A closer look
Before they became the quirky car of choice for turtleneck-wearing architects, Saab was busy preparing for global warfare. Founded in 1937, Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget was created to build fighter planes for the Swedish Air Force as Europe descended into World War II. When the war ended and the demand for aerial destruction plummeted, the company decided to pivot to consumer automobiles. They applied their aerodynamic airplane engineering to their first cars, which explains why vintage Saabs look remarkably like wingless fighter jets rolling down the highway.
