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Norwegian Barn Find: 1951 Saab 92

1951 Saab 92 Rear

This is what happens when you let a bunch of airplane engineers build a car. The beautiful Saab 92… This thing is more aerodynamic than a Ferrari F40. These cars are rare around here, so if you want one you may be best off importing it. This 1951 Saab 92 is located in Norway, but they are willing to ship it to the USA. Bidding starts at $10k with a reserve here on eBay. Thanks to reader Mark P for sharing this one.

1951 Saab 92 Engine

Can you find the engine? There is a tiny two stroke two cylinder tucked up front with the radiator mounted behind it. With three gears and about 25 horsepower, it really needed some good aerodynamics to reach cruising speed. Supposedly it could reach 65 miles per hour when new. Hard to believe, but it does make you wonder whey car manufacturers don’t build something like this today. I suppose the white smoke billowing out of the tailpipe wouldn’t look too environmentally responsible?

1951 Saab 92

Here is a view from the front. There are not too many cars that look as unique as this one. It may be an acquired taste, but we actually find it appealing. The seller does not give many details, but they do mention that the body doesn’t look too bad for a sixty plus year old car. We can’t help but wonder if that is the original paint, since it is the factory color. All 92s were painted this hue of green and it has been rumored that Saab just used left over war plane paint.

1951 Saab 92 Interior

The interior looks clean and comfortable. These cars provided some great value considering there was room for four, lots of trunk space, and a fuel efficient engine up front. The 92 was the car that got Saab into racing. They entered these in rallies right off the bat and went on to have many successes with their later cars. This car is probably too special to use as a driver and will most likely end up in a collection. Anyone else think these cars are interesting? Or should it go back in that Norwegian barn?

Comments

  1. Avatar Yohonn

    It’s a classic beauty and timeless piece of history. DEFINITELY A COLLECTIBLE!!

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  2. Avatar mark

    when you say trunk space…..i think these didn’t have an opening boot and you had to stow your luggage through the passenger compartment…wasn’t the sonnet like that too?

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  3. Avatar dimitris

    amazing car… timeless beauty

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  4. Avatar Carl

    You know that’s actually a 2-cycle, 2-cylinder and not the mighty three, right? I have ridden in a 1950 92 and it was slower than death. The amount of noise and smoke it made was nearly inversely proportional to its forward motion :)

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  5. Avatar Tim

    I had the opportunity to drive a 1950 SAAB 92, chassis #218, the earliest build number known to exist in the U.S. at Road America a few years ago. The mighty 25HP 750cc carried me to a speed of 100+ on the speedometer between the Carousel and Canada Corner (kph not mph). As I downshifted from 3rd (top gear) to 2nd for turn 5, I was suddenly reminded that the gearbox had freewheeling, and it was all I could do to haul down the speed with four drum brakes.

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  6. Avatar A J Ewers

    There’s a ’63 not far from here, not quite this nice, that I keep looking at. Plenty of modern Euro 3 lungers available if the factory beauty can’t be revived.

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  7. Avatar Tim

    BTW, the SAAB (all caps = Sveska Aeroplan AktieBolag) 92 had a TWO-cylinder, transverse-mounted, 750cc engine, with separate coils for each cylinder. The 3-cyl engine, in-line, was introduced in the SAAB 93 which came out in about 1955. The 93 was the first SAAB officially imported and sold in the U.S. by SAAB Motors.

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  8. Avatar Chris

    Neat car for SAAB fans. The other end of the 2 stroke history reached a really nice level with the 850 Monte Carlo in the mid 60’s. Great interior, came with Pirelli tires and a hot engine with the automatic oiling system and good handling. If you flew private planes, you were right at home in a SAAB.

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  9. Avatar Barn Finds

    You guys are correct. That is a two cylinder, not the later three. The error has been corrected in the post. Thanks for catching that.

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  10. Avatar Steve

    Nice. I believe the 2-cylinder engine was a DKW design? I’ve never driven a 92, but I imagine they have borderline performance for modern traffic. I prefer the 93A and 93B models as they have suicide doors and a trunk and can be upgraded to the later 850 engine, 4-speed transmission, and front disk brakes fairly easily.

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  11. Avatar Larry

    Thanks for the reminder of interesting auto history! I had a formula S which was based on the 3 cylinder engine with the free wheeling tranny. I also had a Jabro Saab sports racer, that I now wonder where it has ended up.

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  12. Avatar Paddan

    Fortunately for me its so far away.

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  13. Avatar ron coombs

    Speaking of cars with good fuel mileage. The 1985 Honda CRX HF got consistent 50+ mpg. Car makers can’t do this again because of safety crap that they have to put on

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  14. Avatar ron coombs

    Oh by the way, when I was growing up, a neighbor had one of these. I loved the 2 stroke engine, and I believe it had a 4 speed on the tree.

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  15. Avatar Pat

    Remember filling one up at a gas station I worked at as a kid. I think the guy asked me to add a quart of 30 wt to the gas whcih I asked if he was sure…. Man that was a long time ago but I do remember the sound that 2 stroke made and the cloud of smoke. Must have been mixing too rich! LOL

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