The Saab
fighter jets were very important for
Sweden's
air force. As a country that sits right between
Russia and the
US, the swedes were
not that happy with the idea of the
cold war getting
any hotter.
The Viggen fighter, and after it the Draken, were true pioneers of the STOL principle. They were designed so that they would be able to take of, and land, on Sweden's plain roads. This enabled Sweden to have many little mini-airports in the middle of nowhere. The advantage was, that even when the main infrastructure would be nuked, they still could operate some planes. And defend themselves, a bit.
The car-maker SAAB has a real good track record concerning safety. They were pioneers (as was the also Swedish and alse safe VOLVO) of protection systems for whiplash traumas. They are known to investigate thoroughly every accident with that happens with their cars in whole Sweden. And they perform eland tests. When you're doing 70 km/h and you get a 300 kg eland smashed against your front window, you'll appreciate that. Of course, there are not that many elands jumping over roads in non-scandinavian countries, but still.
And their 900 convertibles are just plain beautiful.
I want one!