A Brief History
On June 10, 1947, the Swedish industrial powerhouse, Saab, produced their first automobile, becoming just another of the many failed automobile companies by 2016.
Digging Deeper
In 1989, the auto making portion of Saab branched off to become an independent company, the parent company, Saab, Saab AB, Saab-Scania, and now back to just Saab again, going through its own multi-identity versions.
While the Saab branded cars were kind of quirky, they did have a decent reputation for quality and safety, not unlike their Swedish fellow car maker, Volvo.
While the Saab name may no longer grace vehicles on the highway, the Saab name still soars high above attached to both military and civilian airplanes. In fact, Saab has opened US airplane manufacturing facilities, especially to partner with Boeing in the production of an advanced jet trainer for the US Air Force, the T-7 Red Hawk as well as other aerospace electronic systems
Question for students (and subscribers): Have you ever owned or driven a Saab? Please let us know in the comments section below this article.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Cole, Lance. Saab Celebration: Swedish Style Remembered. Pen and Sword Transport, 2021.
Grylls, Vaughan. The Spirit of Saab: 50 Reasons Why We Love Them. Batsford, 2023.
The featured image in this article, a photograph by of a Saab 92 in 1947, is in the public domain in Sweden because one of the following applies:
- The photograph does not reach the Swedish threshold of originality (common for snapshots and journalistic photos) and was created before 1 January 1974 (SFS 1960:729, § 49a).
- The photograph was published anonymously before 1 January 1954 and the author did not reveal their identity during the following 70 years (SFS 1960:729, § 44).
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