Saab Automobile

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This article is about the Swedish automobile manufacturer. For the aircraft manufacturer, see Saab

Saab Automobile AB is a subsidiary of General Motors. Once an exclusively Swedish automobile maker, Saab Automobile now manufactures cars in Japan, the USA and Sweden. Until 1990 the company was owned by SAAB, an acronym for "Svenska Aeroplan AB" (The Swedish Aeroplane Company), which also included SAAB Aerospace and truck manufacturer Scania. General Motors bought half of Saab Automobile in 1990, with an option to acquire the entire company within a decade. Before exercising that option GM shared its ownership of Saab Automobile with Investor AB, the main owner of Saab.

In March 2005, it was announced that GM would move the production of the next-generation Saab 9-3 from Trollhättan to their Opel plant in Rüsselsheim, Germany. Current models are the 9-3 and 9-5, both of which are manufactured in Trollhättan, Sweden; the Saab 9-2X, which is manufactured in Japan; and the Saab 9-7X SUV, manufactured in the United States.

Contents

1 Competition history
2 Other highlights
3 Trivia
4 Criticism of GM's management of Saab
5 Models

5.1 Historical models
5.2 Current models
5.3 Experimental vehicles and prototypes

6 SAAB in popular culture
7 See also
8 External links

Competition history

1974 SAAB 96 V4

Some of the early cars such as the two-strokers, V4s and Saab 99 were quite successful in rally sport, notably the 96 in the 1960s RAC Rally and Monte Carlo Rally, driven by Erik Carlsson.

1950 two Saab 92s (chassis numbers 7 and 8) enter the Monte Carlo Rally. The two cars are manned by Rolf Mellde and K G Svedberg in one and Greta Molander and Margaretha von Essen in the second. Greta Molander comes in 55th overall, 5th in her class and 2nd in the Ladies Class. In Rikspokalen in November, Rolf Mellde wins and Saab becomes the best marque team with Mellde, Svedberg and Greta Molander, who also wins the Ladies Class.
1952 Greta Molander and Helga Lundberg win the Ladies Cup in the Monte Carlo Rally.
1953 Rolf Mellde wins the Swedish Rally Championship.
1955 he lands on the roof, but still manages to win Rikspokalen in a Saab 92.
1956 Bob Wehman and Louis Braun win the Great American Mountain Rally. Rolf Mellde comes in sixth and another Saab 93 in seventh place.
1959 two Saab 93 are entered in the 24 Hours at Le Mans. The one driven by Sture Nottorp and Gunnar Bengtsson come in 12th overall and second in its class. The same year Erik Carlsson wins the Midnight Sun Rally.
1960 Erik Carlsson wins the RAC Rally and Saab start competing in Formula Junior with the Saab Formula Junior.
1961 Erik Carlsson enters the Monte Carlo Rally in a Saab 95 and finishes fourth, and wins the RAC rally for the second successive year.
1962 Erik Carlsson and Gunnar Häggbom win the Monte Carlo Rally, and completes a hat-trick of RAC rally wins.
1963 Erik Carlsson again wins the Monte Carlo Rally, this time with Gunnar Palm as co-driver. They also finish second in the Spa-Sofia-Liège Marathon de la Route.
1968 Simo Lampinen wins the RAC Rally in a Saab 96V4.
1971 Stig Blomqvist wins the Swedish and RAC Rallies in a Saab 96V4. Erik Carlsson retires from rallying and become Saab ambassador.
1976 Stig Blomqvist wins the Belgian Boucles de Spa Rally in a Saab 99 EMS.
1977 Stig Blomqvist wins the Swedish Rally in a Saab 99 EMS.
1979 Stig Blomqvist wins the Swedish Rally in a Saab 99 Turbo. The first time a turbocharged car wins a World Championship rally.
1980 Saab withdraws from all competition activities because of the high cost, because it has become impossible to win with standard cars and being a small manufacturer SAAB could not afford to build special a "Homologation Special" like the Ford RS200 and Lancia Stratos and also because competition cars had evolved so they had too little in common with production cars to be of value to their development. Some people from the competition department branch out and start Trollspeed aimed at producing competition upgrades for Saabs.
2000 Saab returned to competition by sponsoring Swede Team Motor who compete with a Saab 9-3 Aero SportSedan, a Saab 9-3 Combi Coupe and a 1964 two-stroke Saab 96. The return to competition was to attract students to the auto-mechanic educations. The students get to work on the race cars before, during and after races to expand the students' knowledge and quality awareness.

Other highlights

In 1958, the GT 750 was the first car fitted with headrests as standard.
In 1962, Saab became the first volume maker to offer diagonally-split dual brake circuits.
In 1970, Saab introduced a 'world-first' - headlamp wipers and washers.
In 1971, heated front seats were also introduced that year, the first time in the world that they were fitted as standard.
In 1971, Saab developed the impact-absorbing, self-repairing bumper.
In 1972 Saab introduced the concept of side-impact protection bars.
In 1977, Saab was the first manufacturer to put turbochargers in mass production cars.
In 1978, another 'world-first' was the passenger compartment air filter.
In 1980, Saab introduced Automatic Performance Control (APC).
In 1983 they introduced the 16-valve turbocharged engine and introduced asbestos-free brake pads.
In 1985 SAAB pioneered direct ignition, which eliminates the distributor and spark plug wires.
In 1986, the Saab 9000 became the first front-wheel drive car to offer ABS.
In 1990, the 'light-pressure' turbo was introduced.
In 1991, Saab is the first manufacturer to offer CFC-free air-conditioning.
In 1992, Saab unveil the 'Trionic' ignition, with a 32-bit micro-processor.
In 1993 came the 'Sensonic' clutch and the 'Black Panel'.
In 1993, Saab developed 'Safeseat' rear passenger protection.
In 1995, Saab presented asymmetric turbo-charging of a V6, at the Motor Show in Frankfurt, Germany.
In 1996, Saab introduce the SAHR (Saab Active Head Restraint) for the seats.
In 1997, Saab fit ventilated front seats to the 9-5, another world-first in a passenger car.

Trivia

Saab cars are subjected to the moose test (aka elk test).

The first Saab, Saab 92, was hand-hammered into shape by using a support that consisted of an oak stump placed on top of a pile of horse-dung. Using the horse-dung support, the craftsman could get the correct response.

In order to increase production volume, Saab helped Valmet to start a car factory in Uusikaupunki (Nystad), Finland. Since 2003, Saab no longer manufactures any cars in Finland as the production of the 9-3 Convertible was moved to Graz, Austria.

A common feature of Saab car types is the use of the number 9 in the model numbers. Current models are the 9-3 and 9-5, both which are manufactured in Trollhättan, Sweden, and the 9-2X and 9-7X, which are manufactured by Subaru and General Motors. The exception to this naming rule is the Saab 600, which was a rebadged Lancia Delta.

All modern Saabs (except the 9000 and 9-2X) instead have a floor-mounted ignition. Saab believes this is a safer position in case of an accident. The driver's knee often jerks upward in a collision; the compact and dense ignition module on the steering column of many other cars has shattered many kneecaps. Second, the floor-mounted position yields more space, allowing modern Saabs to have a metal bar that rotates over and up into the ignition when the key is turned to the "Lock" position. This makes Saabs very challenging to hotwire. Last of all, the ignition is located on the floor because, in the airplanes that inspired Saab automobiles, the throttle controls were all located down on the floor. Originally Saabs also had the key located on the right side of the steering column, but when they changed from a column shifter to a floor shifter, the ignition key followed along, except in the Sonett III and 9000.

In 1986 the Saab Long Run took place. Three standard Saab 9000 Turbos set 2 world records and 21 international records at the Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama, USA. 100,000 km (62,137 miles) were covered with an average speed of 213.299 km/h (132.537 mph) and 50,000 miles (80,467 km) with an average speed of 213.686 km/h (132.778 mph).

Ten years later, in 1996, three standard Saab 900 (NG) Turbos driven by factory test drivers and two standard naturally aspirated Saab 900s driven by journalists set new world records on the same speedway.

In 1987, Saab created a TV advertisement called "Saab suite" (subtitled Ballet in 3 acts for 8 SAAB 9000 Turbos). In the film, stunt drivers show incredible driving with stock cars, such as one-wheeled burnouts, bumper-to-bumper driving through a slalom, cars slaloming from opposite directions on the same course, two-wheel driving, sliding in full speed, and jumping over passing cars—all on a closed airport runway with classical music playing in the background. [Click Here to view the video].

Saab Performance Team at Linköping, in 1997 (Saab 91 Safirs in background)

To commemorate its 40th anniversary, Saab formed a Performance Team in 1987, which laid on exhibitions of automobile acrobatics and formation driving. Initially this was done with Saab 9000s, as above, then later models, such as the Saab 900 (NG) were used. All of the team's members have previously competed in rallies, but what's unusual is that all 5 Performance Team members hold regular jobs at Saab: there are two engineers, a quality controller, a technician and the head of Saab's photo studio. The picture shows these vehicles on display at the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of the Saab Aircraft Company, at Linköping, in 1997.

Dating back to 1937, Svenska Aeroplan AB (SAAB) created airplanes, introducing their first car, the Saab 92001, in 1947. Currently, Saab AB is separate from Saab Automobile (which is owned by General Motors), and is probably best known for its Saab 37 Viggen (the Viggen badge would be shared by a 9-3). This has led to the current ad campaign, "Born From Jets," evoking the days when Saab produced both aircraft and automobiles.

Criticism of GM's management of Saab

In 1990 GM purchased half of Saab (and bought the other half ten years later) in what is now seen as an impulse buy. Saab loyalists have long criticised GM's badge engineering of Saab products. This criticism reached a fever-pitch with the introduction of the Subaru Impreza-derived 9-2X (derisively called the "Saabaru" by American critics) and the GMT360 platform (Chevrolet TrailBlazer, GMC Envoy, et al.)-derived 9-7X SUV. The 9-2X sold very poorly, with Saab barely managing to sell a few thousand of them. Likewise, the 9-7X SUV has garnered slow sales when compared to competing brands. The two "X" models performed poorly in the marketplace largely because they were priced and marketed as luxury cars, but lacked the amenities of rivals such as the Audi A3 and Volvo XC90, due to the more spartan nature of their GM and Subaru platforms.

The Saab brand overall has not been a money-maker for GM, with total losses 1990-2005 exceeding US $2 billion, showing black digits only two of these years. The losses are all the more daunting because Saab, in 2005, posted record unit sales in Europe, its core market. These losses led GM's most vocal investor, Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda Corporation, to renew its call for GM to cut its losses and dump the Swedish brand. However, there did not seem to be any parties interested in acquiring the brand. In late March 2006, it was reported that Mr. Kerkorian revised his position and now is "of neutral opinion" towards the Saab brand (he had also voiced criticism of GM's Hummer brand).

Models

A subsidiary of General Motors											Saab road car timeline, 1950-present																														[[http://encycl.opentopia.com/ edit]]
Type	1950s										1960s										1970s										1980s										1990s										2000s
	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
Compact	92						93				95/96																																																	9-1
																				99															90																				9-2X
Mid-size																															900														900					9-3
																																				9000														9-5
GT									GT				Sport
Sport							94										97/Sonett
SUV																																																								9-7X				9-4X

Historical models

1992 Classic Saab 900 convertible

Saab 92 (1949 - 1956)
Saab 93 (1955 - 1960)
Saab 94 (1956)
Saab GT750 (1958 - 1962)
Saab Sport (1962- 1966)
Saab Formula Junior (1960)
Saab 95 (1959 - 1978)
Saab 96 (1960 - 1980)
Saab 97 (1967 - 1974)
Saab 99 (1968 - 1984)
Saab 90 (1984 - 1987)
Saab 900 (1979 - 1993) ('Classic', the convertible was in production until 1994.)
Saab 900 (NG) (1994 - 1998) ('New Generation')
Saab 9000 (1985 - 1998)
Saab Sonett in four versions, incorporating Saab 94 and Saab 97.
Saab 600

Saab Historical Aircraft models listed

Current models

1997 Saab 9-5 V6 at Linköping, Sweden, on the occasion of SAAB's Diamond Jubilee

Saab 9-2X (2004 - 2007, 5-door hatchback, developed from the Subaru Impreza, and only sold in North America)
Saab 9-3 (1999 - Current)
Saab 9-4X (Planned GM Theta Premium platform, 5-passenger crossover SUV, sister car to upcoming Cadillac BRX crossover)
Saab 9-5 (1997 - Current), including Saab 9-5 BioPower, that uses E85 biofuel.
Saab 9-6X (Cancelled, was to be a crossover SUV based on the Subaru B9 Tribeca)
Saab 9-7X (2005 - Current, mid-size SUV, based on Chevrolet Trailblazer, sold primarily in North America)

Saab current Aircraft models listed

Experimental vehicles and prototypes

Saab 92001 (Ursaab)

Ursaab (1946)
Saab Monster (1959)
Saab 60 (1962)
Saab Quantum (1962-1963)
Saab Catherina (1964)
Saab MFI13 (1965)
Saab Toad (1966)
Saab 98 (1974)
Saab EV-1 (1985)
Saab 9-X (2001]
Saab 9-3X (2002)
Saab 9-3 SportHatch (2003)
Saab 9-5 Aero BioPower (2006)
Saab Aero-X (2006)

SAAB in popular culture

Cover of Licence Renewed where James Bond drives a SAAB 900.

SAABs are notable for having inspired several popular songs:

"Driving in my Saab" by Sonic Surf City.
On Mark Wahlberg's album Music for the People he poses with a Saab 9000
The Australian band 78 Saab.
"Me and my old 96" by Twang Gang.
"Saab 99" by Hjalle & Heavy

SAAB cars can also been seen in several popular movies (see also [IMCDB]):

Bamse (aka The Teddy Bear) (1968) - Saab Sonett II V4
Throw Momma from the Train (1987) - Saab 96
Back to the Future Part II (1989) - Saab EV-1 seen in the background in the scenes in the future
Who's Harry Crumb? (1989) - classic Saab 900
Crazy People (1990) - Saab 99 (supposedly a 1976 99 GLE)
Straight out of Brooklyn (1990) Saab 900 - during robbery
Final Analysis (1992) - classic Saab 900 cabrio
Mr. Jones (1993) - classic Saab 900 cabrio driven by the female main character
I Love Trouble (1994) - classic Saab 900 cabrio
Reality Bites (1994) - classic Saab 900 cabrio
The Arrival (1996) - Saab 95 V4
A Time to Kill (1996) - classic Saab 900 cabrio
Beautiful Girls (1996) - Saab 9000
Rowing Through (1996) - Saab 96
As Good as It Gets (1997) - Saab 900 Cabrio
The Boxer (1997) - Saab 99
Grosse Pointe Blank (1997) - Saab 900 cabrio
Volcano (1997) - Saab 900
City of Angels (1998) - classic Saab 900
Deep Impact (1998) - classic Saab 900 driven by main character (a 9000 can also be seen in the background)
Inside Man (1998) - classic Saab 900
Martha, Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence (aka The Very Thought of You) (1998) - Saab 96 V4
Moving (1998) - A silver Saab 900 turbo was Richard Pryor's pride and joy
Under solen (Under the Sun) (1998) - Saab 92
High Fidelity (2000) - classic Saab 900 cabrio
What Lies Beneath (2000) - classic Saab 900 crashed by wife
Woman Wanted (2000) - classic Saab 900
Bandits (2001) - Saab 9-5 Estate
Swordfish (2001) - Saab 9-3 convertible driven by Hugh Jackman.
Polonaise (2002) - Saab 99 GL
The Sweetest Thing (2002) - SAAB 9-5 Estate
Sweet Home Alabama (2002) - Saab 9-3 Cabrio driven by main character
The Transporter (2002) - classic Saab 900
Black Cadillac (2003) - burgundy classic Saab 900S driven by main characters who after a wild night in a bar, find their Saab being chased by a mysterious black 1957 Cadillac Eldorado.
Gothika (2003) - SAAB 9-5 Estate crashed by Halle Berry's character.
Highwaymen (2003) - classic Saab 900 driven by one of the main characters
Love Actually (2003) - Jamie (Colin Firth) drove a navy Saab 900s in France in numerous trips with his love interest (later wife) Aurélia.
The Bourne Supremacy (2004) - Saab 9-3 Cabrio
Secret Window (2004) - Saab 9-3
Sideways (2004) - classic Saab 900 cabrio
Taking Lives (2004) - SAAB 9-3 Cabrio and several 900s (in the background)

SAAB cars can also been seen in several TV series:

Tru Calling - Tru drives a red 1987 Saab 900
Seinfeld - Jerry Seinfeld drives a black 1995-96 Saab 900SE convertible in the American sitcom, which made prominent appearances in numerous episodes.

SAAB cars are also mentioned in several novels:

Angels and Demons - Robert Langdon drives a Saab 900S
Detective Inspector John Rebus, in a detective series by Ian Rankin, drives a Saab.
The Saab 900 Turbo was James Bond's vehicle of choice in many of the John Gardner Bond novels of the 1980s, beginning with Licence Renewed. In the second novel, For Special Services, the 900 was dubbed the "Silver Beast" [link]. The car is Bond's private vehicle that he had outfitted with various gadgets by the real-life company Communication Control Systems, Ltd. (CCS). In conjunction with the release of Licence Renewed, Saab had a real "Silver Beast" created that was virtually identical to the specifications in the book. The car is currently located at the Saab Museum in Trollhättan, Sweden.
In Paul Auster's novel The Music of Chance the main character drives a Saab 900.
In Louis Begley's novel About Schmidt the main character drives a Saab and crashes it into a tree.
In an essay originally published in In These Times in November, 2004 entitled [Have I Got A Car For You], writer Kurt Vonnegut recounts his experiences as the owner/operator of a Saab dealership in West Barnstable, Massachusetts and humorously claims that his criticism of Swedish engineering is the reason he was never awarded a Nobel Prize in Literature. The essay also appeared in the 2005 anthology "A Man Without A Country."

A Hewlett-Packard CPU-support chip features a Saab 900 Turbo 16 Cabriolet.[link][link]

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

[media]

[Saab Automobile] - Official site
[SAAB Owners Club of GB] UK Saab Club
[SaabCentral] The Site for Saabs. The most comprehensive Saab resource on the internet. Use the friendly Saab forums for technical help, discussion and general Saab chat for the Saab 9-3, Saab 9-5, Saab 900, Saab 9000 and all other Saab models. Read informative articles on all aspects of Saab ownership, maintenance and purchase.
[The SAAB Owners' Club of Canada Inc.] Club for Canadian Saab enthusiasts, founded in 1978.
[Saab Classifieds] for Saab enthusiasts.
[Yahoo! - Saab Automobile AB Company Profile]
[Trollhättan Saab] A Saab-based weblog with news and thoughts on the Saab marque.
[The Saab Network] enthusiast website
[Saab Innovations] gives a detailed look at the technology and models produced by Saab since 1947.
[dmoz: Recreation: Autos: Makes and Models: Saab]
[Saab V4 site] UK based with V4 info and discussion forum
[Saabmuseum.com] A history of the Saab marque
[SAAB 900 (1979-1994) Special Editions] A cornucopia of SAAB C900 miscellanea ...
[IMCDB: SAAB in movies and TV series]
[Online version of "The Saab Way", an illustrated history of the first 35 years of Saab from 1949-1984 by Gunnar A Sjogren]
[Saab] User Community and SaabWiki

	SAAB - [http://encycl.opentopia.com/ edit]
Current:	Saab 9-2X > Saab 9-3 \| Saab 9-5 \| Saab 9-7X
Planned:	Saab 9-4X \| Saab 9-1
Cancelled:	Saab 9-6X
Historic:	Saab 92 > Saab 93 \| Saab Sonett \| Saab 94 \| Saab GT750 \| Saab Sport \| Saab Formula Junior \| Saab 95 \| Saab 96 \| Saab Sonett \| Saab 600 \| Saab Toad \| Saab 99 \| Saab 90 \| Saab 900 \| Saab 900 (NG) \| Saab 9000
Concept cars:	Historic: Saab 92001 \| Saab Quantum \| Saab 98 \| Saab EV-1 Recent history: Saab 9-X \| Saab 9-3X Future: Saab Aero-X
Engines:	Saab two-stroke \| Ford Taunus V4 engine \| Triumph Slant-4 Saab B engine \| Saab H engine \| Saab V8

Automotive marques of General Motors

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