Year and place: 1988-91, Linköping
Uno Johansson was working as a sheet-metal worker, repairing cars, when he developed a better way to repair cars damaged in collisions. The result was a work-bench to right chassis, named Car-O-Link, that was sold in many countries.
Later he sold his company. But, he still had ideas about repairing damaged cars. In 1986 he began a project to construct a car that would be easier to repair than the usual cars.
Uno 001
In 1988 the prototype was finished, named Uno 001. An elegant sports coupé for two.
The chassis is based on a steel tube frame. The deformation zones of the chassis is replaceable.
Beside the deformation zones, the 'cage' around the passengers is strenghtened and the doors give protection in case of a collission from the side.
To further simplify repair, the body can be removed from the chassis. Where possible, parts of the car are identical so they easily can be exchanged.
The prototype
The prototype has a metal body, but the serial produced cars were to have some kind of plastic bodies.
A mid-mounted 16-valve Saab turbo engine gives 250hp. Gearbox and other components in and around the driveline also comes from Saab.
Two buyers paid deposits, but got their money back since lack of financiers made serial production impossible.
Catlin
When Johansson had finished his first car, he began builing another. In 1991 Catlin was on display at the car exhibition in Frankfurt.
The body of this 2-seater is made of the same kind of composite material as the fighter Saab JAS 39 Gripen. Leather is used in the interior.
This one too is a safe car, and it has a sprinkler system under the hood.
Competitive
Catlin has a V6 engine with double turbos, producing 400hp. Top speed was estimated to over 320 km/h, and accelleration to 100 km/h in 4 seconds.
This car should cost less than the expensive sports cars from among others Italy, but be comparative with them in performance and finish.
Between 20 and 50 cars were planned to be built per year, but - lack of financiers made a stop (or pause?) for this project too.
In 1997 the moulds and other tools used for Uno 001 and Catlin were still 'just' waiting for money et cetera for serial production.
Catlin from 1992. Photos from Tom Jue, Aug 2000, who also tells this about the car:
2000-04-21. www.konditori100.se. Text/pictures: Arne Granfoss © (if not other named). Prod: AG Informice
The car is mid engine, rear drive. It has a twin-turbo V6 2900cc 400 HP engine. This gives the 1100kg heavy/light car a Weight-Ratio of 2.75 kg/HP. Performance? Top speed 320km/h. 0-100 km/h in 4.0 seconds. The price of the 4,2 metre long, 1,9 wide and 1,1 high car: 100.000 DM.