Saab two-stroke

The Saab two-stroke was a two-stroke cycle, inline, two cylinder, and later three cylinder engine manufactured by Swedish automotive manufacturer Saab that was based on a design by German manufacturer DKW.

File:SAAB92-engine.jpg

Two-cylinder

The first version was a {{cvt|764|cc}} displacement straight-twin that was transversely mounted in the 1950–1956 Saab 92. It produced {{cvt|25|hp}} and the car had a top speed of {{cvt|100|km/h}}. For the 1954 model year the engine received a Solex 32BI carburetor and an improved ignition coil, which raised engine output to {{cvt|28|hp}}. It had some modern features not found in other cars of its time period, such as one ignition coil per cylinder.

Three-cylinder

The second type of Saab two stroke engine was a longitudinally placed inline-three cylinder of {{cvt|748|cc}} and initially {{cvt|33|hp}}. It was used in the Saabs 93, 94 (Sonett I, with an engine tuned to {{cvt|57.5|hp}}), Saab Sonett II, 95, 96, Saab Granturismo, the Saab Formula Junior and the Saab Quantum. The engine had a combined belt driven DC dynamo and a coolant water pump.

The Saab Formula Junior used a 'bored-out' horizontally mounted {{cvt|950|cc}} version which utilized two dual Solex carburettors developing some {{cvt|95|hp}}. One of these carburettors was divided in half, thus providing three chokes, one for each cylinder.

The {{cvt|841|cc}} engine used in the 1966 Saab 96 used pre-mix oil and appeared with a three-throat Solex carburetor in which the center carburetor handled start, idle, and low speed functions, increasing the power to {{cvt|42|hp}}. The same carburetor had been used in the Saab 96 Monte Carlo and Sport models. The use of a common throttle shaft minimized carburetor synchronization problems.

The 1958-59 Sports version of the 93B had {{cvt|48|–|50|hp}} in base version and {{cvt|57|hp}} in the super version. This model had triple carburetors and a motor oil injection system, rather than oil pre-mixed with the petrol.

From 1959 the displacement was raised to {{cvt|841|cc}} with {{cvt|38|hp|}}. For model year 1966, the 'standard' 3-cylinder two-stroke engine had three individual carburetors. From model year 1967 Saab began replacing their 3-cylinder with the Ford Taunus V4 engine.

A special version known as the 'Shrike' was built for the United States 1967 and 1968 model years. It was sleeved down to {{cvt|795|cc}} to avoid US emission regulations which exempted engines under {{convert|50|CID|cc|0|abbr=on}}.{{Cite book | ref = SCimp | title = Standard Catalog of Imported Cars, 1946-1990 | first = James M. | last = Flammang | publisher = Krause Publications, Inc. | location = Iola, WI | page = 559 | date = 1994 | isbn = 0-87341-158-7 }}

Saab also made some experimental V6 engines by mounting two three-cylinder two-stroke engines together at an angle. One of these experiments had carburetors mounted outside of the V, while another had a more conventional design with a carburetor in between the two blocks.

File:Saab 2stroke engine.jpg

Production

Initially all two-stroke engines were built at the Saab Trollhättan plant, however in 1953 engines and gearbox production{{Cite web|title=Saab 50 år|url=https://saabklubben.se/saabfakta/historia/saab-50-ar/|access-date=2020-06-22|website=Svenska Saabklubben|language=sv-SE}} was moved to an old washing machine factory in Gothenburg.{{Cite web|title=Saab's 'little green car' {{!}} A classic in sweden's welfare state {{!}} Saabs history|url=https://history.saab.com/en/themes/society/the-cars-saabs-little-green-car--a-classic-in-swedens-welfare-state/|access-date=2020-06-22|website=history.saab.com|language=en}}

When Saab discontinued production of the two stroke engine and replaced it with a four stroke V4 engine built by Ford in Germany, the plant in Gothenburg never again produced engines; the production capacity was needed for the increased demand of gearboxes due to the introduction of the Saab 99 a few years later.