- We have finally identified the car in the famous photograph taken in London
- The picture was taken in the 1960s, and people spent years trying to identify the car
- It is a sportscar made by now a defunct brand
Published on Aug 16, 2024 at 3:26 PM (UTC+4)
by Alessandro Renesis
Last updated on Aug 16, 2024 at 8:24 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by Tom Wood
This photograph taken in London in the 1960s has been circulating for years, and people keep asking what the supercar in the picture is.
Various theories have surfaced, and a lot of wishful thinking was involved as well.
But now we reckon we’ve finally gotten to the bottom of it.
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Some people think the 1950s and 1960s were the golden era of luxury cars, in a way.
This is probably a combination of a few different factors.
People are naturally inclined to look at the past and think it was better.
It’s a natural reaction, probably due to the fact we tend to remember what was great about yesterday but forget the problems.
Well, these magnificent pictures taken in London in the 1950s certainly help.
As for the car that started the whole debate, the first thing we should point out is that ‘supercar’ is probably an inaccurate term.
The car in the London photograph is made by a brand that no longer exists
The owner of a virtually identical car got in touch with Supercar Blondie and told us the blue car in the picture is a Saab Sonett II.
He’s familiar with the shape, because he’s owned one for years.
Saab produced the Sonett across three decades and three generations.
It was first introduced in 1955 and it remained in production for nearly 20 years, until 1974.
The first model was unveiled as a coupe or a roadster, but for the second-gen car, Saab decided to ditch the roadster version and focus on the coupe.
The Sonett II is a compact, lightweight, front-engined coupe available with a three-cylinder Saab engine or, later, with a Ford V4.
The model in the picture is a three-cylinder one.
We know that because of the shape of the rear section, but chiefly because the front section, because the V4 model had a hood bump to accommodate the larger engine.
The sad story behind Saab
Saab began as an aerospace company in the 1930s, and it only started building cars in the mid 1940s.
Through the years, Saab came up with a long list of unprecedented and wild ideas, including a car with no steering wheel (below).
In its heyday, Saab was known for making cars that were very safe and reliable, but things went wrong between the 1990s and 2000s.
Saab was in a comatose state in the 2000s and by the end of the decade, even its parent company, General Motors, had given up on it.
Saab was then briefly owned by Spyker, a Dutch supercar maker, but that also didn’t work and, in 2016, Saab went bankrupt.
Pity.
Still, it’s nice to have a bit of closure on this mystery.
