Alphecca

They used to be the same company. In 1988 the automotive division was 50% sold to GM.

SAAB started as a aerospace company, the made planes first for the military and many more stuff... cars came few years later... and Im talking way back...
late 80s the company split into two

Like Rolls Royce... the part that makes cars is different than the company that makes jet engines. Just a brand name on the car side now, owned by someone else.... I forget who.

Husquavarna makes guns too. Or used to.

And remember Inglis, the Canadian washing machine company that got bought by Whirlpool? I think they made M3 "grease guns" for awhile. Or was it Browning Hi-Power pistols?

BTW, did Mattell really make M16, or were they just a subcontractor for the plastic parts?

Late for work or I would Google all this. :)

BTW, glad your feed is working again, Jeff!

Ingliss made the BHP, Mattel never made M16s.

I was issued an M-16 in basic that had a mattel logo on the butt-stock. They did make some of the non-metallic parts.

Many manufacturers contract to make products that they do not sell themselves. It brings in revenue and keeps the production line paying for itself.

Sturm-Ruger makes the titanium heads for golf clubs. I think for the 'Big Bertha' brand?

Actually it was a division of GM that made the M3 grease gun.

"...way back, late 80's..."

Sure, Daniel, make me feel like an old man;-}

Singer used to make machine guns during WWII, since they were tooled up for making small precision parts.

Here's a list of companies that made M1 carbines during WWII:

Rock-Ola Music Corporation
Standard Products
International Business Machines (IBM)
Quality Hardware
National Postal Meter
Saginaw (SAGINAW DIVISION,GENERAL MOTORS)S.G.
Saginaw (Grand Rapids) S'G'
Underwood-Elliot-Fisher
Winchester
Inland (INLAND DIVISION, GENERAL MOTORS)

In 1980, my stepfather and I did a science project for my school in which we compared the effects of different handguns by firing them into blocks of clay. IIRC, we used a .38/.357 S&W double action revolver with a 4" barrel, a single-action Colt .22 revolver, and an M1911A1 made by . . . Singer Sewing Machine.

Needless to say, my experiment, while scientifically rigorous by elementary school standards, did not go over well with the establishment.

John Inglis made HPs and BREN guns. Maybe others, those are the only Inglis guns I happen to own.

SAAB originally stood for Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget, later changed to Saab Aktiebolag (AB). Then it merged with a truck company to form Saab-Scania AB. Then it spun off the car portion as Saab Automobile AB, which is now owned by GM. The remainder of Saab has moved further into military products since. There seems to be good money in militaria even in a neutral country.

I've always found SAAB cars to be annoying. Personally, I always buy Japanese for stuff to move me around, and British for what-the-hell.

An authentic Singer 1911A1 could probably put somebody through college. Singer only made 500 of them. Most are fakes.

My cousin had a Saab I borrowed for a few days about 15 years ago. I couldn't figure out any of the symbols on the controls. I couldn't even work the radio...

My stepfather is/was a collector extraordinaire. He had an FFL at the time, and flipped that gun for real money within a few weeks of the experiment. We fired a total of three rounds from it.

Stumbled across your blog by accident, but coincidentally I am both a/ an avid gun rights activist and b/ an avid Saab owner and driver. There is no finer car for the money. Email me if you have any questions about Saabs, whether you're buying used or new.

Also- where are you in VT? My in-laws have a little farm up there in Johnson. I get up there when I can.

Take care,

Jason