Saab Sonett III

The Saab Sonett III was a two seat sports car built by Saab as the successor to the Sonett II. By the end of the 1960s the Sonett II design had dated, and the American motoring press criticised its styling and handling, so Saab turned to Sergio Coggiola for a new design. Coggiola drew a wider car than the brief allowed, and Gunnar A. Sjogren reworked it so that the centre section of the Sonett II could still be used. The hinged rear window doubled as the boot lid, which eased access, and the body was fibre-reinforced plastic on a steel chassis that shares many parts with the Saab 96. The pop-up headlamps worked by hand-operated linkage, and thick rubber bumpers adapted from the Saab 99 arrived in 1973 for American rules. It used the Ford Taunus V4 engine of the Sonett II and Saab 96, 1500 cc and later 1700 cc, with 55 hp (48 kW), reached 0 to 100 km/h in 13 seconds and had a top speed of 165 km/h. Production stopped in 1974 because of stricter American emission rules.