This 1960 Saab 93F comes from the final year of production. It is believed to have been sold new in the Southern US. The car was in the longterm possession of a Saab enthusiast in Arkansas, who sold it to a Florida dealer. It was purchased from them by another owner before the museum purchased the car. The car is powered by a later-model 841cc two-stroke three-cylinder paired to a 3-speed manual gearbox. Much of the original blue lacquer paint is said to remain. The interior was partially reupholstered at some point in the past. The 93 features a smaller rear window than its successor. The original trim has been retained.
“We have some Saabs in our collection. I like the shape of the early 60. Early Saabs are interesting pieces. This car makes a nice early representation in the collection.”
-Part of the Mike Malamut personal collection
The era that this Volvo falls under is known as the Duetts, which were produced from 1953 to 1969. The name Duett was intended to signify a car that could be used as a delivery vehicle during the week and as a comfortable sedan while away from work. The Duett was produced in three body styles: an estate car (station wagon), a panel van, and, in small numbers, a bare chassis with no body from the windshield rearward. Its design is based on the Volvo PV sedan and sharing the same engine platform and front suspension. However, unlike the PV, which had a unibody design and a coil spring rear suspension, the Duett used a ladder frame using leaf springs to support the rear. While the Duett has been criticized as a regressive design by those who point out that a ladder-frame car was based on Volvo’s first unibodied car, the use of a separate ladder chassis provided Volvo with an easy solution in producing a suitable commercial vehicle. The availability of the bare chassis also allowed Swedish coach builders such as Grip, Valbo and Nordbergs to build Duett-based pickup trucks, convertibles and specialized commercial vehicles. In addition, the ladder-frame’s versatility also made the Duett a popular choice as a base for customized vehicles such as hot rods and EPA tractors. The Duett was the only automobile marketed by Volvo in the United States that utilized a separate frame. All other models were of unibody construction. The P210 replaced the Volvo 445 in the early 1960s, and is distinguishable from the P445 by its use of a single-piece curved windshield, which it shares with the PV544.
-On loan from The Mike Malamut personal collection
Assar Gabrielson and Gustaf Larson founded Volvo, which now stands as the largest industrial corporation in the Scandinavia region today. The big Volvos of the 1930s were delivered from Volvo fitted with front wings, bonnet, sills and rudimentary A-pillars in order to be transformed into vans or pickup trucks by the many coachbuilders in Sweden at the time. Due to the fact that the larger Volvo cars were still built on separate frames after World War II, these bare chassis versions were still offered in the sales catalogue throughout the 1950s but they were large so the need for a smaller and lighter chassis version became evident. At the time Volvo’s PV444 car had a unitary construction body design and therefore could not be used for this kind of vehicle. A commercial equivalent built on a strong but light separate frame had to be designed. The production of this chassis started in the summer of 1949, and in 1953, the Volvo 445 was released, dawning the Duett era of estate cars (station wagons) that also possessed the strength and toughness for commercial use. In fact, the Duett became a staple in the commercial market and like its name Volvo, (the Latin equivalent of “I roll”) continued to roll on with the safety and efficiency that it founders had instituted at its roots.
-On loan from The Mike Malamut personal collection
-On loan from The Mike Malamut personal collection
-Part of the Mike Malamut Personal Collection
-Part of the Mike Malamut personal collection
-On loan from the Mike Malamut personal collection