Video Series: A History of Saab

September 20, 2011 10:43 Line

By: Swade

Comments (7)

Bookmark this page. You’re going to want to come back to it, trust me.

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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(more…)

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Category: Saab History Post a Comment (7)

Opinion: Why we shouldn’t call the next Saab the “9-3″

September 19, 2011 20:40 Line

By: Swade

Comments (70)

Saab’s next all-new vehicle to be unveiled to the public is a little way away at the moment, but I’d like to talk about one aspect of it here today. This post might not win me too many friends, either at the factory or out there in enthusiast-land, but be that as it may….. I’d like to put forward some personal thoughts about nomenclature.

Saab’s next vehicle release will be the most important vehicle release in the company’s history. Why? Because it will replace the current Saab 9-3. This is Saab’s bread-and-butter. Traditionally, it’s the vehicle size that we sell the most, and it’s the vehicle segment that our customers spend the most time shopping around in. I don’t want to sound too dramatic about this (though I’m not sure I can be too dramatic about it, to be honest), but if this vehicle fails, we’re toast.

Given those dire, all-encompassing consequences, I think it’s worth a little extra time thinking about every aspect of this vehicle, including something that can set the tone just right, if it’s done correctly – the vehicle’s name.

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Saab has used a couple of different nomenclature schemes over its history. The common thread is that all but a few of them have involved the number 9. We started with an ascending two-digit code in the Saab 92, got all the way up to the Saab 99 and then went to three digits. Then four digits.

Finally, in a bid to do something new for a new generation of vehicles, we went to our current nomenclature, which is written 9-3 and 9-5 but badged rather cleverly with a to-the-power-of look. It’s modern, it places our vehicles in segments that are logically ordered, segments that can be compared with other manufacturers.

But is it right?

Personally speaking, I’d say both yes and no. I don’t have a problem with our current nomenclature at all, except that I wonder if it’s going to set our new vehicle, our most important vehicle, apart from the rest like it should.

Can we do better? Well, after watching a video a few days ago, an idea came into my head and personally speaking, I think we can.

Some have accused Saab of going too much into BMW territory by naming our vehicles with similar names to the ones that BMW use to segment their vehicle series (3, 5, etc). I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. As I said before, it’s logical, clean it looks great on the cars.

But I think there’s another German manufacturer that we can take a look at and perhaps learn something from. Check out this video from the Frankfurt Motor Show……

Read more →

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Reorg appeal: The first ‘Yes’

September 19, 2011 13:20 Line

By: Swade

Comments (8)

Press Release from SWAN:

COURT OF APPEAL GRANTS RIGHT OF APPEAL TO SAAB AUTOMOBILE IN VOLUNTARY REORGANIZATION CASE

Zeewolde, The Netherlands, 19 September 2011 – Swedish Automobile N.V. (Swan) announces that Saab Automobile AB and its subsidiaries Saab Automobile Powertrain AB and Saab Automobile Tools AB (collectively Saab Automobile) received a right to appeal from the Court of Appeal in Gothenburg, Sweden today in their efforts to obtain approval for its proposal for voluntary reorganization.

Saab Automobile is pleased with the Court’s decision and will now await further developments. The Court of Appeal is expected to rule shortly on Saab Automobile’s appeal against the decision by the District Court in Vänersborg to reject Saab Automobile’s proposal for voluntary reorganization.

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And written prior to the press release…..

The court in Gothenburg has agreed to consider Saab’s appeal against the decision made last week in Vanersborg.

That’s the first “yes” we needed to hear.

Now, the case will be considered by a panel of judges, who will either rule in favour of Saab’s application for Reorganisation (the second ‘Yes’), or will rule against, which Saab could theoretically then appeal to the Supreme Court in Sweden.

This is a pretty big reorganisation application, said to be one of the biggest in Sweden and almost definitely the biggest taken to the appeal stage. Whilst the court has an obligation under the law to deal with the decision quickly, it’s possibly going to take a little time as they consider the precedent they’re setting. They do aim to have a decision prior to any scheduled bankruptcy hearing, the first of which is due on Sept 26. So bankruptcy filings at this point are little more than legal positioning and reason for a headline.

We still have confidence in them reaching a favourable reorganisation decision. Why? Because our business is still a good one with a lot going for it and that should be evident from the material supplied to the court.

Category: News Post a Comment (8)

Someone stole my Saab Collection! (part 2)

September 19, 2011 10:39 Line

By: Swade

Comments (8)

Last week I brought you a series of photos from Markus, whose family has some seriously cool Saabs. In fact, they were exactly the cars I’d have for a modern Saab collection of my own.

At the time, I remarked that a Sonett would make that collection absolutely perfect in my eyes. Markus saw the comments, and in poker terms, he’s seen my Sonett and raised me a 96 and a 9000!!!

Markus’ family run a dealership in Germany, so they’ve got some pretty good contacts when it comes to restoring and keeping automobiles. And haven’t they used those resources well? It’s a beautiful collection and as you’ll read below, we still haven’t seen all of it yet!

I’ll let Markus take it from here…..

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…..there are indeed stories to tell about the cars.

Let’s start with the oldest

The Sonett is from 1971 and was originally delivered to the States. To be a little more accurate the car was delivered to Los Angeles. My father was in LA 1984 with some colleagues to watch the Olympic Games and in LA, he had seen some Sonetts. Back in Germany he decided to call a guy he knew for importing cars from the US. There the story starts.

Together they looked for the perfect match and the found a red Sonett from 71. The car was shipped to Germany and the condition of the car was really bad. The car was undergoing restoration for over 5 years but it was never completed because of missing parts. In 2005 we found some missing parts that we needed (brake cylinder and some other parts). So the car went from 70 percent done to 90 percent done. Two things we still could not to find. The front and rear bumper EU style. In late 2006 we contacted a guy in France who heard that some guys near Stockholm would start to do a series again with the old part presses from Saab.

So for now the car is ready to roll again, in nearly 100 percent condition. We have to install the original emblems in front and rear and then the lady is completely done. To the color. The original base color was red. But my dad decided that the Burnt Orange original paint would fit the car a lot better. So it is one of the original colors and I must say it suits the car very well.

The 96 is from 1978, it was first delivered to a Swedish customer in the Smaland area. There the car was more like the third or fourth car that you own. It has an original mileage of 49,886 KM. We bought the car in early 1994 so we are now the second owner. The car is in absolute brilliant condition. It was allways kept inside and has never seen a lot of rain or salt on the road. It’s now registered on Historical German plates and if one of us has the time to move it we only drive it around a little.

The 900 Turbo S is from 1991, the car was first delivered through our dealership so we know the car from the very first day. It’s first owner got the Independence Edition 022/366 last week. ;-)

The second owner was an older teacher who died one and a half years ago and one of his last wishes was that we will get the car back and restore it. The condition of this car wasn’t that nice. But as you can see on the pictures the car is back to it’s former glory after 9 months of restoration. So for this car we are the third owner. The car was delivered on 15 Inch Three Spoke wheels. But i like the 16 Inch Super Aeros much more and there were 4 left in Nyköping so I ordered them. ;-) The mileage of this car is 147,130 KM and we are the third owner.

The black 1993 Convertible that I sent you the pics from, a couple of weeks back, is interesting also. This car is first hand. We have had it since its first day. The car is in absolutely stunning condition. It was one of the last delivered cars here in Germany from a series called ‘top edition’ and it’s equipped with an airflow kit and the grey wheels. And it has the LPT Turbo. The was never driven in the winter. It’s a summer only car and the mileage is 61,560 KM. First hand as we say here in Germany.

The 9000 CD Griffin is a MY1996 but still has the 2.3Turbo. In Germany you couldn’t order the 4 Banger anymore for the griffin model in 96 but we had a customer who really wanted the old engine and not the V6. So we did a lot of calls to the offices in Trollhättan and in the end we were able to deliver a MY96 9000 Griffin with the 2.3Turbo Engine. This car later became my first car. I got it for my 18th birthday. I am the third owner. Mileage is now 175,670 KM. And this car is also in perfect condition.

The ’99 Viggen is also a car that my dad delivered himself to one of his customers. The car was kept by our customer until the end of 2009. He had cancer and died one day, quite suddenly. He often asked me before he died if I wanted the car back, should he ever decide to sell it. I replied with a clear yes and his wife knew this. So we started negotiating a price that she should get for the car but in the end she decided to keep the car. I was very unhappy but I understood why she would keep the car.

I decided to look for another Viggen but could not fine a suitable one. Then nearly 14 months later in early 2011 she called me again. She asked me if I was still interested in the car. I replied yes again. So we negotiated again and this time I got the car. It was very well looked after for all the time it was driven. But the 14 months of standing around were not that perfect. But a little work done here and there and it looks absolutely brilliant again. I am the second owner here and the mileage is 233.890 KM with its second engine and gearbox.

The Turbo X is also a car that we have owned from its very first day. It’s one of the 90 cars that were delivered here in Germany. The car is equipped with all you can get from the factory, except for the sunroof. Over the last 2 years I got everything for the car that you can get from Hirsch. The car now has only 23,450 KM on the clock because I don’t really drive that much.

To the Colors of the Cars.

The Sonett: Was Red, now Burnt Orange, Interior leather Black
The 96: Dorado Brown, Beige velours
The 900 Turbo S: Scarabee Green, Leather Black
The 900 Convertible: Black Metallic, Leather Black
The 9000 Griffin: Scarabee Green, Leather Beige
The 9-3 Viggen: Lightning Blue, Leather Black with blue accents
The 9-3 Turbo X: Jetblack, Premium Leather Black

So I hope that’s enough info about these particular cars. We still have some more that are not listed here. ;-)

And for the Octoberfest I think I will take the Turbo X and show him where he was born. ;-)

Click any of the images in this post to enlarge

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Category: Miscellaneous Post a Comment (8)

Saab 9-5 2.0T family road trip

September 17, 2011 11:22 Line

By: Swade

Comments (12)

It’s been a bunch of months now where the focus seems to have been on the business of Saab rather than on the cars. It’s a pity, too, because the cars are better than ever.

It was really pleasing, therefore, to receive an email a few days ago from a guy in North America named Glen M. It’s always great to hear customers’ stories about their new vehicles, what they’re doing and how much they’re enjoying them.

I’ll let Glen tell the story:

My family recently purchased a 2011 Saab 9-5 2.0t with 6 speed transmission to replace our 1999 Saab 9-5 wagon. We had been waiting for the new 9-5 SportCombi, but we had plans to head across the country to Canada for the summer and needed to update our automotive machinery.

We picked up the Saab roof racks and a Thule cargo carrier and made our way across the country in triple digit heat with punishing humidity. The new 9-5 was an absolute joy to drive, tracking straight and solid. Flawless performance after 15,000 miles and would gladly take it on the road again. That thing practically drives itself.

I am looking at snapping up an Aero version, but would like to get the wagon.

This is my third SAAB now. I still miss my Edwardian Grey 1989 900 SPG. The new 9-5 has been an absolute revolution and advancement in the state of the art for SAAB. I’ve attached a few snaps of our cross-country adventure. I did not go to any great lengths to pose her, but I had noticed the light playing off the sheet metal when we had stopped at Jocelyn Park at sunset, and I couldn’t resist.

Also, for the record … my absolutely favourite view of this car is the rear three quarter. Sublime. Hunkered down. Biomorphic. Unlike anything out there on the market today in this class and far better in my humble opinion.

Category: Saab Cars Post a Comment (12)

Saab events in Italy – incl OctoberFest coming up!

September 16, 2011 16:11 Line

By: Swade

Comment (1)

Before I give you the details on the October 1st events happening in Italy, let me recap the Flying Saabs event that was recently held at an airfield in Verona.

It looks like they put a lot of effort into preparing for this event and got a good attendance as a result – so congratulations to the Saab Club Italia for putting it together. Nearly 70 people attended the event, travelling from all over Italy to be there, plus an international attendee from Switzerland.

It was a two-day event and Saab News covered the Sunday proceedings, which for some attendees meant parachute jumping and gliding (it was called ‘Flying Saabs’ for a reason, after all) and for others, it meant throwing their classic Swedish metal around the test track set up at the airfield.

The full report (and HEAPS of photos) are at Saab News.

Congratulations, again. It’s not all to report from Italy, though. See below the photos for Italian plans for a Saab Octoberfest event.

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Saab Octoberfest – October 1st

I’ve received the following details from Saabway Club (the other Italian Saab Club) about a gathering planned for October 1st, in conjunction with the Octoberfest activities that will be happening here in Trollhattan, organised by Saabs United.

Anyone in Italy who would like to attend should get the full details here.

The Event will be held at Autodromo della Franciacorta (a region between Milano and Brescia). This is the same location we had for the Saab Support Convoy. Let’s hope it could bring us some luck as it succeded last time! ;-)

The program is as follows:

11:00 – Meeting at the track where we’ll find a reserved place to put all our Saabs together in the central parking.

12:00 – Lunch at track’s Restaurant.

15:00 – Possibility to race on Go-Karts and set up a Mini Saabist Kart Grand Prix.

Autofficina Sonia, our Saab Service partner in Milano which is also Hirsch dealer, will make free checkups of the cars with Tech2, they will also make free test drives, inspections, DPF rigenerations, Saab software updates, personalize car software settings and maybe give the possibility to try Hirsch software.

There will be also a list of parts and accessories with special price for the day (details into our forum’s link).

Again, if you’re looking to attend, check out the forum page for this event.

Category: Events Post a Comment (1)

Video – Steph at the 2011 Saab Owners Convention

September 15, 2011 22:13 Line

By: Swade

Comments (7)

One of our Saab Cars North America staffers, Stephanie Moore, attended the 2011 Saab Owners Convention in Parsippany, New Jersey. Steph shot a little film there, and we put together a few bits to commemorate the occasion.

Thanks to all who said hello and made Steph and the rest of the SCNA crew feel so welcome. We’ll see you next year at the SOC in Iowa.

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Category: Events Post a Comment (7)

Saab 9-3 Viggen – by the numbers

September 15, 2011 15:52 Line

By: Swade

Comments (42)

The Saab 9-3 Viggen is one of those iconic, flawed Saabs that’s loved by everyone who’s ever owned one. The car was absolutely bonkers and quite capable of killing its owner under the right wrong circumstances. But it was so beautifully made inside and out, and it was so out there, that it still draws plenty of oohs and aahs whenever it’s seen.

I’ve owned a Viggen (that’s my old one, above) and over the years I’ve had a lot of email from other Viggen owners asking if I knew how many of them were made and imported into their particular market.

I’m pleased to be able to pass on the following, which should satisfy most of you detail-oriented statisticians. The only thing we haven’t been able to get are the distinct numbers for 3-door and 5-door models.

Note: these are production numbers and there may be some difference between when a car was produced and when it was sold. Your car might have been first sold in 2002, but been produced as a 2001 model and sat on a dealership forecourt for some time.

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UNITED STATES

Year/ColorBlackLaser RedLightning BlueMC YellowSilverSteel Grey
1999 Hardtop242022
1999 Convertible
2000 Hardtop2294748240
2000 Convertible94401897
2001 Hardtop15162207
2001 Convertible28097365
2002 Hardtop68185095
2002 Convertible1062971116
Total per color93020650768460783

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GREAT BRITAIN

Year/ColorBlackLightning BlueMC YellowSilver
1999 Hardtop16951130
1999 Convertible1050918
2000 Hardtop62427
2000 Convertible2055932
Total per color522243187

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Lots more markets below: Germany, Canada, Vehicles used internally (press, etc), Sweden, Australia, and many many more……

Read more →

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Category: Miscellaneous Post a Comment (42)

Saabosphere – links we (mostly) liked this week

September 14, 2011 13:36 Line

By: Swade

Comments (20)

First of all, I have to say congratulations to one of my fellow Saab website dudes, a man commonly known as Wulf, who picked up a Saab 9-4x 3.0i Premium earlier this week.

Wulf runs an online Saab community called Saabworld and his new ride can be seen in the Garage section of the website. 9-4x sales are all relatively new so it’s great when someone you know picks one up and it sounds like he’s loving the experience so far.

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Obituaries

A member of my brother-in-law’s extended family passed away a few weeks ago. His name was Bill and he was a wonderful guy, a man 25 years or so older than me who has probably known me since I was a very small boy (his daughter and I were the cute little 8-year-old kids in my sister’s wedding photos back in the late 1970s).

Bill was a car guy, with a particular penchant for older American cars. Some of my first automotive recollections were of his Ramblers. Later on, he took to Packards. Such was the respect for Bill in the Packard community in Australia, people actually travelled thousands of kilometers in their Packards to form a guard of honor at his funeral last week.

As my brother-in-law told be about this over the weekend, he said “Bill would have loved it”. And it occurred to me at that point that we often don’t show the level of respect, or the depth of feeling that we have for some people until it’s too late. I’m sure Bill would have loved the parade of Packards that was put on in his honor, and I’m sure his surviving family did enjoy it in his absence, but I hope those involved had a chance to let Bill know the esteem he was held in while he was still alive.

It seems this is a problem we don’t have here at Saab. Plenty of news services have already written us off as having died and the analysis and eulogising has already started:

It’s nice to know you’re all thinking of us, some of you even exhibiting a reasonable degree of fondness. But I’d like to emphasise the following – WE’RE NOT DEAD!!!!!

Yes, two of our unions have commenced bankruptcy procedures (a reluctant, defensive measure on their part to protect wages) but we also have an appeal in place that we’re quite confident will be successful and lead to the bankruptcy proceedings being withdrawn, our business being reorganised and protected until our new investors come on board.

We have to work hard to make sure everything aligns properly, but there is no insurmountable reason as to why that will not happen.

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If you’d like some more entertaining reading on the media treatment of Saab here in Sweden, do a Googletrans of this article at Aftonbladet.

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And for some even more interesting reading, you can see some potential stakeholder thoughts on Hummer, as well as Chinese thoughts on Saab from 2009.

Interesting stuff released via Wikileaks.

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The Austrian and Slovakian Saab Clubs had a combined meeting last weekend, combining some nice countryside in Austria and city driving through Bratislava as well as some good food, good cars and good company.

There are some great images available both here and here.

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We’ve all seen notable images of Saabs carrying stuff – ride-on lawnmowers, motorcycles, all sorts of stuff.

Here’s a new one from Greg Abbott in the US. The cabinet wouldn’t fit in his 9-5, so out came the convertible!!

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Category: Miscellaneous, Saabosphere Post a Comment (20)

Someone stole my Saab collection!

September 14, 2011 0:37 Line

By: Swade

Comments (13)

I’ve known Markus L in an email sense for a few years now. He’s one of the regulars from my SU days.

I’ve seen some of his cars in photos from time to time, but there are usually long intervals in between viewings. When you meet a lot of people and see a lot of cars (in a virtual sense) it’s easy to forget just who’s got what.

I got these photos from Markus in my inbox today. I was quite familiar with his fully Hirsched Turbo X and the black 900, but not so familiar with the Viggen. All I could say was “Wow!”

Look at them. They’re in absolutely mint condition and all three of them are notable classics in the Saab family tree.

When I wrote back to Markus, I told him of my profound jealousy – that if I could have any collection of Saabs I liked, there’s a good chance it would be exactly what he’s got in that photo, with the likely addition of a Saab Sonett III.

He wrote back…… and promised to send me pictures of his Sonett! There’s a 99Turbo in the collection, too, but that’s not ready for photos yet as it’s still undergoing a restoration.

My final reply included an enquiry as to whether or not his father would be interested in adopting a 41-year-old man as an additional son. I’m not sure how well that will be received.

Click to enlarge, and if you’re like me, dream on……

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Category: Miscellaneous Post a Comment (13)