Saab retro-perspective: Lance Cole on the Saab 90
Current debate cites the need for a small car in the Saab range. Lance Cole comments on what happened last time they tried it.
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In these days of shining chrome and prestige branding, many people forget that Saab’s first car was not some luxo-barge for bloated plutocrats, nor was it an executive saloon for aspirant middle class corporate boys.
Oh no, that first Saab was a small car- a car for the masses; a car that was both basic and intelligent – so intelligent that in its derivative forms it was on sale from 1950 to 1980 as the Saab 92-96 ranges. And it was a leading edge tool with front drive, safety, tuned aerodynamics, iconic industrial design and huge ability that lasted decades – as only good design can.
Only the original Mini, the 2CV, and the VW Beetle can boast similar production runs.
Now, Saab’s lack of a small car that reflects its true beginnings truly shows. If Saab had a small car, it would be earning money. But it does not and people buy those horrid Korean things.
The same was true way a back in the mists of the 1980s when Saab, so desperate for that ‘entry-level’ model – the smaller, cheaper car, created one. And they did it without lifting a finger in design terms.
In 1984, Saab did what no other car maker has ever done in order to create a new model. Saab took two cars from its range, sawed them in half and built a ‘cut and shut’ special that was a weird and only slightly wonderful attempt at a stop-gap car in its model range.
Let’s just repeat that - a major car manufacturer took the front and back of two different cars and welded them up into a new model!
The exclamation mark is justified – think about it, this car was almost 20 years old when it was born.
The car was called the ‘90’ and somehow, it worked – but it was no real answer and it reflected a cash–strapped myopia that was, and remains typical of Saab - perhaps through no-fault of its own…
The Saab 90 was the front of the old Saab 99 2 door, conjoined with the back of the longer, newer, Saab 900. The result was a long tailed thing that had the Sason and Envall short–nosed 99 front and curved windscreen slot, with a long Envall designed 900 tail stuck out the back.
It looked odd. And the boot/trunk was huge. You could live in there and fold the seats flat and sleep in it – all with no hatchback.
Saab gave the 90 twin-tube sports dampers, shorter gear ratios and automatic fuel cut-off, oh and 900 style badging – minus the last zero – so they did not even have to tool up for new logos.
Inside it was pure 1970s Saab 99 – and yet they bothered to change the rake of the 99s steering rack so that the steering wheel was 4 degrees steeper – like the 900s. Well, almost like a 900. It still lacked power steering.
There was a bigger 13.9 gallon fuel tank (400 miles range) – a good thing as this old, heavy gauge car only just scraped home to 30mpg. Zero to sixty mph took a lethargic 11 seconds and the mid-range overtaking performance was near the bottom of the class. Remember this was the Saab 1985cc engine without the turbo and tuned for economy – almost.
But there was plenty of torque and you could make the old beast punt along quite nicely on sweeping cross country roads. The gearbox whined, though, even on new ones and especially on the motorway. Still, this was a 100bhp (DIN) car. Mind you, no one rallyed a 90 - did they?
Saab did nothing with the 99 and the 900s’ old bug bear- the gearbox, and the handling remained slow geared in steering terms. But it was not bad for a chassis that was two decades old, a fine testament to Saabs original work and the simple rightness of double wishbone suspension (long before Honda spend millions advertising their use of it, too).
The headlining still dropped – even though Saab had 20 years knowledge across two car ranges about it before they stuck it into the 90. There was still a horrid fake wood veneer plastic strip across the 99 derived dashboard and the windscreen was not deepened as it had been for the 900 – so it was like sitting in a deep Victorian bath tub looking out through a visor: lovely.
Saab bunged the door mirrors, seats, rubbing strips, and various other bits of 900 kit into the 90. One non-900 delight was a choke lever - a manual choke, big enough to be pulled by a gloved Swedish hand. There was five speed manual (only) gearbox and a top speed of about 100mph. Disc brakes all round hauled the 90 to sharp stop – even if the pedals were so offset you might press the wrong one at first acquaintance.
I drove a white Saab 90 for a few months. It whined and chugged, yet had great character. Ultimately, though, it was neither fish nor fowl and in marketing terms was, even to my Saab devoted mind, an oddity. But for Saab owners who did not want the prestige of the 900 – even the base model - and wanted to move from an old 96 or old 99 into a new small Saab, the 90 was a very easy way to do it, though some might have perceived it as a con.
The car was rigid, crash safe, reliable, and characterful. But that was not enough and was never going to be – how on earth could a car maker survive by creating a new small ‘bread and butter’ model by welding two other models together for goodness sake?
It was a mad, mad, thing and we knew it at the time, which was why after under 3 years on the UK market, the 90 died. Just before it died, though, the Finns had something special in mind: the Lumikko (translated: “Snow Weasel”). Saab 90 enthusiasts now had their very own limited edition to fawn over. And limited it was, too, with only 10 examples made.
The fact remains, though, that people bought the 90. In total, 25,378 Saab 90s were made. It was sold in selected European countries only and the Swedes and the Dutch loved them. They are getting rare now and the eccentric Saabist in me rather fancies one.
However, I would rather Saab offered you and me a re-skinned Vauxhall/Opel Corsa with the revised body design (that I happen to have on my drawing board), as the new small Saab. It would be so easy- not a single internal tooling changed- just the outer skins and the interior, and bingo a new small Saab is with us: Unless Saab were to weld the back of a Astra to the front of an Insignia and fit a 1.2 engine.
But no one would ever weld two different models together to make a new car though, would they…
Lance Cole © 2008.
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Lance Cole is a writer living in England and has penned several books on automobiles and aviation. Saab enthusiasts would know him best for the book Saab 99 and 900: The Complete Story, which is an excellent volume and available for sale at the TS Shop. At the bottom of the left sidebar you’ll see a list of authors here at TS. Click Lance’s name to read all of his contributed pieces.
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A couple of images accompanying this piece were sourced from www.saab-90.com. I think the site’s reasonably old now, but for those interested in learning more about the 90, it’s a great resource with photos, brochures and other stuff.
SW
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But it does not and people buy those horrid Korean things.
…and buy them they do. the roads here in northeast america
are completely littered with the kia/hundai trash.
*applauds* Thank you for giving me a great history lesson, I knew little of this model before.
It’s such a lovable oddity.
I know… let’s glue the front of a 9-2x together with the back of the 9-3! Wait… no… bad idea.
Lance, I can infer from other references in your (excellent, as always) article that the 30 mpg you mention is in Imperial gallons. 30 mpg in U.S. gallons wouldn’t be all that bad at all!
I just filled-up my 23-year-old Saab 900 Turbo with gasoline yesterday and took the opportunity to check the mileage. It got a surprisingly-good 22.2 mpg (U.S.) on average (that’s 26.66 Imperial miles-per-gallon or 10.59 l/100km). And a lot of my driving was in stop-and-go L.A. traffic. The air conditioning was running most of the time (it’s summer here and it gets very hot in The Valley (ever see the film Boogie Nights? That’s “The Valley” where I live), and when there isn’t traffic I tend to open it up and drive not-so-fuel-economical speeds.
I was mentally comparing this to my wife’s 2001 Saab 9-3 2.0t 5-door. Granted mine has a manual transmission and hers an automatic, and she’s in hot weather and stop-and-go traffic almost exclusively during her commute (she averages around 20 miles-per-hour speed) to and from work, but she’s only averaging around 18 to 20 mpg!
My 900T feels MUCH more solid than her 9-3, and I think the gauge of metal they used was heavier on the old 900. When you close the door you’d better have your leg inside or you’ll likely break it. It’s got the doors of a tank!
It boggles my mind that fuel economy in Saabs has not increased over the years. Economy is a core Saab value. You’d think they would have made some major progress in this field.
Back to your article: was the Saab 90 ever sold in the North American market? I don’t think I’ve ever seen one “in the wild”.
No, it was europe only.
Here in Sweden the 90’s are not uncommon sight even today, they seem to survive better than their equally-old 900’s. I counted to three 90’s on my way home from work today. As far as I remember, the 90 came in two equipment levels; one with a five-speed gearbox, a front spoiler and a rev counter whereas the lesser variant had to cope with a four-speed ‘box and none of the other niceties. I think you could also order a sunroof and a few other things. Back in the days it was an distinctly un-cool Saab, widely considered a vehicle for seniors!
Grioen,
My 900 Classic- 5 door GLi injection, always did at least 35 mpg on a run around the local main roads and more than that on the motorway at 65 mph.
My Niner Five always does 37 mpg on the motorway. But the air con is rarely on and its a Manuel.
I know people who can eek 40 mpg out of a 2.olitre Eco power -just.
The diesels of course are 50mpg + machines.
But, thrash your Saab petrol engine ahrd and it will drop into the mi -twenties with ease. America is differnt of course- air con, loads, distances and fuels. Still a 93 2.O liter really ought to do better than that - give it thrash at high speed for a few mintes, that’ll clear it.
was it so that all 90s have been manufactured in saab-valmet factory located city of Uusikaupunki in Finland? Like all cabrios exl. latest generation and all 9-3 viggens are manufactured in Finland.
Yep all made at Uusikaupunki -including the special edition “Snow Weasel” - which Swade is about to add to the post methinks!
Intrestingly teh 99s and 900s built in Finland resisted rot better than some Swedish production periods. it is thought that the paint was much thicker.
Oh and I mis-typed Gripen’s name- aplogies
lance: we’re taking the wife’s 2001 9-3 5-door automatic on a driving vacation to Southern Utah (from L.A.) next week. On the open road I won’t be surprised to see her car get close to 30 mpg (36 mpg Imperial) even with air conditioning on, three people on-board (she, our 11-year-old son and I) and a full load of luggage. It’s merely the conditions she drives in daily that causes her fuel economy to be so poor. She works 16 miles from our home but it takes her close to an hour to travel that distance each way to and from work due to L.A. traffic.
I’m going to try to take some pictures of the Saab in some of the exotic Southwest locales of Utah. We’re hitting Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Capitol Reef National Park, Moab/Arches National Park (as featured in the opening scene of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade), Monument Valley (where apparently Wile E. Coyote continually falls-off cliffs into a mushroom cloud of dust at the bottom due to faulty ACME mail-order products), possibly see the Anasazi ruins at Mesa Verde National Park just over the Colorado border near Four Corners, the north rim of the Grand Canyon in Northern Arizona, and up to Page on Lake Powell to do some river rafting on the Colorado River. We’ve only got 7 days for the trip including the drive to and from, but if possible I want to try and see Goblin Valley State Park where the “rock monster” scenes from the film Galaxy Quest were filmed as well as take a drive on Utah Scenic Byway 12 as suggested in this Road and Track article.
If I weren’t such a poor photographer and if my wife were driving something better than a base model 9-3 I’d get some POO-winning candidate shots!
Why am I telling you about the details of my planned vacation? To brag. Oh yeah, and to point-out that we’re setting off on a trip in our Saab which will take us over 1,600 miles in 7 days…
Jeez Gripen! That’s a full plate of sights in my home state (mostly, anyway). Enjoy your time while you’re here…
Too bad you’ll still be some 300-odd miles away.
Gripen
Sounds good. Why not take some silhouette of the saab - shots against the sunset or sky- they cannot go wrong and then get Swade to post them? Black and white might work against the scenery too.
And yes, I meant sights, not sites. That’s a mighty list of beautiful places to see- you could spend a ton of time at just a couple of those sites.
In the winter of 1986 I remember looking at the Saab 90 at the German dealer lot in Heildelberg. I eventually bought a Saab 9000i Euro spec for my 3 year tour in Italy (via IDS) . The 90 looked really cool for a small Saab, would have been a nice 2nd car in Napoli for city driving and a nice upgrade from the 1986 Fiat Panda 1000s 5-speed I used for city commute. Lance I have your book on the 99/900 and its a great read.
Sport Mode: yeah, I’m a bit worried about the hurried-nature of the trip, but if I’m going to drive all that way I want to see as much as I can! We’re spending two days in both Zion and Moab. The rest of the time is constant moving between places. We’re going to try and take a nice short hike in each park if possible.
lance: I’ll do what I can with the photos. I don’t know if my wife will have the patience with me taking pics of the car while we’re rushing to the next stop, but I’ll try! Thanks for the suggestion. I can turn any color pics to B&W later…
Thanks for this and the comments!
Seems like a new way to define a hybrid. American Motors (now dissolved into Chrysler but for its Jeep line) in the 1970s chopped the back off exitsing models to create the Pacer (alias fishbowl) and Gremlin (had one–not a bad car, actually, although the three-speed manual on the floor seemed to be connected to a tractor transmission and clutch but there was so much torque in the 258CID straight 6 that you could just leave it in 2nd around town) in the 1970s.
Enjoy the Utah national parks Gripen–they are spectacular and should be on everyone’s list (especially in a ragtop in late afternoon or early morning).
Our 9-5 2.3T (auto) just breezed through nearly 6000 km (3700 mi) Montreal-New Orleans in 2 weeks with other stops (Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island), A/C etc. on all the way, and very full in the trunk and back seat plus driver and passenger. Averaged 7.6 l/100km = 37 mpg Imp = 32 mpg US staying with the flow on the hghways in very hot weather (30sC/90sF). What road cars SAAB makes!
B
Very informative post, Lance. Knew nothing of the 90 before and am pleased to learn that that there was more to the plebeian side of Saab. I hope that Saab can broaden its base rather than going upmarket like everyone else.
speaking of the 2CV, the backgrounf of this one on ebay sports a lovely Saab 9-3!! http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Citroen-2CV-French-history_W0QQitemZ230280341006QQihZ013QQcategoryZ6183QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
90 was an idea from Valmet factory, which Saab Sweden did not agree first. I read somewhere in Finnish car magazine that when 99 was running out and they got the tools they wanted to make run out model out of 99 parts. And 90 was born. Lot´s of them running in Finnish roads today. They really seem to hold up well. They are, by todays standards, VERY basic.
And they are cheap. You can get one by the price of couple tanks of fuel. But they tend to be in bad condition. Good ones are still used daily. I almost bought one when I needed towing hook few years ago. The 90 with a hook was cheaper than brand new hook for 9000…
My first car was an old, banged up SAAB 90. It was great, and started me off with the whole SAAB-Craze my wife now must live in..
I loved the old, blue car, and EVERYONE I know still talks about it, whenever the issue of SAABs come up.
I spent many nights in my car, seats down. Good memories
Alas the starter died, pretty much the same week as we discovered that the underside of the car consisted mostly of rust… It was a sad goodbye, as the quotes to get the car fixed GREATLY surpassed the cost of an old 900TURBO, which was my second car:)
I miss my blue SAAB!
Gripen, have a great vacation! By the way, the US never did see the Saab 90, but we did see a 900 2-door or “notch-back” model in 1986 (I owned one at one point just because…..). It was all 900, and was essentially a 900 sedan (with a trunk) and only two doors. The interior looked just like the 3-door. Mine was an “S” and I don’t think it was ever made available here in turbo form, but I could be wrong. Anyway, just a bit of trivia there…!
Hi, I have a blue saab 90! very rare here in the Uk now, its so odd i love it lol
Although after just buying a new house it has to go, as i have 7 cars already.
i manage 32mpg if i drive it carefully, and he can still manage the top speed of 100mph, thats according to the sat nav, not the speedo that thinks it can do 120! haha
The handling is great and with the torquey motor although acceleration isnt much once your at a speed you can normaly keep it there through the bends.
Mine is a GL, doesnt really give it much more, heated seats, rev counter, centre console, rear head rests. think thats about it lol yes the head linning has been replaced and just dropped again!
body is very straight, and 165k miles on the engine stills pulls well.
Great charactor, very odd, but i would jump in and drive it anywhere!
MarkS
Yep- it was the back of the 900 two door that they used for the 90- just the back!
We got the 900 2 door here in the UK and Europe in full 16V turbo variant with bodykit a la USA 900 SPG trim and with everything. It also came as a basic model as well.
I am not sure on the 900 2 door Turbo in the USA but someone will tell us.
Johnny.. The 90 did not have a 4 speed avalible. That gearbox stoped being produced before the 90´s launch.
And yes, the 90 was realy unpopular and you doo se lots of them in extra ordinary condition due to one thing.. The 90 was mostly (or only) sold to the elderly with heated garages, gives the car regular maintenance, washes the car every week. It realy was a sunday drivers car…
You know what? I love the car. It´s so unpretentious and so extremely durable. But why Saab built it is an enigma to me.. But again, I love it!
Tom
Tompa,
The brochure I have here says the initially 90 was available with a 4 speed box.
It seems that there was an early production run of basic cars which were for northern europe-including the UK- and then later production was cars with 5 speed ‘boxes and better trim bits - including a front spoiler.
I am aware of a 4 speed box 90 remaining here in the UK
Great article. Thanks for the background.
I think you have a very good point. Its the sheet metal / interior that makes the difference, not if the engine / gearbox etc can be found if you look under the hood of an opel as well.
Tompa, I am pretty sure there was a 4-speed option, at least in Sweden. Possibly this was only on MY85 then. It also had 165/15 tyres whereas the 5-speed had 175/15 I think. I have driven a couple of 5-speed 90s and I remember that all of them drove better than my 1984 99GL I had back then. I found the engine to be a little smoother and quiter.
For me, perhaps the best part about the 90 - or 99 for that matter - is the interior. The seats, instrument panel, the upright windshield - it is brilliant. There is an excellent book on Swedish industrial design (Svensk Industridesign, by Lasse Brunnström, Prisma 1997, ISBN13 9789151843872) that sums up the story about the creation of the updated instrument panel for the 1971 99. Apparently it was Björn Envall who designed the whole thing in three days, borrowing the idea of rotary knobs for heating and venting from his electrical stove! This book is a highly recommended read (not sure if it is available in English though) and features large sections on both Volvo and Saab design as well as non-Saab related work by Sixten Sason, e.g. Hasselblad cameras.
Regarding Saab 90 someone has to ask the question: Why? Why not keep producing the 99 which had a complete design, or making a cheaper version of the 900 2-door, or going further in the Lancia-deals Saab where involved in (ever heard of the Saab 600?)… I have no idea.
The seniors bought the cars and if you make an enquiry on swedish web-site blocket.se after low milage at low cost they show up: only one owner, less than 100 000 miles, cost less than 1000 dollars.
In my youth someone took a Volvo 121 amazon and a volvo PV 544, sawed them in halfes and glued them together, just so upset people in my town. I thought it was a joke when I heard Saab was doing the same thing!
http://www.blocket.se/vi/17459387.htm?ca=10_s
Best regards Olle
Tompa & Lance, I´m running 4spd from Saab ´90 -87 on my 900T16S.
28 years later GM introduces that same concept with the new 2 door caddy?
who is in charge here anyway?
yikes
Olle
Nobody knows why -especially given that there was a poverty-spec C900 available Which was the point of the article I suppose.
It could have been a desparate need in thier subconscious to retian a small cheap car or there could have been bean counters, tooling, jobs, politics in their too.
And, yep, the Saab 600 has been covered here and is archived here.
MarkoA
If as you say, you are running a (low strength) gearbox off a 90 on a 900 turbo it will break mate: Soon, very soon.
Oh. I´ve driven it like this, tuned T16S and hard driving now 30000kms with no problem. There´s more robust pinion bearing+housing, #7 gear set + long final drive. The box has been rebuilt by a professional who used to make transmissions to Saab Type M racing series so I guess he knows what he´s doing. I should´ve been more clear - the core+main gears for this box was from ´87 90.
Which countries was this model sold in? I’ll be moving to Germany next month and had to sell my beloved 9-5, so hopefully I can find one of these as my errand car. Anybody know if these would be exportable to the USA at this age?
-Gregg
Portland, Oregon USA
Gregg,
90 was sold all over northern Europe.
The best ones left, seem to be in Netherlands - then Sweden, Denmark, Finland.
You may find one in Gremnay. Best bet would be Holland- but they might be owned by old folks who want a couple of thousand euros + - which is a lot for a 90…
Go north for nice 90 that will cost you say 500- 700 $ Dollars
There is a blue 90 for sale on Ebay Uk for £500 - indeed I think it is owned by one of the poster’s above. it is of course RHD- uselesss to you perhaps.
Watch out rusty doors, rusty engine bay, under the rear end, suspension points and the gearbox.
yeh that is my 90 on ebay.co.uk its not old enough to be sent to the US as yet, i have actualy sent a fair few cars over tho.
mine has a small bit of rust on the drivers door, and also had some welding done to the rear (very good job though).
Chris- its yours mate!
BTW - I did not mean yours was rusty- just that those were the rust points for Grackle gregg to watch out for on any 90.
If you don’t sell it, say so here will you?
hi lance, yeh i was just kinda saying how you were right as thats where mine has had problems.
and i say mine as erm it still is didnt sell lol its a real hit or miss market for these i think.
unfortunatly im moving and wont really have space for it.
Olle, Chris & Lance:
I’d appreciate if you guys kept me in the loop on this– while my above post was purely to get a set of wheels for myself (my wife plans on getting a VW– which can be easily easily re-sold in Germany once her contract is up), there may be a tiny market here in the USA amongst Saabistas for this car should I find a steady pipeline– I was just shooting the breeze with my Saab mechanic the other day, and he’d like one himself. I have some experience in export/import, so you never know. My email is:
gzullo (at) lycos (dot) com
Thanks!
Gregg
Portland, Oregon
USA