Saab Ursaab

The model was developed by a 16-person team led by engineer Gunnar Ljungström and designer Sixten Sason.

An automobile design project was started in 1945 by Saab AB, a manufacturer of warplanes, with the internal name X9248.

Development was started in Linköping by a 16-person team led by engineer Gunnar Ljungström and designer Sixten Sason.

A few visits were made to Nyköpings Automobilfabrik (later ANA), but as the extent of their work involved the simple installation of bodies on imported ladder frame chassis, the engineers were not able to gather as much information as they had hoped.

They also purchased a number of cars to study, including a DKW, a Hanomag, an Opel Kadett and a Volkswagen.

The team tasked with that portion of the project was used to building aircraft where every opening was covered with a load-bearing hatch.

Because the car had to have a very low drag coefficient,0.3, which even today is considered very impressive, aerodynamic tests were part of the early evaluations.

The prototype had a borrowed 13 kW (18 hp) two-cylinder two-stroke engine, which was placed transversely in the front of the vehicle.

The head of the firm, Albin Larsson, was hesitant to take work since the cooling pipes in the engine block were considered to be complicated.

Ursaab was driven over 530,000 kilometers (330,000 mi), typically in utter secrecy, and usually on narrow and muddy forest roads and in early mornings or late nights.

Inspired by American cars that had cascading front-ends, the redesigned hood allowed for improved access to the engine bay.