LocostUSA.com

i realize that you guys are all building custom cars from the ground up, and i probly dont technically belong here, but i signed up anyway.

I absolutely love this website, and especially your chassis fabrication section.

I will be attending Wyotech in january taking Diesel, High performance, and Chassis fabrication! before i go id like to start on a build i have wanted to do for a long time.

i have a pair of 1974 saab sonetts, niether of which have floors, and will require alot of work to ever be drivable again! in stock form these cars weigh 1800 lbs and put out 65HP. the engine is a ford V4 and can be turboed to 180 hp, but its still coupled to a fairly weak transmission, a Front wheel drive one at that.

I also have a vast knowledge of turbocharged Saab engines in general being that i grew up in a dealership. A 275 hp 9000 Aero engine can be coupled to a Tremec T5 if the correct bell housing is installed.

so im realizing that the sonett would be Alot nicer as a RWD, especially with a modern turbo engine! the Stock chassis could never take it, but if i were to build my own chassis under the fiberglass body, it could turn out alot better.

your cars are a great inspiration to this project, and i intend on building a locost someday as i just discovered them! These things are like the poor mans shelby cobra! they are really sweet! I will always have WAY more respect for someone that builds their own car, then someone who bought it!
JP

Welcome to the site!

I prefer looking at the Cobra as the fat man's seven that doesn't turn as well

Cool looking Saab, the front reminds me the Lancia Beta (montecarlo?) a little bit.

Moti

Cute car. The bumber and lights look like it had a really long night and woke up with a doozey of a hangover.

I've got (well, my wife's grandmother's got) a Sonnet V-4 engine in the garage. I've always wondered what fun I could have with it. Cutest danged motor you've ever seen. Any idea if it is viable? Can you get parts?

There's also a Crosley Hot Shot body in her garage. Maybe grandpa was going to mate the two?

Anyway, I'm thinking much like you. I've called dibs on the Hot Shot, and one day will build a space frame to drop it onto. Should be fun.

Gotta build a bigger garage first....

-dave

thats a neat looking car for sure, ya never see any of those down here in the south, not sure it was a very popular car in the states at all...definately different.

would be really nice with a proper chassis and drivetrain, and your not likely to run into anyone else with one like it

I hope ya stick with the idea and can complete it, it might seem intimidating at first but get a few redbull's and cheeseburgers in ya and before ya know it your doing donuts in the nearest parking lot

at least if the body is all glass it wil be easy to modify around a scratch frame, and ya wont need alot of power to make it silly so parts will stay reasonable.

the Ford v4 is an industrial engine and parts are still readily available. i was just at "springtime in sweden" today where there was a 110 hp engine in one of the sonetts. i didnt have time to get a ride in it, but with double the hp the car originally had its a pretty quick car.


Im hoping to start the project pretty soon, and bring the car to wyotech in january so i can wrench on it in Chassis fab to perfect any flaws. odviously most of the motivation is in the beggining of the project and is easily lost, but i intend to stick it threw...

On another note i WILL build a locost in the semi near future. your cars are Really SWEET!
JP

Go for it! I saw a really nice 2-stroke 96 on the road the other day... Those cars from the 70's are starting to stand out when you see them on the road.

THose where nice cars, you used to them here in the Norhteast, but we seem to adopt oddball cars around here. Subaru's have always been popular around here too.

I <3 sonett. The local saab shop here in atlanta had two last time I was there. One of them was turbocharged- one of a few conversions done by someone out on the west coast back in the day (I dont know too much about it).


I have an 8-valve 900...she has her quirks but is a great (and reliable) car.

theres one guy in germany who put a c900T engine in the back of a sonett. i cant imagine it handles too good though! and theres some turbo V4s kicking around. i have only seen one in person!

If only i had a CAD program! ive been sketching the chassis, but i cant draw at all! just not gifted in that area!
What does 1 in square tubing go for by the foot? i plan to call tomarrow but i will probably forget!
JP

I have always loved the Sonnets...never owned one though...There was one in the parking lot at the KC All British Car Show last year.



Joe Garrison

My favorite Sonett (just slightly modified):



That one's capable of around 200MPH. Oh, yeah, it's RWD V8. Loud, too!

Look like it came out of "Mad Nils - the swedish road warrior"

Moti

any more info on that car? being that i have been in the saab scene for the last 4 years, and i have never seen it.... it looks sweet

The SAABistas won't like it. There's not much SAAB left. The engine, IIRC, is a hot smallblock Ford, driving the rear wheels.

The little beast runs in open road races like the Big Bend Open Road Race and the defunct Roadrunner Open Road Race. It was radared at 195 MPH at least once.

I believe the owner was Paul Romano of Colorado. It is referred to in the results tables as a '72 Landry Saab. Maybe someone named Landry built it?

Notice the license plates and lights, implying street legality!

haha, i just posted this on Saablink... they love it..

Seriously the car started life as a Ford powered automobile, how is it any worst to add 4 cyls and a real transmission!


BTW i keep missing my local metal supplier by like 30 mins each time i stop in! Im gonna get him next time!
JP

A Very poor Thought of the chassis design..... on Paint:)