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Mar
24
Creating the Sonett I Roadster and the Sonett II Club Racer was tremendous fun and I wanted to add a SAAB Sonett III the collection. Looking at the Sonett III pictures on my hard drive for many months, I struggled to come up with an idea for the conversion. The inspiration finally hit when I found a picture of an old Indy car. Why not convert the Sergio Coggiola and Gunnar A. Sjögren designed four cylinder “sportscar” into a beast with a compact V8? I set to work and came up with the idea of relocating the wheel arches in order to fit some mighty race car rubber under the widened fiberglass body while lowering the overall height. To increase strength, the quarter windows behind the doors have been eliminated and filled in. The rear fenders are re-sculpted and flow into the ducktail spoiler, providing much needed downforce along with the front spoiler. I really like the 1970’s chrome accents on the otherwise more 80’s looking body and kept most of them. The paint scheme is more 70’s orientated: the blue and yellow paint scheme resemble the colors of the Swedish flag and the shape of the yellow stripe mimics the silhouette of a classic glider plane, to add the aeronautics reference typical for SAAB vehicles.
Click here to see the original picture.
Sep
09
I have always loved the shape of the SAAB Sonett I roadster, but similar to the BMW 507 I never liked the stance and choice of wheels. Diameter too large, tires too skinny and a stance that would suit a 4×4 – not my cup of tea on a roadster intended to be driven hard. Fixing these three problems is exceptionally rewarding on many cars from the 60’s and 70’s, because the designs are often adorable. Apply this recipe to a first generation SAAB Sonett, add a set of American Racing Torq Thrust wheels and tires with white lettering on the sidewalls. Voilà, you have a roadster that it still tiny and nimble, but looks like it packs a lot more punch.
Jan
08
The SAAB Sonett was a nifty little sportscar. Originally fitted with a 1500cc Ford Taunus V4 engine it had enough power to be a fun runabout. Still… not enough to have serious fun with the little bugger. I wondered what a club racing version of the Mk2 Sonett could have looked like. Lowered, of course, with wider wheels and meatier tires and a few aerodynamic tweaks. Because there isn’t much space in the engine compartment, a V6 engine wasn’t an option. Hence I opted for a turbocharger. Now, which version would you prefer? Stock or Club Racer?