Comments on: The Saab Smell. A personal tale of odour by Lance Cole

By: Daniel

Daniel — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 17:10:09 +0000

My 2000 9-5 aero smells just like (or at least very similar to) my old ’90 900 s. I can remember my brother’s 86 900 spg used to smell the same way too. People tell me that my car smells like crayons, but all that I can smell is pure nostalgia. haha There’s just something about the smell that adds so much character to the car.

By: Frank

Frank — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 07:13:30 +0000

I have a 2000 Saab 9.3 and it too just started to wreak. Egg, fart, musty, stale. Is there a solution to the problem?

Stop eating eggs?

By: saab900NG

saab900NG — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 21:10:06 +0000

Hi all

when i first started driving in 1988 i had a 1984 saab 900 turbo, it was black, had the manhole cover wheels..and looking back i had people ask me what was that smell in my car, I got selfconcious thinking i may have stepped in something and it was embrassing. But people would say its not a gross smell but its some sort of werid smell..Lance is absolutly right because ive got a 1996 900 turbo SE (NG) and it has a smell of leather and what ever products im using to treat and care for the inside of the car..but it doesnt smell like my 84 did!
PS i bought lance’s book a few years back and its a very well done book. The only thing it doesnt cover is the viggen but i think thats because the book was wrtien around that time..im new to the site and id love to make some new freinds..
Damian

By: Staffan V

Staffan V — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 12:45:58 +0000

I have both a 99 (1979) and a 900 (1988) and they smell differently. The 99 has a distinct 99 smell while the 900 have a less noticable smell.

By: Simon A

Simon A — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 21:01:45 +0000

My 9-5 smells like crayons!

By: TimJ

TimJ — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 17:39:22 +0000

The smell I was talking about isn’t nowhere near any oil or gasoline or leather. It’s just a sweet odor.

By: SaabKen

SaabKen — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 17:32:52 +0000

I love my 9000CSE’s Bridge of Weir leather smell. Oh and sometimes just a faint whiff of gasoline enters the cabin (from some common glitch with the gas filler tube). That’s when the fun *really* begins

But I’ll pass on the sweet antifreeze smell of a leaky heater core !

Thanks Swade for the amusing discussion !

By: David N.

David N. — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 16:31:08 +0000

Great read Lance!

My ’74 MG-B has a heady odour as well. It stinks mostly of old leather, tatty carpet, and vinyl roof, mixed with equal parts 90W oil, overly rich exhust, and slightly rusty steel. Mmmm…

Certainly a lovely combination of aromas, despite a complete lack of plywood.

Vintage cars stink in a unique way that modern cars never will.

By: TimJ

TimJ — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 13:07:05 +0000

Can we transport that gorgeous odor to other vehicles somehow, can we can it somehow? The smell is like those they’re spraying in to some new cars, except that lasts like a month.

My friend have a Saab 99, I thought he puts something to his car because of that nice smell. He denies. He just says “it’s the SAAB”.

This was a good article! But is there a way to save that lovely smell?

By: Nahtanoj

Nahtanoj — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 10:22:14 +0000

Plywood! If you look under the folding floor of the cargo area in a brand-new Saab 9-3 SC, you will see that it is made of plywood! High-tech it’s not, but it seems to work just fine . . . .