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I stumbled across a cool set of photos on Flickr today and along with a video I saw, it was a good reminder for me as to how cool Saab’s heritage and background really are.
The video is here, it’s from the Copenhagen historic Grand Prix held in August 2008. The video itself was shot from an in-car camera. There’s nothing too spectacular there aside from the start, maybe. In fact the Saab is passed more than it passes, but there’s something inherently cool about a stroker screaming its way around the track.
The car won it’s class in the race, by the way.
The photos came from Flickr and again, they just reminded me of how great Saab’s early vehicles really were. And the great part is that they only look good to you when you really look at them. How many of you, like me, thought that a Saab 95 was the strangest thing you’ve ever seen when you first looked at it? And of those of you in that situation, how many still think that way?
Here’s a cool Saab 95:
There was a beat up old Saab 9-5 at Saab Festival back in 2007. It was always carrying around a bunch of people and the way it looked, you’d think the dirt was the only thing holding it together. But it still looked cool.
The rest of these photos come from a Flick user calles VE100S and again, in seeing them, I was filled with a sense of pride about this little brand. That so much came from so little is, well, cool.
The Saab Monster. More info about that here.
Some Sonetts getting manufactured. I’d have loved to work here for a summer. Building Sonetts. How cool is that?
And finally, a magnificent late model Saab 96
What a company. What a bunch of cars. And we haven’t even got close to the ones they’re really famous for.
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Thanks Robin!
5 responses so far ↓
1 vagabond
// Jan 5, 2009 at 10:40 pm
….He was approaching Chur on the A3 highway, south of Bad Ragaz, when he began to focus on the dark blue Saab behind him. He didn’t have the road to himself and he didn’t expect to. Perhaps the Saab was carrying another lot of ski-happy vacationers. But there was something about the car, something about the way its pace seemed to synchronize with his. Ben pulled over to the side of the road and the Saab drove right past him…
…the familiar blue Saab returned, perfectly centered in his rear view mirror
Fifty feet ahead the Saab was now parked laterally….
The Saab was a sports car, built for speed, he knew, but…..
Excerpt from the book “The Sigma Protocol”- Author: Robert Ludlum(Bourne books)
2 Seppo
// Jan 5, 2009 at 10:58 pm
SAAB 95, 96, and Sonett II were wonderful cars, sturdy and practical and fun to drive. Well, you had to enjoy mastering a column shifter for a while, but great, distinctive cars in the day.
The 99 was a wonderful design, but a bit underdeveloped when it first hit the market. Reliability improved over the years, and it remained a safe, fun, practical car of great technical merit, very competitive with its peers.
900 seemed to me a mixed bag, in some respects not as cool as a 99, but adapting and growing with the times. 9000 suffered the early development problems, and shared with Alfa, Lancia, and Fiat, but became an amazingly practical and efficient package, while losing the fun factor a little bit.
Opel-based 900 and later 9-3 are not special at all, really quite embarrassing. 9-5 was a decent car, especially the wagon, but development lagged and investment was not there any longer.
I hope SAAB has not reached the end of the road, but it sure is looking like it. Maybe they have it in them to do one more 96 or 99, we can always hope.
3 Rune (the other one)
// Jan 6, 2009 at 12:45 am
I remember my dad’s 96. I loved that car (we had it while I was between four or six I think). I saw one similar to that a month ago in Oslo, and it brought a tear to my eye. I almost ran after it, because it would be neat to meet the owner. (not sure it is a good idea to meet someone while you are sobbing, but still)
4 Eleven
// Jan 6, 2009 at 2:54 am
I have recently entered to world of SAAB, yet again.
From a rather beaten up 9000 over 10 years ago, i’ve since owned a 900 T Convertible, 9-5 2.3 t, a very nice 9-3 Convertible tuned by Abbott Racing, and now a 2004 9-5 Aero. It has reminded me why I keep selling the BMW’s and returning to SAAB – they’re individual.
Being a designer (cliche) I fell in love with what SAAB always stood for, however, Europe does seem to have a different attitude towards the brand entirely, and older SAAB’s really are seen as COOL cars.
I’m just getting ready to send my latest off to Abbott to work a little more magic on what is already a stunning car.
I also saw the old 95 images on Flickr earlier today – great article, thank you, this is my new fave site for SAAB’s.
5 Troll96
// Jan 6, 2009 at 4:55 am
Love the look and feel of those old 96’s. Instantly recognizable. Great clearance and go-in-snow capabilities. I didn’t much like having to carry oil around, and the hood always seemed like it was not quite closed. But that was all part of the “relationship” one had with the car. Saw on Saab History the other day that the 0-60 time for the stroker was a whopping 25 seconds. Funny how memory can be selective about things like that. So what. They were still great cars!