SAAB Sonett
1969 Saab Sonett II V4
Saab's little sports car went through 3 generations. The Sonett I (aka Saab 94) (based on Saab 93) didn't go too well and only 6 were ever built between 1955 and 1957.
In 1965/66 a new attempt was made in the shape of Sonett II (Saab 97) Equipped with a 841 cc 3-cylindre 2-stroke engine it was by no means a muscle-car, but thanks to a very light glassfibre body, the performance was respectable. But Saab wanted a little more power and the two-stroke engines were losing popularity, so a new one had to be found. Rather than designing an engine from scratch, Saab made a deal with Ford to use their new V4 used in that company's latest Taunus-model. The 1498 cc Taunus V4 required much more space than the old 2-stroke, so in order to make it fit, a bulge was made on the hood. The new Sonett II V4 started production near the end of the 1967 model-year.
Saab engineers continually worked on the car design, and when a new body with sharper angles in favor of the old curves was introduced for 1970, the name changed to Sonett III. This model became quite popular in the United States and soon made up the majority of the market, so when american safety regulations started to tighten in 1973/74, Saab had to change the car, introducing huge rubber bumpers and reduced engine power (despite an upgraded engine)
Quite predictably, the changes led to a dramatic decline in popularity and by the end of 1974 Saab had to face the fact, that the market no longer existed and the Sonett was retired.
Fun fact: The name Sonett originates from swedish "så nätt", meaning "so neat" or "so nice" According to rumors, it was the first reaction uttered from one of Saab's top bosses upon seeing the prototype designs.
Mindeparken, Aarhus, Denmark, at the 2014 CRAA car show
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