My enduring thanks to Lance for his OK to re-publish this here at Inside Saab. Enjoy.

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Old aeroplanes smell, every classic aviation enthusiast knows that. Sit in a Spitfire or a Messerchmitt 109 and the patina of leather, aluminium, bakelite plastic, oil, grease, and canvas, lends a tangible reek, an actual smell.

The same whiff pervades the interiors of Catalina flying boats, Lancasters, Douglas DC 3s and just about any old aeroplane. Even old, first generation jetliners have a smell – think Boeing 707 or Comet or Caravelle or VC10.

When it comes to cars however, the smell thing seems less defined.

Yes, classic 1930s race cars reek, so too do 1960s Alfas, Lancias and Morris Minors. But some cars have no smell at all – not even old ones; when did you last scratch and sniff a 1980s Honda or a plastic lined Ford hatchback – you didn’t because they don’t pong.

All of which begs the questions – why do old Saabs have that unique, special, Saab-only smell – and what is it? And is it something to do with aviation?

To answer the questions, I took my mind way back to days of yore, When Saabs were Saabs and Abba were gold.

My first car was bought in 1981 and was a 1968 early model steel bumpered, Saab 99 two door (well it would be for 1968). It had that lovely cockpit style fascia with a top roll coaming that arced back into the door side panels. The clock was off a 96 and there was chrome detailing on the seatbelt buckles and some very fungal vinyl in the cabin.

Above all, there was the smell: The car had this really strong pong – and it smelt just like my grandad’s Auster light aircraft – a sort of vintage eau d’ armpit mixed with stale canvas, cigar, oak, horsehair, alloy and an air of classic French polished woodwork.

The Saab smelled.

It was not an off putting odour, but it was a definite pong. My mate had a 96 V4 – a white one, and we both suddenly realised that both cars smelt the same.

We could not work it out so we just put up with it.

I sold the Saab for a fat profit and (somewhat idiotically) bought a Citroen GS. The Citroen was brilliantly designed, had a flat four engine, strong hull, and like all Robert Opren designs, caught the light beautifully. Needless to say it disintegrated in front of my eyes, but when it worked, it was truly a spaceship of a car.

Years later we had a dog poo brown 1976 Saab 99 and that also had a smell. And even more years after that I owned my classic 900 five door GLI in blue with blue trim. And you guessed it, that smelt too.

But along came a NG 9-3 and an early 9-5 – and the smell was gone.

I have always wanted to know why my Saabs smelt and what the smell was. On visits to Sweden, no one at Saab knew what the smell was, but they all knew that Saabs had a smell – “Oh yes, definitely Saabs smell,” they would say in lovely sing song Svenksa speak- but “No, we do not know what the smell is.”

Tak, mate!

So what was that smell?

The answer, I believe, partly lies in a mix of low tech glues that were used to stick trim in all cars and aircraft up until the late 1970s. From the 1920s to 1970s, seats and trim were put together in the same way- stuffed, padded, tied, strung, and stuck. And the interiors of cars and aircraft were made of alloy, tinplate and mild steel – even dashboards were metal – albeit covered in lovely rubbery vinyl (kinky stuff I know).

And then there were veneers of wood, of fake wood, and more spreads of the marmalade of glues that were car (and aircraft) interiors before slush moulded, toxic lumps of dashboards and trims, were bunged into post 1980 cars and began their leach of nasty chemcial compounds into your car and your body.

The glues used in old cars and old Saabs would have been animal based – and let us hope they were organically fed! – and interiors had bare metal, plastic vinyls, chrome, carpets and seats that may well have contained horsehair and fibre glass in a combined heady mix, topped off by the whiff of ancient Bakelite (younger readers will have to look Bakelite up…).

Even the last Saab to smell –the 900 Classic with its moulded trims, new dashboard and that headlining monster, combined some of the old world craft of interior trim artisanship.

Throw in the effects of damp and, the fact that even the late model 900 Classics had wooden panels in the back end of the cabin – plywood for something’s sake – and the smells created a list of ingredients just like a 1950s Saab! The plywood has got be the secret ingredient in the fragrance.

I reckon the mix of the above, all brought together as only the Swedes can, is the reason why Saabs smell.

Newer Saabs have none of this – it’s all moulded micro pores and polycarbonates – with no bare metal to stroke and nothing organic to smoke.. Which is why they do not smell like Saabs.

So there you have it, my theory on why old classic machines, and notably old classic Saabs, smell. It is a wonderful, nostalgic mix of animal, metal, mineral, all blended and smeared together to create an aura like no other.

All we need now is a Saab aftershave of the same smell – one that can be dripped from a dispenser into the air vents, and then we can all go back in time.

There is only one problem. Volvos from 1960 to 1970 and 1980, were built in the same country using the same techniques- but they did not smell!

Called to odure, as they say…

The following video series was posted on Youtube a few days ago. Whilst it’s called “Saab History 1946-2006″ it seems to cover the earliest days, then skip forward directly to the development of the Saab 900.

I’m pretty sure that this is a production sponsored by Saab a few years ago. In fact, I’m sure I have a copy of it on VHS tape and purchased from the Saab Museum back in 2007. So if you feel like you’ve seen it before, you might have this tape gathering dust somewhere in your living room, too.

Regardless, it’s a good series to watch. There is a lot of footage that you most likely haven’t seen before, as well as photographs and illustrations that are quite rare.

There are 12 episodes, between 5 and 10 minutes in length, which is why you should bookmark the page. Episode 9 appears to be missing at the moment, but that shouldn’t detract from your enjoyment. Watch one, then come back and watch another. The development of the Saab 9000 is quite comprehensive, for example, and will warrant a few viewings simply so you can appreciate all that goes into vehicle development.

Enjoy.

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Part 1 – Saab’s beginnings as an automotive manufacturer.

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Part 2 – Saab 900 development and evolution

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Saab 900 Convertible development

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Part 4 – Saab 9000 development

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Part 5 – Saab NG900 development

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Part 6 – Saab 9-5 Sedan development

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Part 7 – Saab 9-5 SportCombi development

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Part 8 – Saab 9-3 hatch development

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Part 9 appears to be missing from the playlist.

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Part 10 – Saab 9-3 Sport Sedan development

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Part 11 – Saab 9-3 SportCombi

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Part 12 – a bonus section showing the Saab “Monster”

Here we are, then, with a photo study of the Saab 9-6. The car is now on display at the Saab Museum after spending several years in hiding storage out the back.

The Saab 9-6 was a joint project with Subaru, based on their B9 Tribeca SUV. Saab, at the behest of General Motors (who owned 20% of Subaru’s parent company at the time), had already launched the Saab 9-2x based on the Subaru Impreza WRX. This vehicle was supposed to build on that relationship.

Even though the 9-2x was loved by those who owned it, the car was lampooned by the press for being a poorly executed mimic of a cult classic. The Saab was actually better equipped than the WRX of the time with several components from Subaru’s performance division (STi) added to the car, but it ended up selling for a lot less in an employee-pricing fire sale back in 2005.

Whilst it had nothing to do with the fire sale, GM ended up selling its 20% stake in Subaru later in 2005 and the Saab 9-6 project was cancelled. Prior to this cancellation, Saab had built two prototype vehicles – this five door model now on exhibition at the museum, as well as a three-door version.

Many will refer to the 9-6 as the 9-6x, which makes sense as it would have had a 4-wheel drive system on board, which is the usual trigger for the added ‘x’ (9-3x TTiD owners – your objection is noted). I used to call it the 9-6x as well in stories that I wrote about it back in 2005. The museum example, however, is referred to without the ‘x’ in the title so I’m going to stick to that protocol.

Click to enlarge the images.

There are plenty more photos after the jump…..

The interior (below) was pure Subaru – here’s the original Tribeca – with just a Saab badge and some different gauges to differentiate it. It’s unknown (to me) how far they got with any re-design of the interior, but it should be noted that the 9-2x and Impreza interiors were remarkably similar.

I’m not sure what the headphones were for. I had a look in the back and there were no video screens back there, but maybe they intended to install some.

Wiper heaters aren’t new, but it was the first time I’d personally noticed them, so I figured they were worth a photo…..

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The car, a Saab 900, was finally used for it’s new purpose on the weekend in a hillclimb event called Climb to the Clouds. Here it is, being driven by Pascal. It looks like a good run, especially for a first up event for a car that’s just been completed.

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I have a very personal love for watching Saabs participating in motorsport events. As many of you know, Saab built their reputation in the 1950s, 60s and 70s on the back of multiple rallying successes, back before rallying turned into a mega-budget event.

Today, old Saabs are riding a wave of popularity in Sweden and other parts of Europe as historic rallying gains more and more prominence around the continent.

Later next month we will cover the Midnight Sun rally in Sweden, where there are dozens of historic Saabs entered in the event. It’s going to be an absolute blast.

Congratulations to Pascal and Marcel (and team) for their efforts at Mt Washington last weekend!

As mentioned in that story, there were two convertible concepts produced for evaluation by Saab. One of those was made by the American Sunroof Company in Michigan, USA. If you notice a similarity between this car and the original Saab 900 Convertible from the mid-1980′s, that’s because this is the concept that was chosen for serial production starting as a 1986 model.

The Saab Convertible made it’s world debut at the 1983 Frankfurt Motor Show. This is that car. It now lives in the Saab Museum in Trollhattan, Sweden.

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This is a studio image of the original convertible concept. it’s better than any image I could have got at the Museum yesterday.

I won’t go into too much detail on this car as it’s one that Saab fans would be quite familiar with from the production model, but there are a few differences. Let’s dive in an take a closer look…….

The interior is the familiar ‘Oxblood’ interior that was well known in the mid-1980s, this time with a black dashboard…

The rear seats and an overview of the convertible top cover…..

A close-up of the cover, which is trimmed in oxblood leather….

Moving to the other side, with a portion of the top cover removed, we can see the convertible mechanism in place. The top isn’t operated regularly now and would require some service before being operated again.

Rear seat passengers got a window switch of their own on the convertible concept….

The center console got window and roof switches….

The interior was trimmed in original Bridge of Weir leather from Scotland….

And for the real convertible boffins, a look at the roof connecting points of the concept convertible.

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As mentioned in the original convertible story, the concept built by ASC was a ‘production’ concept, not a car merely for show. Their brief was take a 2-door Saab 900 and figure out how to make a convertible that could be mass-produced. Their concept is therefore very similar to the final vehicle that was released for sale in 1986.

The other concept car was made by a Swedish coachbuilder named Leif Mellberg. This is the car that not so many people have seen before and we’ll take a much closer look at that car very soon.

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