Thursday, January 26, 2012

Want to know more about 
those crazy Swedes?

I wanna job at Volvo, and they can pay me in Sugga

Yes, we all know Volvo is not sexy nor sleek. Neither is Saab, for that matter. Are you aware, though, that Saab made Europe's finest military fighter jets? And that they were nearly always powered by a Volvo turbojet?


Kinda like a Tatra 603, this Saab 
is so homely, it's adorable

No? There is a post below about a dude named Nils. Nice guy that gave the world the safety belt you use today, and he learned his craft making ejector seats at Saab. 


But these car companies have always pushed innovation forward, leaving the rest of the world to follow meekly behind. 

And, no, making a car safe isn't sexy...but keeping your kids alive and well after a drunk douchebag in a F-250 Superduty runs a red-light and plows into your car? That tends to straighten out some priorities.

They don't makes tons of money doing that, either. Saab closed its door in 2011, and Volvo's yearly car sales are about a week's production at GM.


The first Saab

And that's a shame, too, because the Swedes make a damn fine car, and they have a pretty interesting history, as well...



1. Nils Ivar Bohlin - Inventor of the retractable three-point safety-belt


2. A Volvo first - the OV4 - The Jakob rolled out of the factory back in 1927...in reverse. Those Swedes were still figuring out how gears worked, it seems


3. Volvo 850 T-5R - Quite frankly, this grocery-getter was mind-blowingly fast when it was introduced in 1993


4. P1900 - Sporty fun that never caught on. You'd think those Swedes would have learned their lesson with the OV4. Nobody wants a convertible when it's friggin' 30 below zero outside


5. Volvo Duett 445 - Those crazy Swedes did it again while combining a vehicle that could be used for work and fun


6. P1800 - An awesomely good-looking car that you could literally drive to the ends of the earth


7. Volvo Sugga - Clearly, somebody was smoking some funny cigarettes the day this thing was sketched out


8. Sabb Sonnett - Little cutie pie couldn't find a home


9. Sabb Ursaab - Their first effort at building a car was....interesting






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