1960 SARA 5 - Getting upmarket, and getting a partnership
With the SARA 3 and 4 huge successes, and the Modulor® development coming to fruition, Jeanneret only had a problem to solve before getting the SARA 5 on the market.
The styling.
Sure, Chief design Fragonard did a decent work, and his engineering culture helped him in designing cars that were very well suited to mass production while its grille helped having a coherent design language, but it was felt, within the company, that the upmarket clients wouldn’t be happy with the minimalist design cues Jeanneret and Fragonard liked.
Luckily, Jeanneret managed to reach an agreement with the PMI conglomerate, providing their Marshall and Quasi Diesel Mk1 engines for OOO PMI Polezniy Podolsk in exchange for a design study from the famed PMI Minerva NV/SA.
Through licensing, SARA brought some of its robustness fame to an emerging market, while the luxury Minerva signing brought some luster to SARA.
Though the reliability of the Modulor® 500 wasn’t what SARA expected, with the head gaskets suffering from the different dilatation temperatures of the iron block and the aluminium headers, Jeanneret kept the decision.
It was a sound investment, and the blown engines of today were the technological advance of tomorrow.
The tuning was kept mellow to avoid high rpms, and the cooling was slightly oversized to mitigate the troubles, reaching a decent reliability.
SARA 520 GTL
The first SARA 11CV since WW2 was a big challenge for the firm. Externalized styling, multiple color choice, and even some real chromes instead of the usual Chromalite®.
The brief was to reach 100 mph, with a great comfort and drivability, while being economic. Quite an impossible task, yet… They came quite close.
Sur, the roll angle didn’t make this car a kid’s favorite, but the PlastiCuir® fake leather was easy to clean whenever some little accident happened in the back seats - though the people quickly learned to not take the optional black interior option for fear of severe lap burns.
The build cost was around 1070$, and SARA started to sell them at 1500$, before understanding that their brand image didn’t allow them such large margins.
Sure, it was a decent “premium budget” offering, but not from a premium manufacturer. There was a market for the SARA 5, for sure, but people bought the car for its qualities, not the image, and soon the price went back to 1300 $.
If was quite innovative for its time, featuring FWD and fully independant suspensions, but also aluminium headers and a galvanised chassis. Expensive technologies, but Jeanneret was right in being forward-thinking there…
A gorgeous beige in the early morning sun
Engine Details
Modulor® 500 I4, 86x86 max, 1998 cc, OHC, 2 valves, iron block and aluminium head
Capacity : 86x86, 1998 cc
7.0 compression, 2 barrel carburetor tuned for french 89 RON regular, short cast header
88 hp@4800, 141.8Nm@2900, 13.5% efficiency
146.1 kg, 703$ ('18) cost
Car Details
8998$ build cost (0 markup)
4 door - 5 seats, 2.68m wheelbase, 4.38m total
Front Longitudinal FWD
Galvanised Steel monocoque chassis, steel panels
4 gear manual
Weight : 999 kg
Fuel Economy : 13.8 l/100 (17 MPG US)
Max Speed : 158 km/h
0-100 km/h : 13.1
1/4 mile : 19.2
Kilometer : 35.3
G : 0.826-0.795
Braking 0-100 : 58.8m
Airfield time : missing
SARA 516 TL
The lower trim ended being much more successful - it was a great family mover, fast enough to appeal to the “pony car” buyers and costing only 865$ to produce - meaning it could be sold for less than 4 figures, a significant psychological ceiling for most buyers.
I cannot thank @Private_Miros enough - here shown in brown, and with less Chromalite®
Engine Details
Modulor® 500 I4, 86x86 max, 1998 cc, OHC, 2 vavles, iron block and aluminium head
Capacity : 83x73.1, 1581 cc
6.9 compression, eco carburetor tuned for french 89 RON regular, cast log header
56.1 hp@4800, 106.9Nm@2800, 13.7% efficiency
135.2 kg, 553.4$ ('18) cost
Car Details
7276$ build cost (0 markup)
4 door - 5 seats, 2.68m wheelbase, 4.38m total
Front Longitudinal FWD
Galvanised Steel monocoque chassis, steel panels
3 gear manual
Weight : 940 kg
Fuel Economy : 12.5 l/100 (19 MPG US)
Max Speed : 135 km/h
0-100 km/h : 19.3
1/4 mile : 21.9
Kilometer : 40.2
G : 0.77-0.75
Braking 0-100 : 56.2m
Airfield time : 2:00.22