From its inception to glory to troubled resurrections, Saab has gone through a ride. Motorheads of previous generations know how Saab went from the status of a turbo icon to just another run-of-the-mill car. Saab happened in 1937, followed by WWI, the war of all wars at that time. They began as a war plane-making company for a war that would start in a couple of years. After the war, there was no demand left for warplanes. Hence, some of the great minds thought of diversifying into other sectors of auto engineering. Still, they put up such brilliance, therein used Saab engine is still relevant today.
So, a 16-member team endeavored to produce Saab’s first-ever car. It was kind of unusual considering none in the 16-member team ever worked in the car industry. Even more so, only a couple of them even possessed driving licenses. This is the unusual beginning of the iconic Swedish car company, whose used Saab engine is still popular in its entire catalog. Let’s look at the brief history of the brand and the kind of engines they used during each stage of their journey.
First Saab car came under severe criticism, citing the lack of experience of the team. The first car came with no bootleg and wheels stayed tucked in inside the body. Barring the exceptional aerodynamic features, the car couldn’t deal with the heavy Swedish winters. The snow kept piling in, enough to block the wheels. A couple of years later, Saab launched their Saab 92. This time, Saab came with open visible, wheel arches. All of these cars were painted in green, making way for an interesting urban legend. People wildly speculated the green paint came from the war excesses. Though not proven, it makes up for an interesting theory. Under the hood, the car sported a DKW-derived 764 cc engine. It’s a dual-stroke, dual-cylinder, 25-hp engine capable of top speeds of up to 65 mph.
Upgrade 92 or the Sab 92 B, released in 1952, included a boot lid. Also, new color options were made available including maroon, blue, gray, and classic black. Its successor arrived a year later, the Saab 93, the first Saab and also the Swede’s exported model. Family-focused vehicles start coming in after six more years. Saab 95 is still available with a 1.5 L V4 engine powered by Ford, rather than the two-stroke DKW unit used in the initial stages of Saab. Saab 96 earned a global reputation for Swedish cars in the early sixties. It boasted capability and safety features in the automobile field. The 96 was the peak culmination of success for Saab. Strangely, the car maker went to the failed 1947 prototype after the success of 96, a major blunder on their part.
Saab produced the new 99 cars starting in 1968, with a 1.7L engine sourced from Triumph. They bettered the engine on reliability by coming up with their own 2 L units. The engine was in production until 1984, when Saab discontinued on 99. For a brief period, Saab wanted to work on a Swede muscle car, only to be dropped for a turbo-powered couple – the ’99 Turbo. It went on to define the international car culture in the awesome eighties. From a calm family car, the Swede carmaker extended its reputation for making a sporty whip with a ruffian attitude. The car contained a 2 L engine that offered 145 hp. Importantly, they branded their merchandise as Turbo, including chewing gums, coolers, and vaccum cleaners, much to the traction of the press.
Unconventional launches
The 70s and 80s saw unconventional launches from the Swedish carmaker. With 99 still in production, Saab came up with 900 and 78. Both of these are modernized versions of 99. Saab 90 launched in 1984 had a face of 99 and a rear of 900. Unconventional hybrids like this made the press and car enthusiasts puzzled at all the developments. Nevertheless, Sab sold about 600,000 cars in its entire stint, including these facelifts and face swaps. It is a serious number by any measure, considering we are talking about the 20th century. The later 70s and early 80s saw all of these unusual, but lucrative developments in Saab.
H is a redesigned B engine, which is based on Triumph Slant 4. H may be a misnomer since the Saab H engine isn’t horizontally opposed. It is rather an inline-4 engine. H engines were introduced in Sab 900 and launched in the year 1981. It also featured in later variants of Sab 99 since 1982. H stood for high compression, which was the major update from the previous Saab B engine. The engines featured cast iron blocks with aluminum heads and overhead chain camshafts. Also, they made a 22-degree angle vertically in the pentroof chamber.
The nomenclature easily identified the engine capacity and number of camshafts. For instance, B201 translates to 2 Liter engine capacity and 1 camshaft. It isn’t rocket science to know and remember the basic specs of the engines. Some of the other engines were B204i, B204E, B204L, B204R, B234i, B234E, B234L and B234R. The engines boasted a horsepower of 130 to 225 hp and a torque of 131 to 252 lb-ft. The bore and stroke dimensions of the B204 series were 3.54″ and 3.07″ respectively. Similarly, in the B234 series, the bore and stroke dimensions were 3.54″ and 3.54″ respectively. There were a few other engines including B206, B205, and B235.
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