Why the Saab 900 Rocks, part 1 - Interior
Seeing around 50% of the visitors to this site haven’t owned a Saab 900 and only 18% of the remainder have driven one, I thought it’d be a good idea to have look over it and share what I reckon are the best parts about this legendary automobile.
The interior is my favourite part of any car, especially in the Saab 900, where Saab unleashed the funk like few manufacturers before or since. Whilst later Saab 900s were fitted with the more sober interiors that we’re used to seeing today, the early models were all about color, color, color!
Like blue, for example:
Or green:
Or a warm, inviting red:
And finally, a more familiar tan:
This is something that I love about early Saab interiors and it’s something you just don’t see in many modern cars. I don’t know how Swedish it is, but it was definitely very 1970s, even if they used it into the early 1980s. These interiors were bold and inviting, very European and somewhat intoxicating. It can be a little unnerving to see this sort of boldness in a modern car, but when it’s done correctly it can really look fantastic.
Saab’s early 900s featured velour trim more than leather. This might have been less sophisticated than a leather interior (and more difficult to clean), but it was also more personal and inviting. The velour trim was always mild to the touch, great on winter days and visually stunning. It had a tactile quality to it that wasn’t present in many cars, and still isn’t today.
Of course, the velour also had its drawbacks. Darker colors were prone to fading over time (all the more reason to get one of those rear louvres!) and once the cloth got too much sunlight and wear, it had a tendency to tear along the seams.
Saab later moved to leather seat surfaces in the 900, maintaining a dark red interior for some time before narrowing the offering down to grey or tan. What the leather took away in instant familiarity, it more than gave back in sophistication, style and comfort.
My dark red leather interior:
——
Of course, Saabs are more about function than form. Those funky interiors lent the cars a fair bit of personality, but the thing that really gets you about Saabs is how easy they are to hang out in.
That’s not just about comfort, it’s also about ergonmics. We’ll get to that next.
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The headrests on the car with green interior… Never seen that type before. Is it a 99 for foreign markets or some extras you could buy?
CTM
The green interior IS a 900 - but an early one. For about a year +/- after launch, the 900 cabin featured a re-trimmed version of the last of the line 99 GLE type seat with the tombstone headrest -which had a hole in it for better visibility- but which were then plugged with head rest bolsters. The diamond pattern pleat echoed the velour and vinyl pattern last seen on the seats of teh 99 Turbo.
Sometime in about 1981, Saab altered the seat back to create the long- lasting 900 type seat as seen in the other interior shots depicted here - with the separate, adjustable headrest horse shoe thing. the base of the seat remained the same.
Of interest is the seat coloured full width fascia moudling in maroon/red in the last 2 bottom photos. In the uk we only got black fascia/ dashboards, whereas some markets had the whole one piece dashboard in the same colour as the chosen trim option. Note that the red leather interior has a black anti-fade fascia top cover placed on it- very tropical! See how the blue green and rust coloured interiros- above - have a black dashboard, but the dark maroon four tour and two door photos show a matching coloured dashboard.
So, these are production spec differce by year and market/country.
The last all cherry red maroon Saab seats, dash, belts, door panels, interior I saw was very 1980s Americana and remidned me of a klingon whore’s boudoir.
Does anyone remember the accessory headrest cushions for the 99 seats taht even had speakers built in - who needs your little ipod speakres when Saab offered you full car speakers in your ears!
Loved the ‘roll’ rear headrests as in the green model above - ensured proper protection for a middle passenger as well as the other 2!
For me the greatest thing about the 900 other than the turbo and the design, is the smell! It has that airplane smell that stays with you and makes you think of how great the 80’s where.
The roll rear headrests made for a very cosy interior but one heck of a blind spot! I recall the Jubilee seat covers that were made for the 99s and early 900s in ‘76 - ‘80 - they were a nylon material in complimentary colors of orange, red, green and blue!
lance,
Thanks for the info. I can’t remember ever seeing those headrests in Sweden. I do remember the early ones with the big hole. I thought they almost looked like Recaro race seats.
Oh, what I wouldn’t do for a green interior. My 99 just has boring black.
Hmm… Swade, your interior needs something. ‘Tell ya what. Leave it with me one weekend and I’ll make it look much better.
Google Ads… now you got a Volvo Masters ad on a Saab blog. Perhaps time to change the Goolge Ad settings?
Perhaps it’s time for Saab to outbid Volvo for the space? - SW
The leather interiors can be very, very nice. It’s rare that the driver’s seat has survived well on the more aged models. My daily driver (’90 900) has a decent tan leather setup.
But for spirited driving the leather is second to the velour, which is much butt-grippier. That’s what I have in the ‘85 and plan on keeping, even though I’ve had a number of chances to replace it with leather.
The green interior is awesome. I want one!
That green interior brings back fond memories. I bought a ‘79 900 gle 5door just after I graduated
high school in 1986. It was Winter White with that green interior. The thing I remember most about the car was that it had a dead battery for about a month in the middle of a Minnesota winter. I couldn’t afford a new battery at the time. so I would always have to park on a hill and let the car roll down the hill and pop the clutch to get it started.
I really miss those old 900s. Last week I was fortunate enough to work on a very clean one at the dealership I work at. Not to many of them come in to the dealership anymore. It was a very clean
1987 900 convertable with only 47,000 miles.
Recently I saw a two page magazine ad showcasing Volvo’s new, “sophisticated” interior design (I don’t recall which sedan model it was), and the seats are IDENTICAL in shape and style to the classic 900 seats! I wish the design was still being used in Saab interiors, where it belongs. I hate to see other car companies becoming more Saab-like than Saab!! Damn you GM!!