Saab Bites the dust
 

On Mon, 21 Dec 2009 20:59:18 -0500, "Ed Huntress"
wrote:


"Diogenes" wrote in message
.. .


That 2-stroke engine was a neat little piece of engineering. It was so
light that I could actually pull it out of the car single-handed
without an engine hoist, set it on the ground, work on it and then
pick it up and put it right back in.

On the early 2-strokes, Saab actually gave a complete parts & labor
lifetime warranty to the original owner! The electrics were Bosch
(no problem there) but the brakes were British Lockheed, the only
system in the damn car that ever gave me trouble. In Europe,
incidentally, they were called "ring-a-dings" due to the unusual sound
they made.

I later owned a couple of V-4's, which were also excellent cars, but
they weren't nearly as much fun as those old strokers.

----
Diogenes

Since there are several former owners of V-4s here, maybe someone can answer
an old question I never had answered: Did those suckers vibrate badly? Their
inherent balance was lousy, but good engineering can cope with that. I never
knew what they were like.

My wife owned a Saab 96 when I met her. It must have been a 1968 or
so. It remember it as a comfortable car, though my point of reference
was my '69 Dodge 3/4T 4WD. I never did get the hang of the overunning
clutch, and didn't spend a lot of time trying because Doreen loved
that car and my ineptitude put a strain on the relationship. I let her
drive.

My uncle owned DKWs back in the early '60s and I had a friend in
college who had a Saab 93 2-stroke. Marshall was a big boy and he also
lifted the engine out to work on it.

I always chalked up the common ring-a-ding sound to the fact the DKW
and Saab were both 2-strokes, but apparently there's more to it than
that. Wikipedia says the Saab was based on the DKW design.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saab_two-stroke


--
Ned Simmons

Saab Bites the dust
 

"Ned Simmons" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 21 Dec 2009 20:59:18 -0500, "Ed Huntress"
wrote:


"Diogenes" wrote in message
. ..


That 2-stroke engine was a neat little piece of engineering. It was so
light that I could actually pull it out of the car single-handed
without an engine hoist, set it on the ground, work on it and then
pick it up and put it right back in.

On the early 2-strokes, Saab actually gave a complete parts & labor
lifetime warranty to the original owner! The electrics were Bosch
(no problem there) but the brakes were British Lockheed, the only
system in the damn car that ever gave me trouble. In Europe,
incidentally, they were called "ring-a-dings" due to the unusual sound
they made.

I later owned a couple of V-4's, which were also excellent cars, but
they weren't nearly as much fun as those old strokers.

----
Diogenes

Since there are several former owners of V-4s here, maybe someone can
answer
an old question I never had answered: Did those suckers vibrate badly?
Their
inherent balance was lousy, but good engineering can cope with that. I
never
knew what they were like.

My wife owned a Saab 96 when I met her. It must have been a 1968 or
so. It remember it as a comfortable car, though my point of reference
was my '69 Dodge 3/4T 4WD. I never did get the hang of the overunning
clutch, and didn't spend a lot of time trying because Doreen loved
that car and my ineptitude put a strain on the relationship. I let her
drive.

My uncle owned DKWs back in the early '60s and I had a friend in
college who had a Saab 93 2-stroke. Marshall was a big boy and he also
lifted the engine out to work on it.

I always chalked up the common ring-a-ding sound to the fact the DKW
and Saab were both 2-strokes, but apparently there's more to it than
that. Wikipedia says the Saab was based on the DKW design.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saab_two-stroke


Interesting, Ned. Thanks.

--
Ed Huntress