December 16: The first Saab was launched on this date in 1949

YAHOO AUTOS

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By Justin Hyde @ Motoramic

            

 

 

First Saab 9-2

Toward the end of World War II, the Swedish firm set up to build warplanes faced a conundrum over what to do with itself once the war ended. After considering several ideas from motorcycles to furniture, Svenska Aeroplan AB chose a small, affordable car as its next product.

 Based on a streamline design that could be built cheaply — the entire body could be stamped from a single steel sheet — Saab gave its 92 model cars narrow tires and front-wheel-drive for better traction, all painted in green for the likely apocryphal reason of having only that color left over from war production.

 The Saab 92 was launched on this date in 1949, and over the next 60 years the company would build a reputation for Swedish quirkiness and durable vehicles. After bankruptcy shuttered the company for two years, Saab's new corporate owner NEVS re-started production of the 9-3 in December 2013 — and stopped again in May of this year, when the cash ran out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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