Ostin jokunen viikko sitten ebaysta Englannista englantilaisen Autocar nimisen autolehden lokakuulta 1949, jossa on Saab 92 arvostelu. Testiajo on tehty Ruotsissa sorateillä. Otsikon nimi on: The Saab-92: a small car with a difference
Englantilainen arvostelija joka on tullut ruotsiin testaamaan saabia ylistää ysikakkosta erittäin sporttiseksi autoksi ja antaa muutenkin hyvät pisteet autolle. Tässä muutamia otteita arvostelusta:
"And I was not disappointed. Indeed, it would be a very biased motorist who could find any serious complaint against a twin-cylinder family saloon of less than 8 h.p. which can put 53 miles into an hour without strain and has the road-holding properties of a real sporting machinery, albeit a petrol consumption of nearly 40 m.p.g."
"The vehicle tested was one of twenty demonstration prototypes, and I found it very difficult to find fault on any major point."
"Frontwheel-drive "drag" was conspicuously absent, and I was able to perform U-turns in reverse without undue elbow exertion."
"One of the most interesting points about the mechanical layout is the way in which the engine mountings have been arranged. A single-leaf spring supports the forward part while the rear portion is carried on rubber. This effectively absorbs much of the vibration normally associated with two-strokes and at times during the test it was difficult to realize that there were not four cylinders under the bonnet."
"Although the Saab 92 bristles with many novel features, it is it's performance that wins the day. And having driven it from Orebro to Stockholm, a distance of 131 miles, in 2 hours 59 minutes, I am in a position to enthuse. I drove without strain and I did not strain the engine, although my cruising speed was within about 5 m.p.h. of the car's maximum nearly all the time.
"During the first hour we kept close company with a type 327 B.M.W. coupe which eventually showed us a clean pair of heels on a long straight stretch after we had caused it no little embarrassment through the forests. It was then that the Saab achieved the 53 m.p.h. average already mentioned. Later checking showed that this particular car, which had already done 20,000 miles, had an all-out speed of 68.4 m.p.h., with 40 m.p.h. available on second gear. Helped on one occasion by a strong following wind, I was timed at exactly 71 m.p.h."
"I gave full marks for the behaviour of the independent suspension during this period of somewhat hasty motoring. Not only were the worst bumps encountered (and believe me, a Swedish road really has bumps) effectively damped, but I was abetted to corner at speeds which would have propelled a more conventional car over the hills and far away. There was none of that peculiar drift often experienced with torsional i.f.s. I was, in fact, encouraged to drive the car as I would a sporting thoroughbred, and no amount of elbow-work could dispel this illusion."
"Good quality cloth upholstery was fitted to the car tested, and I noticed such pleasant refinements as an interior light, and hand straps for rear passengers."
"Before the car was somewhat regretfully returned to its rightful owners, I was given a convincing-if hair-raising-display of its stability by the chief of Saab's testing department, Rolf Mellde, a well-known competition driver. He drove me off to a deserted stretch of dual carriageway and proceeded without any intimation to lock the car over from one side to the other at well over 50 m.p.h. How it managed to stay upright I shall never know, but it did."
"Remembering my week-end with the Saab 92, recalling how delightfully it handled and how it tucked away those 131 miles in 2 hours, 59 minutes, I cannot help thinking about the performance it might put up in, say, the Monte Carlo Rally, with a slightly hotter engine."
"Sweden has a ready market for a good, inexpensive sports car. The Model 92 is definitely a sports car in spirit. It will provide the Scandinavian motorist with considerably more than just family transport at a fairly low price."
P.J.B.
