dames' of the Monte Carlo Rally
Monte Carlo Rally
The Monte Carlo Rally or Rally Monte Carlo is a rallying event organised each year by the Automobile Club de Monaco which also organises the Formula One Monaco Grand Prix and the Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique. The rally takes place along the French Riviera in the Principality of Monaco and...

 in a 92, tuned
Engine tuning
Engine tuning is the adjustment, modification or design of internal combustion engines to yield optimal performance, to increase an engine's power output, economy, or durability....

 to 35 hp (26 kW).
In 1953, the 92B arrived with a much larger rear window and larger luggage space (with an opening lid). It was now available in grey, blue-grey, black and green. In 1954 the Saab 92 got the new Solex
Solex
Solex was a French manufacturer of carburetors and the powered bicycle VéloSoleX.The Solex company was founded by Marcel Mennesson and Maurice Goudard to manufacture vehicle radiators...

 32BI carburetor
Carburetor
A carburetor , carburettor, or carburetter is a device that blends air and fuel for an internal combustion engine. It is sometimes shortened to carb in North America and the United Kingdom....

 and a new ignition coil
Ignition system
An ignition system is a system for igniting a fuel-air mixture. Ignition systems are well known in the field of internal combustion engines such as those used in petrol engines used to power the majority of motor vehicles, but they are also used in many other applications such as in oil-fired and...

 giving 28 hp (21 kW). The US headlights were replaced with Hella
Hella (company)
Hella KGaA Hueck & Co. is an internationally operating German automotive part supplier with headquarters in Lippstadt, North Rhine-Westphalia. Core businesses are vehicle lighting and electronics systems and components. Hella is also involved in the areas of vehicle diagnostics and thermal...

 units. Another novelty was that a textile roof (semi-cab or cabrio coach
Cabrio coach
A cabrio coach or semi-convertible is a type of car that has a retractable textile roof, and derives from Cabriolet. It is an inexpensive alternative to a full convertible, especially on cars with unibody designs since little or no redesign of the body is necessary.This type of roof was perhaps...

) was offered as an option. The color maroon
Maroon (color)
Maroon is a dark red color.-Etymology:Maroon is derived from French marron .The first recorded use of maroon as a color name in English was in 1789.-Maroon :...

 was also introduced this year. In 1955, it acquired an electric fuel
Fuel
Fuel is any material that stores energy that can later be extracted to perform mechanical work in a controlled manner. Most fuels used by humans undergo combustion, a redox reaction in which a combustible substance releases energy after it ignites and reacts with the oxygen in the air...

 pump and square tail lights installed in the rear fenders. The colors were grey, maroon and a new color, moss green.

The English aviation test pilot 'Bob' Moore, who had helped to develop the Saab Tunnan
Saab Tunnan
The Saab 29, popularly called Flygande tunnan , was a Swedish fighter designed and manufactured by Saab in the 1950s. It was Sweden's second turbojet-powered combat aircraft, the first being the Saab 21R...

 (J29) jet aircraft, brought a 1955 Saab 92B back to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, when he returned, later to become the first managing director of Saab GB Ltd. This was reputedly the first-ever Saab car imported to the UK.

The Saab 93
Saab 93
The Saab 93, pronounced ninety-three, is an automobile manufactured by Saab. It was announced on August 18, 1955, and was first presented on December 1, 1955. It was styled by Sixten Sason and had a longitudinally-mounted three-cylinder 748 cc Saab two-stroke engine giving 33 hp . The...

 was introduced in December 1955, but both the 92B and 93 were produced at the same time, for a while. The last 92 was assembled in late 1956–early 1957. Two new colors, grey-green and beige, were available. A total of 20,128 Saab 92s were made.

The Saab 92 appears on a Swedish postage stamp.

When General Motors
General Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...

 in 2008 made a list of their top ten cars, the Saab 92 came in first followed by the Pontiac GTO
Pontiac GTO
The Pontiac GTO is an automobile built by Pontiac Division of General Motors in the United States from 1964 to 1974, and by GM subsidiary Holden in Australia from 2004 to 2006. It is considered an innovative, and now classic muscle car of the 1960s and 1970s...

 (1964), the Chevrolet Corvette
Chevrolet Corvette
The Chevrolet Corvette is a sports car by the Chevrolet division of General Motors that has been produced in six generations. The first model, a convertible, was designed by Harley Earl and introduced at the GM Motorama in 1953 as a concept show car. Myron Scott is credited for naming the car after...

 (1953), the EV1 (1996), the Opel Olympia
Opel Olympia
The Opel Olympia is a small family car produced by the German automaker Opel from 1935 to 1940, from 1947 to 1953 and again from 1967 to 1970.The 1935 Olympia was Germany's first mass-produced car with an all-steel unitized body . This revolutionary technology reduced the weight of the car by 180...

 (1936), the LaSalle (1927), the Chevrolet Bel Air
Chevrolet Bel Air
The Chevrolet Bel Air is a full-size automobile that was produced by the Chevrolet division of General Motors for the 1950–1975 model years. Hardtops in the Chevrolet Deluxe Styleline model range were designated with the Bel Air name from 1950–1952, but it was not a distinct series of its own until...

 (1955), the Cadillac V16 (1930), the Cadillac Model 30 (1910) and the Cadillac
Cadillac
Cadillac is an American luxury vehicle marque owned by General Motors . Cadillac vehicles are sold in over 50 countries and territories, but mostly in North America. Cadillac is currently the second oldest American automobile manufacturer behind fellow GM marque Buick and is among the oldest...

 (1912)

Spyker Cars NV, the Dutch maker of supercars, bought Saab in February 2010 from General Motors Co. In May 2010, Spyker's CEO stated the firm was planning a new small car
New Saab 92
The New Saab 92 is a car that will be added to Saab's production line by 2014, under its new ownership, Spyker Cars, to compete in the growing small car segment....

, tear-drop shaped and inspired by the Saab 92 model

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK