SAAB CARS MAGAZINE #1
SAAB
CARS magazine
SAAB 95
SONETT
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE SAAB CAR MUSEUM
We reveal the secret sketches!
Heading north in the sweetest estate car ever – with a canoe on top!
agazine m a y l l a n i F lovers for us Saab eden! Sw – Made in
ENGLISH EDITION #1 2019
THE FABULOUS SAAB 9000
SAAB 96 V4 LAST EDITION
SAAB 9-5 NG SPORTCOMBI
”We set out to make best car in the world”
159 km since new!
The final collectors’ model
Advertisement from: Road & Track 1984
Contents
48 68
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Contents
108
Saab 99 EMS Historic Rally Car
14 8 Full scale model 92002
56 The Arch Rivals Saab 900 vs Volvo 240
10 Saab Facett
62 The Engine Swap
12 Steering without a wheel
68 Saab 9-5 NG Sport Combi
14 Saab 92A 1950
72 Saab in the USA
The 1947 full scale model proved that Saab was headed in the right direction.
They divided the Swedes and were in many ways the opposites of each other. Still there were similarities.
A Sonett with a twist – the only one in the world!
When the four stroke V4 was sneaked in.
As early as 1991, Saab planned revolutionary means to steer a car.
Perhaps it had the power to change history but it didn’t get ready in time. Michel is the owner of one of only 27 built.
Probably the best unrestored Saab 92A in the world, a tribute to its first owner. We take it out for a spin.
22 The models that never came to be
Treasuries in clay, plasteline and balsa-wood – we check out the scale models of the Saab styling studios.
30 Objects The best Saab stuff!
Museum shops can be dull and unimaginative. With its fantastic array of Saab memorabilia, the Saab Museum is not.
32 The Saab Club A treasury of spares
The Saab Club’s spares inventory in Skattkärr stocks NOS as well as remanufactured spares, all genuine Saab parts.
34 The Saab Shop
Dressed in a neat Saab badged mechanic’s suit, Graham greets British enthusiasts.
36 The Trip!
22
The designs that didn’t make it to full-scale. Some a little bit rougher than others ...
Don't miss this 6 Start 26 The Club Scene 27 Dirt in a spray can 29 Fix your sad headlining
With a Saab 95 in the far north of Ångermanland. We travel to the heart of Swedish Masonite manufacturing in a car that is also an industrial memorial.
The first sales attempts were made in 1956 in what was to become Saab’s most important market. The small car made a great impression on a select but small group of car buyers.
78 The longest haul! Saab 99CC 1975
Johan Dahl just couldn't believe it. The car he thought had run 80 000 kilometres, had in fact done ten times as much!
82 Saab 9000 18 pages of ... praise!
Probably, it was in May of 1984 that Saab was at its pinnacle. Its reputation was better than ever when the brand new 9000T16 was introduced.
100 The ultra low mileage Saab 96 1980
It was taken twice to work and back. That was all for this 96, one of the last built. It will forever be known as the 159 kilometre car!
108 Saab 99 EMS Rally
High speed is not enough for Anders Norstedt. The car must look right too, right down to the smallest detail.
114 Saab Talk by Peter Bäckström
He joined Saab in 1984. For more than 20 years he has been the Saab Museum curator and is our first Saab chronologist.
48 Saab Sonett The secret outlines
That Saab was to build a sports car triggered Saab stylists Karlström and GAS. By chance, we discover their sketches.
1991
A Saab with no steering wheel
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72 106
How the most beautiful steering wheel in automotive history was made.
Personality Track days
Car meetings Community
Driving joy Childhood memories Insurance
Spare parts
Membership magazine
Expertise
From two stroke to turbo www.saabklubben.se
A whole world to discover
T
here are innumerous reasons to love Saabs. Many like me have fond child-hood memories of the marque, often linked to sounds and fragrances. To learn to drive in a Verona Green 1972 model 99 creates a life long marque allegiance. Reclining on the therapist couch, my explanation precedes the query. For me, it is the shape. I am unable to properly express in words the revelation I experienced when, as a 14-year old, I made one of my expeditions to the the local car junk yard and discovered a Saab 93! I was dumb-struck! Although I had many times before been fascinated by the photos in the family albums of the, albeit limited, row of Saabs my parents had owned, 92-96-96-95, this was a revelation. I knew immediately not only that this bulbous dark green 1959 Saab must be mine, but also that I henceforth would have a completely new outlook of the whole world. That old Saab aroused in me an unquenchable interest not only in cars, but also as much in technology, design, cultural history and eventually also in architecture. My first trip with my new driver’s licence was to the Saab museum in Trollhättan. Overcome with shy-
ness, I shook the hand of its then curator, Pelle Rudh. This was the first of many, many visits. To me, there is no finer place to be at. I was deeply and personally offended when the museum was about to be auctioned off as a consequence of the unfortunate bankruptcy of Saab Automobile. I was privileged at that time to lend a helping hand. Thus it is nothing less than a dream come true to be privliged to produce Saab Car magazine in close cooperation with the Saab Car Museum. Do you want to know a secret? Ask me about all the exhibits at the museum, and I shall be speechless. It has been like that for years. I start giggling and become completely overwhelmed in these hallowed halls. The Cars, the History, the Culture, the Technology, the Design! I avoid the risk of an over-dose by just sampling a tidbit at each visit. Consequently, I must constantly come up with a new reason to go there again, and again and again.
A MAGAZINE DEDICATED TO SAAB. AND NOTHING ELSE! Klassiker OK Förlaget AB PO Box 23 800, SE-10435 Stockholm Editors Claes Johansson +46 (0)8-736 12 46 claes.johansson@klassiker.nu Carl Legelius +46 (0)8-736 12 43 carl.legelius@klassiker.nu Contact Phone: +46 (0)8-736 12 60 saab@klassiker.nu, www.klassiker.nu www.facebook.com/klassiker.nu Graphic design Per Hammarsjö Translation Bo Legelius, bo@legelius.se Contributors Peter Bäckström, Fredrik Nyblad, Jon Remmers, Frans Johansson, Simon Hamelius, Lars Julle Olofsson, Erik Rönnblom. Ad sales Ewa Wasshem Ekblom +46 (0)735-13 25 93 ewa.wasshem@klassiker.nu
CLAES JOHANSSON EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Traffic Ingela Cassidy, annons@klassiker.nu Production manager Karin Inghe, +46 (0)8-736 12 38 karin.inghe@okforlaget.se Visit our shop www.klassiker.nu/shop Publisher OK Förlaget AB, Niklas Carle +46 (0)8–736 12 19 CEO & marketing director Marjo Köhler +46 (0)8-736 12 22 marjo@klassiker.nu
Saab memorabilia must be enjoyed in moderation – overdoses can cause dangerous degress of infatuation. With a one-off Saab 95 Camper and one 93 from 1959, my teenage bargain, I am not even close to danger.
This issue has been translated by Bo Legelius and the editors of Saab Cars Magazine. We have done our best to carry over the spirit and soul of the original Swedish issue. You are welcome to give us feedback in order to make the next issue even better and more accurate.
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Techical information Print: Uniprint 2019, Tallinn ISSN:1652-2931 © OK Förlaget AB
Advertisement from: Motor Sport 1962
Saab Spirit
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JOYSTICK RIDE PHOTO SAAB AUTOMOBILE 1991
Even the most established things must be challenged. Especially them. Like for instance the steering wheel. We have been sitting behind it for more than a hundred years. It is admirably suited to nervously tap on when in traffic jams. Its centre is absolutely the best spot for the car make badge. But it is a collision safety concern. The steering wheel and its column can seriously hurt the driver in a crash. Can we do away with the steering wheel? What would that be like? How would it feel? Saab came up with an answer. The Pan-European project Prometheus – Programme for European Traffic with Highest Efficiency and Unprecedented Safety – was formed in the 1980s to promote better traffic safety. One third was financed by government funds, the rest by the motor industry. Saab together with Rolls-Royce, Daimler-Benz, BMW and Jaguar developed and pooled engineering to assist drivers and to improve safety. Much focus was on what could be achieved through the fast growing computerized technology in vehicle engineering. There were experiments with radar monitored cruise control and various devices to correct driver errors. Interesting and visionary, but not the stuff market sensations are made of. More spectacular was the experimental Saab 9000 which had the steering wheel replaced by a joy stick. It controlled electrical servo motors acting on the steering rack and pinion. The controls for wipers and flashers were on the driver’s door. A gigantic air bag had taken the place of the steering wheel while the ignition switch remained in its original position. Driving by joy stick required a learning process, but when a driver had finally mastered the delicate movements, it was claimed to be as intuitive as with the traditional steering wheel. Almost 30 years later, the steering wheel is still with us. TEXT CARL LEGELIUS
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A MORE STYLISH SONETT There was a noticeable sense of quick fix when the Sonett II was introduced in 1966 and even more so when it got the V4 engine. It could have been a different and better looking car, as proven by unique design sketches and finished drawings signed by Bjรถrn Karlstrรถm and Gunnar A Sjรถgren. TEXT & PHOTO CLAES JOHANSSON
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A targa top may have been too much to ask of Saab, but at least they could have adopted the ribbed sills and the grille with integrated fog-lamps so nicely linking back to Sonett 1.
W Hello world! Cute and slightly chubby MFI13 with steel body. Drafted by Björn Karlström, it was put up against Catherina, the design proposed by Sixten Sason. MFI13 won and became officially a Saab.
hen in March 1966, the Saab Sonett II celebrated its international introduction at the Geneva Motor Show, an extraordinary and somewhat out-of-this-world vehicle was in the lime-light for the first time.The global quota for two-stroke, front wheel drive sports cars could be considered filled. The original Sonett was the brainchild of the Malmö Aircraft Company and the free lance designer Björn Karlström. He was almost sacked from his own project when Saab joined it after a couple of years. To a large extent, engineering and production requirements had priority. The stylists had to give in to the engineers, something Björn Karlström had to accept. All the same, the Sonett as a whole was something special. It caught on. The slender form, the sharp front, the almost non-existent rear overhang. It had a stylish boldness coming through even on the unsharp newspaper photos of the time.
Already as an early, rather rough prototype desig-
nated MFI13, it made a tremendous impression on a BBC team that as luck would have it was
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visiting Saab’s conference centre Hedenlunda in a completely different matter. Suddenly, a white low slung sports cars rolled by the cameras. Actually, it was a set-up secretly prepared by Saab PR to attract attention to the small car maker close to the arctic circle. This early success wasn’t good news to one person, the Saab designer Sixten Sason. In competition with Karlström, he had started to pen another sports car for Saab, code named Catherina. It was his personal attempt at a sports car based on standard parts, a success formula for the US market invented by British car makers. Sason was more of a visionary, Catherina was a forerunner of the 70s and it would have made an excellent stable mate of the future 99, also penned by Sason. But in the end, Saab chose to go with Karlström. The Sonett became an oddity in the Saab range
of cars but it was enthusiastically received by Saab’s US dealers. It wasn’t that they believed it would sell in great numbers, they welcomed it because it created show room traffic. Once prospects had come in to look at the sports cars, they could easily be talked into buying one of the regular Saabs that in comparison with the
A stylish profile. When still fitted with the two-stroke engine the Sonett was very close to Björn Karlström’s original styling proposals. Aircraft style front seats, yes please!
The engine and drive-gear using up little space, the platform chassis could take larger and more elaborate bodywork. In 1967 Karlström came up with a lot of re-styling proposals.
radical Sonett looked quite normal. If the salesman got as far as explaining oil mix percentage and free-wheel advantages, it often evolved into a life-long customer relation. Demand was high for small foreign sports cars
and Saab had an important and unique selling point in that the cars were designed and built by an aircraft manufacturer. The Sonett was a sound design, the components shared with the 96 were light and robust. The sturdy box section body frame with integrated roll bar was the basis for roadholding qualities few competitors could match. A glass fibre body was in the 60s still considered futuristic but detailing was not strong and finish generally low. Body accessories and general fittings were obviously not styled to fit the car, sourced as they were from general suppliers. The very fact that there were so many production compromises, actually made its style appear uncompromising. A car for a few, single-minded enthusiasts. One compromise was that the originally planned glass hatch lid was sacrificed for a crack prone fixed rear window and a letter-box slit for luggage. That killed an obvious USP. The dream of a light-weight, straightforward
and high quality, Porsche inspired sports car thus remained unfulfilled. When series production finally started at a railcar factory in Arlöv, it was like a cottage industry operation. Just 258 two-stroke Sonetts were built before the V4 was shoe-horned in to get the sales up. The new engine somewhat dulled the sharp road manners but general driveability was much improved. The V4 engineered from Ford was not famous, but a lot less scary than a two-stroke super-tuned to the same power output.
The Sonett was enthusiastically received by Saab’s US dealers. It wasn’t that they believed it would sell in great numbers, they welcomed it because it created show room traffic SAAB C ARS MAGAZINE 51
In design, the Sonett II gradually moved away from the elegant sketches of Björn Karlström.“I was not consulted about the elephant ears”, he wrote in one of his many critical and finally quite discouraged letters to ASJ and Saab. He was referring to the B-post extractor vents. In the first half of 1967, Karlström submitted no less than eleven different styling suggstions for changes to the bonnet to make room for the V4 engine. No response. At the end, Saab’s unsophisticated solution was a bulge on the bonnet, designed by Gunnar A Sjögren, illustrator of Saab brochures and other sales material. It was critized by journalists as well as by customers. It really was awful.
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Karlström, at the beginning in full charge of the MFI 13 project, found it increasingly difficult to get his ideas accepted. It went as far as that Saab stopped acknowledging him as the original creator. It was the opinion of Saab that they had simply taken over an existing project and that they were not interested in cooperating with someone who had worked on it in the early stages. Karlströms was obviously frustrated and started to document all contacts, also telphone calls were recorded. It ended with threats of legal action. The famed Henning Sjöström law firm took the case and Karlström got paid what was due to him, but first and foremost his honour as a designer was restored.
Carefully, we unroll and flatten out these sacred documents on our freshly swept floor. We painfully stretch and bend over to take in what these old drawings might reveal
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The sharp front end and the cut-off rear gave the Sonett a unique and distinct style. The small and fine details unfortunately never left the drawing board.
Although he was now quite removed from his baby, he couldn’t resist now and then to pick up his pen to create new details and also all new cars. He filled several sketch binders with shapes and details, but his frustration grew. A four seater airy hatch-back pointed to the future but remained a sketch when Saab couldn’t even acknowledge the badges and emblems skilfully devised by Karlström. Gunnar A Sjögren, Saab’s in house illustrator,
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was doing much of the same thing. It was something about the Sonett’s unfinished character that triggered these two brilliant illustrators. The front was simple but cluttered up at the same time. The bumper was nothing more than a simple protective strip like caravans had, and the grille looked like something bought by mail-order from a supplier of parts for heat exchangers. The indicators varied from car to car depending on availability. The concealed round ones from BMC shelves were especially unattractive. Still, it had not taken much. Dozens of ink drawings on carton, dated March 1966 and done by Gunnar A Sjögren – GAS – show elegant solu-
tions to make the car’s bland front more interesting. Metal bumper halves, symmetric, only one tool required, an integrated aluminium grille, specially designed flashers – not from a general supplier. It would have made quite a difference just with an asymmetrically placed Saab badge and integrating the rubber bumpers. But GAS’ proposals were filed away only to be found again after the bitter end. In the darker corners of the archive, we discover three paper rolls, one metre wide and of a kind that young designers of today would ask the purpose of. In the 1960s, they were an industrial standard that in numbers and volumes set the scene in most drawing offices. And, not to be forgotten, kept a large number of errand boys busy. The sheer size of the drawing boards boasted the egos of those who on them rolled out their skilled, perhaps sometimes even beautiful designs. The eye of the beholder sharpens, but from a distance, curves and thread pitches form a rhytmical poetry recorded with the precision of a sharp needle. The drawings were done in full size! Signed by Björn Karlström. They show the body and
Gas and Karlström each continued working hard to perfect the styling. Very little could have been done to improve the final result.
Warmly, we turn over the drawing rolls to where they properly belong - the Saab Car Museum in Trollhättan
the boxed platform and – in a smaller scale – a number of components. For how long have they been stashed away tightly rolled in a carton tube? Carefully, we unroll and flatten out these sacred documents on our freshly swept floor. We painfully stretch and bend over to take in what these old drawings might reveal. This is one of those rare moments of professional bliss – tactile contact with rare original documentation. Containing real and undisputable historic information. This is something else than idle scrolling and tiring screen time. It becomes evident how skilfully the box frame
was designed. It was very adaptable which facilitated the facelift Saab decided to carry out in 1970, aided by the Italian design house Sergio Coggiola. The compact drive-train assembly and the torsional stiffness of the inner structure had much earlier been considered suitable for building a light offroad vehicle for the military. When the complete face-lift proposals arrived from Italy – probably in brown cardboard tubes – Gunnar A Sjögren of Saab was given the not very enviable task to adapt the Italians’ visions to realities. He devised new front and rear sections.
The mid-section was left intact. Outer panels were made flatter, there were manual pop-up headlamps and the rear boot was accessible under a hatch window. The revised proportions of the facelift proved once again that reality is about compromises. Warmly, we turn over the drawing rolls to where
they properly belong – the Saab Car Museum in Trollhättan. – Original material from the drawing board of Björn Karlström – it feels good that the museum now have it, the Intendent Peter Bäckström says. The Sonett was in its time subject to rather inconsistent development but still always full of character and charm and great fun to drive. Always embraced by a dedicated group of enthusiasts. Next time someone points out strange body denting and unsophisticated detail work of the Saab Sonett V4, it shall from now on be acknowledged that Björn Karlström and Gunnar A Sjögren did their outmost to put everything right with the extra care and attention that Saab’s small and unique sports car had rightfully deserved.
Björn Karlström was almost hyper-active. He drafted and designed for Saab, the Crescent bicycle company and the truck maker Scania.
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P O T H S I D E W S S P O P E H T F O The Volvo 240 and the Saab 900 were both made for such a long time that they were taken as granted for in Sweden as the King and the midnight sun. Both cars had their roots in the 1960s but were continously developed until they were finally cancelled, both in 1993. TEXT & PHOTO FREDRIK NYBLAD
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T
he ignition lock between the seats is as well known as the griffin badge on the steering wheel centre. When I turn the key to start the engine, it responds with the characteristic shrill exhaust sound. I sit upright and the seat is so comfortable that no distance could possibly feel too long. The large, very legible instruments confirm the impression that this car was designed first and foremost with its driver in mind. It does not only sound like a Saab, it smells like one too. The light coloured cloth interior is as smooth as can be. This fantastic 1989 Saab 900i 16 belonging to Mikael Granberg is in a condition exactly as a collector wishes for. The Volvo parked alongside the Saab is also greenish blue, but was as much an opposite as a healthy competitor of the Saab. It is actually my own 1991 GLT and it also has an upright seating position but the seat is wider and everything feels more square and much stiffer. The energetic clicking of the seat belt reminder cannot be ignored, it is only one in the cacophony of different sounds that a Volvo emits. Ritsh!, the handbrake says, Vroom! the engine fan and when selecting reverse a sharp Click! is heard. When the 80s were about to turn to the 90s,
neither the Volvo 240 nor the Saab 900 were among the most coveted cars available to people having company car privileges. They were now mostly sold to private owners and were considered very safe buys. It was quite common that people bought their third or fourth car of the same make and model. Switching between the two makes was very unusual. One was either a Volvo man or a Saab guy. Still, the two cars in some respects mirrored each other. Despite the differences in drive mode, body shape and temperament, they were subject to the same degree and frequency of development and improvements. The story begins in 1966 with the introduction of the Volvo 144. It had an all-new body but the engine and the chassis components were largely lifted from the long running Amazon or 122 series as it was called in export markets. Three years later, Saab brought out its first car in the same segment, The 99. Front wheel drive of course and the free wheel wasn’t forgotten either.
It not only sounds Saab 900, it smells Saab 900 too
In the 70s, the two Swedish car makers started
almost selfrighteously to emphazie safety but it was welcomed in the market. Saab introduced head lamp wipers and Volvo soon followed. Both makers imposed on their cars enormous
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THE SAAB THAT DOESN’T REALLY EXIST Michel Annink’s Saab 9-5 SportCombi is one of 33 made and 27 surviving. It was a nervous time bidding at the auction of the assets of the bankrupt company. But it turned out even more frustrating to get the car road legal. TEXT ERIK RÖNNBLOM PHOTO SIMON HAMELIUS
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M
ichel Annink lives in Värmdö at the Stockholm archipelago. He owns a very unusual and special car. Among all the other Saabs parked in his drive, there is one 9-5 SportCombi. It was not by chance that Michel bought this obviously unique car. He is a true Saab enthusiast. He has been one ever since the day he and his best friend were allowed to come along for a road trip in the brand new Saab 99 Turbo of his friend’s father. Then it was the famous turbo kick that made the greatest impression on the two boys. Now Michel’s great interest in Saab cars has turned into a fascination of the marque’s very special qualities and design, both of the exterior as of the interior. – When I got wind of there being a couple of Saab 9-5 SportCombis coming up for sale at the auction after the bankruptcy, I immediately decided to try to buy one of them Michel says. The most beautiful Saab ever. I concentrated the bidding on a white SportCombi, one of eight existing in Sweden. When Michel arrives and turns into a parking spot, I suddenly realize that the 9-5 was designed primarily to be a SportCombi. It is beautiful to the extreme, particularly when seen from the rear. I cannot keep my initial reaction for myself when greeting Michel. – Beautiful car is all I can think of saying. Michel smilingly replies. – Thanks! There are days when I cannot decide which one is the prettiest, my 9-5 Sedan or the SportCombi. Actually, the SportCombi is based on the regular 9-5 Sedan, slightly modified. But the SportCombi is more harmonious. We check the trunk and the beautiful hatch door with
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It’s the rear that makes this 9-5 unique. The rear spolier and the slim light-ramp enhances the 9-5 SportCombi.
its spoiler on top of the rear window and the famed red ramp that I consider better integrated with the Sports Combi styling. It wasn’t easy to get this car registered for the road. It took a tremendous fight until Swedish bureaucracy finally gave in and allowed the car out on the roads. Completely incomprehensible given that the 9-5 SportCombi is practically identical with the Sedan except for the rear hatch back. – I’m sorry to have to say that the authorities were not helpful at all. When asked what could be done for the car to pass, they often said ”it’s not possible at all” and the reasons given were nothing more than ”that’s the way it is”. Helpful advice was totally absent. Also, I got different explanations depending on whom I asked, Michel continues. For new cars, the makers apply for a certficate of compliance that becomes valid for all cars of the same model. The 9-5 SportCombi had not been awarded one before the collapse of the compay. There remained just one way out for a 9-5 SportsCombi, an individual test. But Michel was refused one. When a SportsCombi passed a similar test in Germany, Michel believed there was hope for the remaining 26 cars of which 8 70 SAAB C ARS MAGAZINE
Michel drove to a test station in Germany and then he exported the car to Sweden ...
were still in Sweden. Under EU regulations, one member state’s aprroval of a car is valid in the other member states. Michel booked a test with the German TüV
station in Kiel which had after the first one passed one more. Having fitted green trade plates on his car, he drove southward in a good mode to Germany. The thorough test lasted a couple of hours and in the end it was registered in Germany. Next step was to ”export” the car to Sweden and file for a Swedish registration
based on the German documents. Michel still had to file for a certificate of origin which he believed not being controversial. The history of the car was documented – it had been used for about 20 000 kilometres as a test car and demonstrator. The auction was also documented. But back in Sweden, Michel was told that the German approval was wrong, – This car has no type approval. The documentation is not complete. If we cannot, Germany can’t either, Michel was told. Despite being approved in Germany on March 7, 2013, it took until November 4 before the car was legally approved also in Sweden. Ten months spent on haggling with rigid bureaucrats, usually not very amicable. – I considered asking for compensation for the extra costs caused by the inept handling of my case. But I know it is probably not worth the trouble. Right now I am fed up with stubborn bureaucrats. Luckily, he is not fed up with Saabs. After the SportCombi, Michel brought another one back from Kiel – a 9-4X, chassis number 2! Only Saabs goes for him. – That’s the way it is, he concludes.
Spares for the SportCombi? No problem! To Michel Annink, the purchases of both a Saab 9-5SC and a 9-4X attracted a lot of interest and prompted many questions from Saab people, not least about the number produced of the two models. – Some years ago, we compiled the information we had. Lately, we have dug deeper and done more extensive research. Now it’s just the prototypes that we don’t know the exact number of, Michel says. There were 33 SportCombis made of which 27 remain. Of them, 23 were sold at four different auctions held by the receivers, the largest and most talked about in December 2012. All existing SportCombis are fully documented and share a common background as test- or demo cars. They went for prices spanning from 167 500 to 475 000 SEK. All of them have been fit to register and eight remain in Sweden. Most of them are sparingly used and well maintained. Except for the example belonging to the Saab Museum, they are all registered for the road. Again, except for the Saab museum car, there is just one car in storage, the rest are ready for the road and are occasionally seen running, not least to the summer 9-5 meetings. Michel’s car has been fitted with an Aerofront and some additional original extras. It has clocked 92 000 kilometres.
– We have grown to a small community of our own, Michel says. – We share experiences and have collected spares specific of the Combi. Should a car suffer crash damage, there will be new parts for the repair, Michel confidently says. The spares supply for the 9-5 NG (new generation) is adequate thanks to Orio – the former spares division of Saab cars. The rear LED ramp has been difficult to find and wind shields have at times been in short supply, but that should have been sorted by now. In total, there were 11 352 Saab 9-5NGs built for the model years 2010- 2012. Statistics reveal that one third of them were exported to the USA and just one to Croatia, while Taiwan received 237 cars. Several options and alternatives were offered in respect of engines, transmissions and equipment levels as well as colour schemes
and upholstery. In the model year 2011, Carbon Grey Metallic was the most popular colour with 1 303 cars, whereas Aero Laser Red was only ordered for 45 cars. Considering all parameters, the rarest of all 9-5NG would be a Sedan with automatic transmission and diesel V6 – just one was built! The Saab last bought by Michel is a 9-4X, of which only 673 were made, all of them in the General Motors plant in Ramos Arizpe, Mexico. While a 9-5 Sports Sedan is still seen by car dealers as an unwanted trade-in, the 9-4X and even more so the 9-5 SportCombi have entered the collector’s car market. – I know for a fact, Michel says, that the two most recent SC sales closed at a million SEK each. Right now, there is a Czech registered car out for sale at 640 000 SEK. Enter a Saab universe at Michel’s comprehensive site: www.9-5sc2012.com and download some heavy Saab statistics.
– I will never ever sell this car, Michel says when we go for a spin.
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SAAB
OVER
THERE On stage came ... what was it? Three cylinders and a racket of fireworks from the exhaust pipe. Blue smoke, oh no! Saab never became a people’s car in V8-land. TEXT, PHOTO & ILLUSTRATIONS ARCHIVE CLAES JOHANSSON
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