Saab was founded as an aircraft company in 1937 although its heritage goes back to 1921 when Svenksa Aero was formed to build German aircraft under licence. In 1932 they were bought by ASJA – in English these letters stood for the Swedish Railroad Workers Air Plane Department. After several years with no commercial success, ASJA was reformed as Svenska Aeroplan AB, or SAAB. I … [Read more...]
Oldsmobile
Oldsmobile was one of the longest running car companies in the world when General Motors decided to close the brand completely. It was 107 years old when the final cars came off the production line. Ransom Eli Olds formed the Olds Motor Vehicle Company in Michigan in 1897 and was one of the first high volume manufacturers. He sold the company to a lumber magnate in 1899 … [Read more...]
Carbon Motors
Back in 2008 when I was recording and publishing motoring podcasts, I recorded a piece about a new car company that had been created to deliver purpose built police cars. Unfortunately the company and concept didn't succeed despite being a sensible option for police forces the world over. A typical police car today is basically a modified car from an existing manufacturer, be … [Read more...]
Turbochargers
The full name of the turbo is "turbo-supercharging" and uses the same concepts as a supercharger – the main difference is the use of exhaust gases to turn a turbine rather than the crankshaft. The turbine is connected directly to a compressor impeller providing the motion to build the boost. Clearly as the engine increases the rpm, the volume of gases increases which in turn … [Read more...]