1978 Saab 900 – Driven To Write

Swedish Math

All too easily dismissed as somewhat of a crude hash-job, the 90 nevertheless sold well by SAAB standards and stayed true to traditional brand values.

In the eighties SAAB was still an independent manufacturer enjoying a relatively small yet very loyal customer base, but the lack of available finances for the development of new products was starting to hurt. Flirtations with Lancia in an effort to continue serving the lower price field after the discontinuation of the 96 with the Lancia A112 and SAAB-Lancia 600 proved unsuccessful; the cooperation in the Tipo 4 platform project did allow the Swedes to Continue reading “Swedish Math”

“A Smoky Mizu please, Dr. Voss”

If there should be a parlour game to identify the most DTW car possible then this might be one an exemplar: Bertone’s Saab Novanta concept car.

Why is this a very DTW car? This is a concept car from the year 2002 and has a challenging appearance; it was good enough to deserve production but wasn’t produced; it was a proposal for an extinct and much-missed brand (Saab) and it originated from a now-dead coachbuilder, Bertone. Finally, you can’t help but Continue reading ““A Smoky Mizu please, Dr. Voss””

Lord Nothing-Much Smokes Another Cigarette

We are still rifling through the footnotes of 1998 and now the examination has produced the Saab 9-3.

The back-story to this 1998-for-1999 car can be traced to 1994, the year the NG900 appeared as the headstone to Saab’s career as maker of indestructible doctors’, engineers’ and professors’ cars. In 1998 the 900 became the 9-3 and fitted under the 9-5 in Saab’s small range.

You are damned if you do and damned if you don’t Continue reading “Lord Nothing-Much Smokes Another Cigarette”

Logical Imperative

The 1978 Saab 900 could be dismissed as merely an evolution of an older model, but it became far more than that. It became the ur-Saab.

“The car has become an indispensable part of our everyday life. We need it so that society will not grind to a halt and so that people will serve society efficiently. looking ahead a little further, will the car continue to be as essential in our everyday lives as today?

Yes – provided that: We Continue reading “Logical Imperative”

Theme: Shutlines – Look, No Sills.

We don’t really think much about sills. On some cars they were not even visible, as in the 1978-1993 Saab 900. It’s a case of the missing shutline.

1986 Saab 900 automatic. The door extends down and fold inward, out of site. — 1986 Saab 900 automatic. The door extends down and fold inward, out of sight.

Admittedly this example is rather dented. Looking past that, notice that the door comes all the way down to where the sill or rocker panel is normally visible. There is a sill there, but it is about ten centimetres in-board, with a thick rubber seal to Continue reading “Theme: Shutlines – Look, No Sills.”