We had a poll recently, on Twitter and Facebook. It posed the Saab Catharina against the Saab 9x concept car. The voters wish was for detailed photos of Catharina. Here she is…..
The story of Catharina is pretty well known, but for those who don’t know…..
In the early 1960s, Saab’s legendary designer, Sixten Sason, penned his ideas for a personal project vehicle – a two seat sports coupe. Swedish company, ASJ, took an interest in the project and manufactured this fibreglass bodied vehicle based on Sason’s design and using the engine, gearbox and floorpan of the Saab 96. It was made in Katrineholm and accordingly, it was christened Catharina.
Saab also wanted a sports coupe after their fledgling plans for the Saab 94 faltered in the 1950s. They considered Sason’s design, along with another design from a company called Malmö Flygindustri (MFI). MFI’s design won the day and the Saab Sonett II was born.
Catharina now resides at the Saab Museum in Trollhattan, which is where I photographed it earlier this week.
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Click any of the photos to enlarge…..
Sason’s design included a removable Targa top, which was pretty uncommon at the time. The top clips out easily and it is stored in the trunk of the car, which has special little carpeted brackets in place just for this purpose.
