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Author Topic: Solved -PJ99- Lightburn Saab  (Read 2597 times)

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Offline Paul Jaray

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Re: PJ - 99
« Reply #25 on: July 16, 2009, 06:57:48 AM »
A relatively known manufacturer...
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Offline Allemano

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Re: PJ - 99
« Reply #26 on: July 16, 2009, 07:02:15 AM »
Lightburn Saab!


...about Harold Lightburn. While all this car activity was going on, he also established an arrangement with SAAB to build a SAAB based sports car in Australia. Various SAAB forums, particularly a couple in USA and Sweden, talk about this mysterious car with reports that they are on the verge of discovering the whereabouts of what is supposed to be the rarest Saab of all. The truth is that two prototypes were to have been built, one LHD and one RHD. This was done but for some reason production never went ahead. Supposedly these 2 cars disappeared forever. Wrong! The LHD version is alive and well and pictured below.
This photograph was taken on one of our Gawler car club events. Yes, once again, the owners of this very rare vehicle are members of our local club - Terry and Dawn. The body, designed and built by Lightburn is of aluminium except for the tilt-forward bonnet which is fibreglass. The RHD version, I believe, also exists to this day but I also believe that it never proceeded past the running chassis stage.
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Offline Paul Jaray

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Re: PJ - 99
« Reply #27 on: July 16, 2009, 07:05:19 AM »
Yes!
Well done......
and I'm afrait that's just the beginning...
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Offline Allemano

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Re: PJ - 99
« Reply #28 on: July 16, 2009, 07:05:42 AM »
Another source:

    The Saab Lightburn - The Australian Adventure

    “No doubt that it will be a success!” - from a letter from Saab

    At the end of the 1950’s, Saab came very close to building a sports car in Australia, of all places. A coachbuilder in Adelaide, Lightburn & Co., approached Saab with a proposal to build a sports car for the Australian market. Saab had not forgotten the interest in the first Sonett project and more important than building a car down under, they saw a chance of breaking into the Australian market. This was difficult for importers who were hampered by quotas with high duties on cars manufactured outside the country.

    The Australian firm sent their design concept to Trollhättan along with a 1:4 scale model. Their design was hardly original and moreover had little relationship to Saab - maybe with the exception of the big 15-inch wheels.

    Saab assigned Gunnar A Sjogren the task of reworking and polishing the Lightburn design and the end of 1960, his modified version was sent back to Lightburn & Co. But by then they seemed to have lost interest and the idea came to nothing. The dream of building a Saab car in Australia never went beyond merely a dream.



Note that this sketch looks completely different:
(a wasted chance for a very nice "Sketched, the third" puzzle)
« Last Edit: July 16, 2009, 07:21:53 AM by Allemano »
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Offline Paul Jaray

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Re: Solved -PJ99- Lightburn Saab
« Reply #29 on: July 16, 2009, 07:08:32 AM »
That's was an hard nut...another 2-digit PJ is gone....
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Offline Allemano

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Re: Solved -PJ99- Lightburn Saab
« Reply #30 on: July 16, 2009, 07:09:42 AM »
another find:
« Last Edit: July 16, 2009, 07:12:22 AM by Allemano »
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Offline Paul Jaray

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Re: Solved -PJ99- Lightburn Saab
« Reply #31 on: July 16, 2009, 07:15:06 AM »
I was going to post this, but it's not that good...
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Offline Allemano

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Re: Solved -PJ99- Lightburn Saab
« Reply #32 on: July 16, 2009, 07:16:57 AM »
Quote from: Paul Jaray on July 16, 2009, 05:48:12 AM
Not 50, but 40\45. The year is not reported in my source.

That's why I did post it...
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Offline Paul Jaray

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Re: Solved -PJ99- Lightburn Saab
« Reply #33 on: July 16, 2009, 07:23:41 AM »
Yep, the other source (the one with the sketch, reports a generic late 50s and then 'Saab assigned Gunnar A Sjogren the task of reworking and polishing the Lightburn design and the end of 1960, his modified version was sent back to Lightburn & Co. But by then they seemed to have lost interest and the idea came to nothing. The dream of building a Saab car in Australia never went beyond merely a dream'
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Offline Allemano

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Re: Solved -PJ99- Lightburn Saab
« Reply #34 on: July 16, 2009, 07:29:03 AM »
Actually the sketched version is a thousand times prettier, isn't it?
And much nicer than the Quantum as well!
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Offline Paul Jaray

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Re: Solved -PJ99- Lightburn Saab
« Reply #35 on: July 16, 2009, 07:47:04 AM »
Yep, even it was not so original...
good material for a 'Sketched the Third'!
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Offline hugo90

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Re: Solved -PJ99- Lightburn Saab
« Reply #36 on: July 20, 2009, 01:19:15 AM »
Then Lightburn did make cars for a while, the Zeta, including a sports car with FMR drive train.  They would have done better aligned with SAAB.
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Offline teacher

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Re: Solved -PJ99- Lightburn Saab
« Reply #37 on: November 07, 2009, 01:06:13 AM »
yes, the photo in the advert doesnt do it justice, nice little car and fun to drive
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Offline Paul Jaray

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Re: Solved -PJ99- Lightburn Saab
« Reply #38 on: November 07, 2009, 08:33:20 AM »
Hi Teacher...
wellcome to Autopuzzles!
You had the chance to drive it ?!?
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