![SAAB94](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/SAAB94.jpg)
The Saab Sonett is an
automobile
A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with Wheel, wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, pe ...
manufactured between 1955 and 1957 and again between 1966 and 1974 by
Saab
Saab or SAAB may refer to:
Brands and enterprises
* Saab Group, a Swedish aerospace and defence company, formerly known as SAAB, and later as Saab AB
** Datasaab, a former computer company, started as spin off from Saab AB
* Saab Automobile, a fo ...
of Sweden. Sonetts share engines and other components with
Saab 93,
95 and
96 of the same era. It was mainly intended for the lucrative American export market and was only offered intermittently in the Swedish domestic market (model years 1968 and 1972).
The first prototype, now known as the Sonett I, is a two-seat, open-top, lightweight roadster racer which, ten years later, evolved into the commercially distributed Sonett models II, V4, and III.
Sonett I
In the 1950s,
Rolf Mellde
Rolf Mellde (1922 – March 2009) was an engineer who specialized in performance engines and also a car racing enthusiast.
Early life
Mellde's grandfather August Johansson built one of the first cars in Stockholm and sold it to Lars Magnus Er ...
—a Saab engine developer and race enthusiast—along with Lars Olov Olsson, Olle Lindkvist, and Gotta Svensson, designed a two-seat roadster prototype in a barn in
Åsaka, near
Trollhättan
Trollhättan () is the 23rd-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Trollhättan Municipality, Västra Götaland County. It is situated by Göta älv, near the lake Vänern, and has a population of approximately 50,000 in the city proper. It is loc ...
(the site of the main Saab manufacturing facility). The limited research-and-development project, with a total budget of only , became known as the ''Sonett'', a name derived from the
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
phrase ''Så nätt den är'' ("how neat it is").
The ''Saab Sonett'', also called the ''Super Sport'' or ''Saab 94'', was introduced on 16 March 1956 at
Stockholm
Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
's ''Bilsalong'' (motor show). Featuring a three-cylinder 748 cc
two-stroke
A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes (up and down movements) of the piston during one power cycle, this power cycle being completed in one revolution of ...
engine generating and a aluminium box-style chassis from Swedish designer
Sixten Sason
Sixten Sason (born Sixten Andersson; 1912–1967) was a Swedish industrial designer, noted for his work in designing several generations of Saab automobiles.
Biographical
Sason was born in 1912, the son of a Swedish sculptor. He trained in Pa ...
, the Sonett I was an advanced low-weight racer based on aircraft design concepts.
With a projected top speed of , the Sonett I had the prospect of success on the European
race
Race, RACE or "The Race" may refer to:
* Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species
* Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...
circuit, and a production run of 2,000 units was planned for 1957. However, race competition rules changed, permitting modified production cars into race classes that Saab had envisioned for its purpose-built Sonett, and the economic and marketing viability of the project faded.
Only six Sonett I vehicles were made between 1955 and early 1957, all
RHD. The original prototype, known as "No. 1" and built with a manually-crafted
glass-reinforced plastic
Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass cloth ...
(GRP, or "fiberglass") body, served as the reference model for the other five cars. An extremely rare vehicle, only two Sonetts I exist in the United States; one was in the GM Heritage Center collection.
In September 1996, rally driver
Erik Carlsson
Erik Hilding Carlsson (5 March 1929 – 27 May 2015) was a Swedish rally driver for Saab. He was nicknamed "''Carlsson på taket''" ("Carlsson on the roof" in reference to Astrid Lindgren's children's book character) as well as ''Mr. Saab'' ...
broke the Swedish record for the under–750-cc engine class with a speed of in the restored Sonett I original prototype "No. 1".
Sonett II
In the early 1960s, Björn Karlström, an aircraft and automotive illustrator, and Walter Kern, an engineer at
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...
, independently suggested a two-seat roadster with Saab components and a two-stroke engine called the "Shrike". Two
prototype
A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototyp ...
s were developed: the
Saab MFI13 by
Malmö Flygindustri Malmö Flygindustri was a small aviation and car company in south Sweden which specialized in small single-propeller aircraft and various plastic objects. It was later acquired by SAAB.
Products
;Aircraft
* MFI-9
* MFI-10 Vipan
* BA-12 Sländan
...
, and the
Saab Catherina by
Sixten Sason
Sixten Sason (born Sixten Andersson; 1912–1967) was a Swedish industrial designer, noted for his work in designing several generations of Saab automobiles.
Biographical
Sason was born in 1912, the son of a Swedish sculptor. He trained in Pa ...
.
After some modifications, the MFI13 was put into limited production (28 units) in 1966 as the ''Sonett II'', manufactured at the Aktiebolaget Svenska Järnvägsverkstäderna (ASJ) in
Arlöv
Arlöv () is the seat of Burlöv Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden. It is statistically not defined as a locality of its own, but forms part of the contiguous city of Malmö, 5 km northeast of downtown Malmö. Out of Malmö's 344,000 inh ...
. Inside Saab, it was designated model 97. A further 230 units were assembled in 1967, but as the two-stroke engine became increasingly uncompetitive in the US market, a switch to the
Ford Taunus V4 engine
The Ford Taunus V4 engine is a 60° V4 piston engine with one balance shaft, introduced by Ford Motor Company in Germany in 1962. The German V4 was built in the Cologne plant and powered the Ford Taunus and German versions of the Consul, Capri, an ...
was made in the middle of the 1967 production year, and the model was renamed the Sonett V4. Apart from the engine and related drivetrain, the Sonett II and Sonett V4 share much of their componentry.
The additional weight did require some strengthening of the chassis and suspension pieces, and the wheels were half an inch wider than the four-inch units used on the Sonett II.
[ Nyblad, p. 34] Approximately 50 percent of the Sonett II production has survived, preserved or maintained by museums, collectors, and race enthusiasts.
Like the Sonett I prototype, the Sonett II
fiberglass
Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass cloth ...
body was bolted to a box-type chassis with an added roll-bar to support the hard top. The entire front hood section hinged forward to allow easy access to the engine, transmission, and front suspension. Equipped with a three-cylinder,
two-stroke
A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes (up and down movements) of the piston during one power cycle, this power cycle being completed in one revolution of ...
engine generating , the Sonett II achieved 0 to 100 km/h (0–62 mph) time of 12.5 seconds, with a top speed of . All Sonett IIs were
left hand drive
Left-hand traffic (LHT) and right-hand traffic (RHT) are the practices, in bidirectional traffic, of keeping to the left side or to the right side of the road, respectively. They are fundamental to traffic flow, and are sometimes referred to ...
(LHD).
![1966 SAAB Sonett II rear](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/1966_SAAB_Sonett_II_rear.jpg)
Designed as a race car, the Sonett II competed successfully against other small European sports cars, including the
Austin-Healey Sprite
The Austin-Healey Sprite is a small open sports car produced in the United Kingdom from 1958 until 1971. The Sprite was announced to the press in Monte Carlo by the British Motor Corporation on 20 May 1958, two days after that year's Monaco Gran ...
and
Triumph Spitfire
The Triumph Spitfire is a British sports car and manufactured over five production iterations between 1962-1980. Styled for Standard-Triumph in 1957 by Italian designer Giovanni Michelotti, the Spitfire was introduced at the London Motor Show in ...
, in
Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) races of the period. Due to low production volume, Sonett IIs were disqualified from certain competitions. By 1967, the two-stroke engine failed to meet US emission control standards. In 2011 a two-stroke Sonett II achieved at the
Bonneville Salt Flats
The Bonneville Salt Flats are a densely packed salt pan in Tooele County in northwestern Utah. A remnant of the Pleistocene Lake Bonneville, it is the largest of many salt flats west of the Great Salt Lake. It is public land managed by the Bur ...
. Of the 28 Sonett IIs manufactured in 1966 all were equipped with 841cc three cylinder two-stroke engines. SAAB produced serial numbers 29 through 258 with the two-stroke engine, serial number 259 was the first Sonett to have the V4 engine.
All Sonett II
transmissions had a
freewheel
Freewheel mechanism
In 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. An ...
that could be engaged and disengaged while in motion via a pull handle down near the throttle pedal. The freewheel was required in the normal (non-oil pump engines) SAAB two stroke engines but not in the racing engines that had an oil injection system fed from a supply tank, nor in the Sonett V4 since it had a
four-stroke engine
A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either directi ...
with the common recirculating pressure lubrication.
The Škoda-engined
ÚVMV 1100 GT was based on the Sonett II.
Sonett V4
![1968 SAAB Sonett V4](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/1968_SAAB_Sonett_V4.jpg)
When Saab started using the
Ford Taunus V4 engine
The Ford Taunus V4 engine is a 60° V4 piston engine with one balance shaft, introduced by Ford Motor Company in Germany in 1962. The German V4 was built in the Cologne plant and powered the Ford Taunus and German versions of the Consul, Capri, an ...
in their 95, 96, and
Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is ...
models, an upgrade for the low-volume Sonett II became economically feasible. The ''Sonett V4'' was introduced with a 1,500 cc
Ford V4 engine in the middle of the 1967
model year
The model year (sometimes abbreviated "MY") is a method of describing the version of a product which has been produced over multiple years. The model year may or may not be the same as the calendar year in which the product was manufactured.
...
starting with serial number 259. A new
"bulge" hood, designed by
Gunnar A. Sjögren, was required to clear the larger V4 engine, with a slight right offset to avoid obstructing the driver's view. This asymmetrical hood shape, criticized by both the automotive press and within Saab itself, contributed to the motivation for the 1970 Sonett III redesign.
The Ford V4 engine produced , and—combined with the car's lightweight chassis and fiberglass construction—allowed the V4 model to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h (0 to 62 mph) in 12.5 seconds, with a top speed of . The V4's dashboard was wrinkle finished black, unlike the wooden panel used in the Sonett II.
[
Following the low-volume 1966–67 Sonett IIs, Saab ramped up Sonett V4 production to meet minimum SCCA requirements, assembling 70 units in the 1967 transition year, 900 units in 1968, and 640 units in the final 1969 production year—a total of 1,610 Sonett V4 vehicles. The 1969 models can be recognized by their taller seat backs and by having a lid for the glove compartment, while the heater was also made somewhat more efficient.][
While the Sonett V4 was assembled in Sweden, nearly the entire production was exported to the United States, with an MSRP of between US$3,200 and US$3,800 (US$ to US$ in today's dollars). In addition to its unusual fiberglass body, the Sonett V4 featured advanced safety features for its day, including a roll bar, three-point seat belts, and high-back bucket seats to protect against ]whiplash
Whiplash may refer to:
* The long flexible part of a whip
* Whiplash (medicine), a neck injury
** Whiplash Injury Protection System (WHIPS), in automobiles
Film and television
* ''Whiplash'' (1948 film), a US film noir about a boxer
* ''Whiplas ...
injury. Sonett V4s also sported a few oddities compared to standard American sports cars like e.g. Corvette
A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the slo ...
, such as front wheel drive; a freewheeling clutch that disengaged automatically whenever the accelerator pedal was no longer pressed, and a column-mounted shifter, rather than a typical floor-mounted shifter.
In spite of lackluster Saab marketing, unusual features, and quirky design, the Sonett V4 found a niche market in the US, propelled by successful SCCA racing performances of the Sonett II. Its primary competitors were British roadsters, including the MG Midget
The MG Midget is a small two-seater sports car produced by MG from 1961 to 1979. It revived a name that had been used on earlier models such as the MG M-type, MG D-type, MG J-type and MG T-type.
MG Midget MkI (1961–64)
The first version, ...
and MG MGB
The MGB is a two-door sports car manufactured and marketed from 1962 until 1980 by the British Motor Corporation (BMC), later the ''Austin-Morris'' division of British Leyland, as a four-cylinder, soft-top sports car. It was announced and its det ...
, the Triumph TR5, the TVR Grantura
The TVR Grantura is the first production model in a long line of TVR cars. It debuted in 1958 and went through a series of developments leading to the Mark I to Mark IV and 1800S models. The last ones were made in September 1967.
These coupés ...
and the Austin-Healey Mark IV.
The Clean Air Act of 1970 prompted engineering modifications to the Ford V4 emission control system that were difficult to reconcile with the Sonett II/V4 body style which then led to the Sonett III redesign.
Sonett III
The 1970 redesign of the Sonett V4, named the Sonett III, was initially undertaken by Sergio Coggiola, but Gunnar A. Sjögren altered it to fit the existing Sonett II chassis without expensive manufacturing-line changes. Hinged rear-window glass replaced the Sonett II/V4 rear compartment hatch door. With the mandate for a "bulge-less" hood, the engine compartment opening evolved into a small front popup panel, resulting in more limited access than in the Sonett V4. Extensive engine work required the removal of the entire front hood section.
To help adapt the car to US market tastes, the Sonett III featured a floor-mounted shifter (instead of the Sonett V4 column-mounted shifter) and optional dealer-installed air conditioning
Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C or AC, is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior environment (sometimes referred to as 'comfort cooling') and in some cases also strictly controlling ...
. The Sonett III's hidden headlamp
Hidden headlamps, also commonly known as pop-up headlamps, pop-up headlights, flip-eye headlamps, or hideaway headlights, are a form of automotive lighting and an automotive styling feature that conceals an automobile's headlamps when they are not ...
s were operated manually using a lever. US safety regulations required new low speed impact proof bumpers after 1972, significantly detracting from its Italian-inspired design. All Sonett III were LHD.
While the 1970 and 1971 model years initially had the same 1500 cc Ford Taunus V4 engine as the Sonett V4, emission control requirements reduced the available horsepower. The model years 1971 to 1974 of the Sonett III used the 1700 cc Ford V4, but to meet increasingly strict federal regulations, net power output remained the same as the 1500 cc engine, at . Still, the Sonett III accelerated from 0–100 km/h (0–62 mph) in 13 seconds, and—due to a higher differential gear ratio
A gear train is a mechanical system formed by mounting gears on a frame so the teeth of the gears engage.
Gear teeth are designed to ensure the pitch circles of engaging gears roll on each other without slipping, providing a smooth transmission ...
(42 teeth on the ring gear and 9 teeth on the pinion gear) than the standard 95/96 transmission (39:8)—achieved a top speed of , aided by a drag coefficient
In fluid dynamics, the drag coefficient (commonly denoted as: c_\mathrm, c_x or c_) 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 e ...
of 0.31 cd.
Disappointing sales, especially during the 1973 oil crisis, led Saab to end production in 1974. A total of 8,368 Sonett IIIs were manufactured between 1970 and 1974.
SAAB also used the Sonett III for test builds powered by a Rankine cycle
The Rankine cycle is an idealized thermodynamic cycle describing the process by which certain heat engines, such as steam turbines or reciprocating steam engines, allow mechanical work to be extracted from a fluid as it moves between a heat sourc ...
steam engine. One of the test cars survived and was at auction in Stockholm in July 2019.
Cancelled new Sonett
The Sonett name was planned to be revived as the production version of the Saab PhoeniX
The Saab PhoeniX is a concept car produced by Saab which was unveiled at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show.
The concept car's name was chosen at a time when the troubled Saab company had just been sold to Spyker by General Motors), ready to rise again ...
concept. Designed by Jason Castriota
Jason Castriota is an American automobile designer born in White Plains, New York, and raised in Greenwich, Connecticut. He graduated from Emerson College in Boston and attended but dropped out of the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. Af ...
as an affordable halo car
The halo effect (sometimes called the halo error) is the tendency for positive impressions of a person, company, brand, or product in one area to positively influence one's opinion or feelings in other areas. Halo effect is “the name given to t ...
for Saab, it would have been a 2+2 sports car producing up to 400 hp in its highest form, and used the new Phoenix platform that would have underpinned the next generation 9-3 and 9-1 compact. These projects were cancelled with the dissolution of Saab in 2012.
References
External links
Saab Sonett Super Sport
{{Saab Automobile
Sonett
A sonnet is a poetic form that originated in the poetry composed at the Court of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in the Sicilian city of Palermo. The 13th-century poet and notary Giacomo da Lentini is credited with the sonnet's invention ...
Front-wheel-drive sports cars
Cars introduced in 1955
1960s cars
1970s cars
Group 4 (racing) cars