Saab Catherina

Saab Catherina

Company type	Prototype automobile
Industry	Automotive
Founded	1964
Headquarters	Katrineholm , Sweden
Products	Sports car prototype

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Prototype exhibited at the SAAB museum in Trollhättan

The Saab Catherina is a 1964 prototype automobile developed by the Swedish automaker Saab. It was designed by Sixten Sason and constructed at the facilities of Aktiebolaget Svenska Järnvägsverkstäderna (ASJ - Swedish Railroad Works) located in Katrineholm, Sweden, which inspired its name. This vehicle is a red, two-seater sports car featuring a targa top.

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Rear perspective

During the early 1960s, Sason, working as a freelancer for Saab, created sketches of a compact sports coupé. With Saab planning to launch a sports car, he was tasked with adapting the design for production purposes. The project kicked off in January 1963, and by May, the prototype assembly commenced at ASJ. The first public presentation of the prototype took place on 24 April 1965 at the Linköping Sports Centre.

To reduce costs, the Catherina incorporated numerous parts from the contemporary Saab 96 and utilized the same wheelbase, which was longer than what was eventually finalized. A standout characteristic was its targa top, which could be stored within the vehicle’s luggage compartment. This design included an integrated 'roll bar', a relatively innovative feature for its time that preceded the 1966 introduction of the Porsche 911 Targa, which later popularized this concept and coined its name. Sason also envisioned additional distinctive elements such as roof-mounted headlamps intended to extend visibility range; however, these were omitted from the prototype to maintain feasibility for mass production.

Following evaluation test drives of the prototype, further refinement was deemed necessary. Meanwhile, another prototype called Saab MFI13, developed by Malmö Flygindustri (MFI), was selected by Saab as the foundation for their sports car model, which became the Saab Sonett II. The Catherina ultimately was placed on exhibit in the SAAB museum located in Trollhättan. Elements of its design inspired Sason’s subsequent work on the mass-produced Saab 99.

Although commonly referred to as 'Catherina' in publications since the 1960s, original documentation from ASJ archives where Sixten Sason proposed the car's name spells it as Catharina. This spelling also appears on the original dashboard nameplate, which was reinstalled on the vehicle at the Saab museum in 2008.