Saab UrSaab (1947)

The first Saab automobile was the Saab 92001, the 'Ursaab'.As the Second World War was drawing to a close, the SAAB company, a manufacturer of warplanes, realised that it needed to enter a different market. An automobile project was envisaged. The final decision to start the automobile project was made in the fall of 1945. Development was started in Linköping by a 20 person team led by Gunnar Ljungström. The immediately-preceding Saab production code was for an aeroplane - the Saab 91 Safir - for this reason, the first car project started as the Saab 92 (92001).By summer 1946 the first prototype body was ready, hand beaten on a wooden jig. It had a borrowed 18 hp (13 kW) two-cylinder two stroke engine, which was placed transversely in the front of the vehicle.