MFI13

    Björn Karlström, draughtsman, stylist and designer, was full of ideas about manufacturing cars in Sweden in the 1950s. he succeeded in getting a manufacturer enthusiastic about sports car project based on standard Saab components. The manufacturer was Malmö Flygindustri, MFI, and the code name was MFI 13 (which was impossible to use for an aircraft - pilots are too supertitious).
    Work on the MFI 13 began in 1964 with the knowledge and approval of Saab. There was some hope that a development grant for manufacture in southern Norrland county might be forthcoming, and when Heinels coachbuilding works in Malmö produced the first body of sheet steel, great care was taken to ensure that the panels could be used as moulds for future production of plastic bodies.
    But the Norrland grant did not materialise and Saab stepped into the picture. The MFI turned out to be a better car than Sixten Sasons Catherina. It was therefore the car Saab chose as the Sonett II. The MFI 13 was renamed the Saab 97 and the car was ready for production within six months.
    It was altogether the same as the prototype, but its basic lines are retained to a surprising degree. The only prototype had a tuned engine with three carburettors and an exhaust whose noise defies desciption. It is reasonable fast with a top speed of 150 km/h and quite lively - from rest to 100 km/h in 13.7 seconds, which was as good or better than the competition at that time could manage.