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20
You may gather, and rightly, that SAAB is
concerned about corrosion. These tests helped
it put into effect some unusual measures on
the 99. The spot welds in frames are suscep-
tible to weakening through corrosion, so the
body designers bent the metal to make small
drainage passages next to any welds where
water might otherwise be able to collect.
Surface finish is excellent. After a five-
stage phosphating treatment to “roughen” the
surface, the body passes through a vat where
its primer coat of paint is literally plated on
the surface by an electrolytic process. Extra
primer is brushed on by hand in spots the
automatic bath may not have reached.
All SAABs are fully undercoated at the fac-
tory, an “extra” in most other small cars. The
undercoating is applied at a pressure of 3000
pounds per square inch without the use of
compressed air, so that it goes on thick and
solid with no chance for impurities to be
included.
After the body has received its first coat of
lacquer, but before it goes into the baking oven,
a sheet of asphaltic material is laid into the
interior, covering the entire floor. When the
body passes through the oven the sheet almost
liquefies, seeping into every crevice and form-
ing an ‘%-inch protective layer over the entire
floor. It adheres so tightly and completely that
no water can attack the metal under this coat-
ing, which also helps reduce road noise.
Another maior part of the 99’s development
concerned its cold starting ability. Many
changes were made before the engineers were
satisfied with this feature of the all-new
engine. When they started out, the 99 wouldn't
start at temperatures below (°F. This was con-
sidered unacceptable. Testing in the cold
room, in which the temperature of each
cylinder can be measured as the engine starts
to fire and run, showed new manifolding was
needed to improve the mixture distribution.
Other changes were made. Zenith-Strom-
berg designed a new carburetor especially for
SAAB, with a special tube for the cold-start
fuel supply to hold it out away from the
manifold walls. Some reduction in perform-
ance had to be accepted to get good results,
but finally the starting was satisfactory. The
99 will fire up without fail at 30°F. below zero.
After the 99 was introduced, a Swedish
newspaper ran its annual cold-starting test
for cars in Lapland. The new SAAB was only
second-best among the twenty-odd cars tested.
“That test wasn't fair;’ the engineers com-
plained. “It was much too warm!” The ther-
mometer had only been at 9F. below zero.
They were disappointed, but the buyer of a 99
won't be. The engineers did their jobs well.
Page 22
People tend to assume that Swedish cars are
made of “that famous Swedish steel,” the kind
they're always hearing about in the razor
blade ads. Swedish steels are great for razor
blades and for other small parts made to take
high stresses with high precision. For the wide
sheet steel needed to stamp out automobiles,
however, SAAB buys most of its supplies
abroad, indeed some from the United States.
This highlights Sweden's unusual position
as a manufacturing nation. Because it’s a
prosperous country with excellent access to
the world's trade routes, Sweden is able to buy
what it needs abroad. This opens up to SAAB
a broad spectrum of possibilities. It doesn't
have to try to make everything at home; it can
go overseas to all the world’s auto parts pro-
ducers and choose the components it feels will
combine to make the best car. The electrical
equipment, for example, is a blend of GM's
Delco, Germany's Bosch, and Sweden's own
Electrolux.
The engine of the SAAB 99 is a case history
in the value of international industrial coop-
eration. Until recently, when it began buying
its V4 from Ford of Germany, SAAB has always
built its own engines. In 1960 it began think-
ing about the kind of power unit it would use
in future models to replace its two-stroke
engine range.
To get the best possible advice, SAAB signed
a contract with Britain's famed Ricardo Lab-
oratories for the investigation of all feasible
engine alternatives. Starting from scratch with
four-strokes, it could afford to consider every-
thing. The survey included flat-fours, vee-
fours of 90 and 60 degrees, the in-line four,
even an overhead-cam three-cylinder engine.
It compared air and water cooling, pushrods
and overhead-cam valve gear. An exploratory
trip to Germany was made to evaluate the
Wankel rotary engine.
In 1963, SAAB and Ricardo built two dozen
experimental engines of different types for
trials. For this project, SAAB set up a special
400-hour engine test program that has since
been recognized as one of the toughest in the
industry. Using computer-controlled dyna-
mometers, it runs the engine through all speed
and load ranges and combinations, from idling
to full speed and power, up to the equivalent
of 94 mph. The entire test is equal to an aver-
age speed of 74 mph over 28,000 miles.
SAAB tried its experimental engines on this
cycle. It also tried the engines of other manu-
facturers, and was astonished at the results it
obtained, confirmed in each case by testing
not one but two engines. “Some went 400
hours with no trouble,’ I was told, “but some
went far less. One engine lasted only 38 hours!
We couldn't believe it, so we tested a third
one, finally five in all to be sure it was really
that bad.”
All the results pointed toward a water-
21
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24
Aren't there other SAABs besides the 99?
SAAB is so proud of its new 99 and the way it
was developed that justice hasn't been done
to the other products in its line. Yet some of
them deserve mention. For example, you can't
overlook the SAAB 37 Viggen, a multi-pur-
pose combat aircraft capable, like its prede-
cessor, the 35 Draken, of speeds in the Mach 2
range. There's alsothe twin-jet SAAB 105 train-
ing and light attack craft, which can be
equipped with SAAB-built guided missiles
controlled by a digital computer designed
and made by DATASAAB.
Quite
become even bigger with its reorganization as
SAAB-SCANIA, the result of a merger with
famed truck maker Scania-Vabis. Now the
company, this SAAB of Sweden. It's
SAAB vehicle family includes a complete range
of heavy-duty diesel trucks from a 160 horse-
power six to a supercharged V8 rated at 350
horsepower. Together, as a SAAB-SCANIA
official pointed out, these two firms will con-
tinue to show “that it is by no means neces-
sary to be the ‘biggest in the world’ to create
products ofa remarkably high technical level."
All this know-how continues to benefit the
SAAB 96 sedan and the 95 station wagon, two
of the world's most highly-refined and thor-
oughly-developed cars. The sedan remains a
model of aerodynamic perfection, a goal for
other makers—and SAAB itself—to try to
reach. Compact and tough, the 96 is a profes-
sional tool in the hands of rally drivers who
respect its precise and predictable handling,
its rugged V4 engine.
Unlike most wagons, the SAAB 95 keeps
the handy feel and easy parkability of the
sports sedan from which it's derived. Yet it's
a half-ton carrier with a Skinplated steel load-
ing platform almost six feet long. With its
flip-up seat at the rear the 95 can seat five
adults and two children. For another extreme
in seating capacity, SAAB offers the Sonett
sports car, built for intimate travel for two.
With a rakish profile and tailored interior the
Sonett is the car that was created to answer
the question: “Why doesn't SAAB build a sports
car?’ Now they do, and like every other
SAAB, it's a good one.
A slotted roof keeps dirt from collecting on the
95's rear window
One of the few front-wheel-driven sports cars
SAAB’s Sonett
Page 24
Like all SAABs, the 37 Viggen is exceptionally maneuverable for its size and speed
Front Cover: SAAB 99
Back Cover: SAAB 96
special photography/ Irving Dolin
art direction/ Karen Spencer
production/ Mobility Systems Co.
Printed in U.S.A, by the STONETONE PROC
S (Pat. Pending)