After Swade’s admission that he couldn’t succeed in his quest to love this hatch, I present the admittedly shoddy Gimped version of the same car that looks better, but I’m still a bit unsure about:

It is better, but whether it’s good or not, I’m still undecided.

As iconic as we Saabisti regard the Saab hatchback to be, the Swedes did not invent the genre. We can say amongst ourselves that they perfected it, but invented? Nope, not even close.

The Saab 99 Combi Coupe / Wagonback debuted in 1974.

The earliest hatchback that I can find came into being 36 years prior to our beloved 99. The 1938 Citroën Traction Avant Commerciale wasn’t exactly a wagon, since the rear axle and rear seats were so close to the rear opening. In the beginning, the Traction used a two-door arrangement, but in the early 1950′s modified the design to a single door.

Around the same time, Kaiser was making a hatch-back style car in the so-called “Vagabond” series which began production in the United States in 1949, give or take a year. Kaiser called this vehicle a “convertible wagon” because it looked like a sedan, but worked as a wagon when needed. I like this design (note the flat floor!), but I’ll guess that with the manufacturing practices of the day, this thing rattled like crazy and leaked like a sieve. On the other hand, with the gargantuan size of American cars in the 1950′s, this thing was bound to hold a ton of stuff.

I hear you say, “neither of these is exactly what I’d call a hatchback”. Well, I agree. I wouldn’t call the Traction a hatchback for one simple reason — it’s an upright design. It’s not a ‘modern’ hatchback. Likewise, the Kaiser is obviously a car designed from the begining was a sedan; the hatchback part was cut out later on.

In 1953, a small number of what we would truly identify as hatchbacks rolled off the assembly line in Gaydon, Warwickshire, England as the Aston Martin DB 2/4.

For me, this is the true grandfather of the modern hatchback. Sporting, yet practical. Small, yet accomodating. It embodies many of the characteristics that we love in the Saab hatchback.

During the month of hatch lovin’, it’s easy to say that we love the hatch. Even though the hatchback was a part of the Saab experience for just under 30 of Saab’s 60 years, we’ve come to identify the hatch as a part of the Saab “DNA” — something as Saab as the key between the seats or turbocharging, which has been around a shorter period of time.

But, what do the so-called experts say?

I’ve spent at least a half-hour slaving over a hot keyboard in the internet mines to bring you some of the better comments from our industry pundits about the Saab hatch. Enjoy.

From Car and Driver’s review of the 2001 Saab 9-3:

The tailgate yawns wide to make it easier to load and unload the hatchbacks. Whether packing for a cross-country trip or simply hauling a week’s worth of groceries, it’s easy to appreciate the cavernous cargo hold. Fold down the split rear seat and a nearly 50 cubic feet of storage space is revealed. There’s also a rear-seat pass-through for carrying skis and other long objects.

From The Auto Channel’s review of the 1996 Saab 900SE:

Saabs are roomy, too, We had comfort up front to match that in back. And the trunk is enormous by small car standards. Our biggest load was golf clubs, but there was room for four sets if we had a foursome, along with a couple of pull carts and show bags. Then, if we needed more room, we could have folded down the back of the rear seat (assuming we weren’t carrying passengers back there) and we’d have more room.

From from a retrospective of the 9000 Aero at Hemmings Motor News:

…the new 9000 debuted as a five-door hatchback with split/folding rear seats, offering station wagon capacity under a steeply sloping rear window; while the 9000 was physically shorter than its 900 stablemate, it was more roomy inside with 123-cu.ft. of interior space (23.5-cu.ft. in the trunk, 56.5-cu.ft. with rear seats folded), qualifying as an EPA-rated “large” car, a distinction shared only with the contemporary Rolls-Royce in America.

He continues…

This full-boost engine garnered rave reviews; period advertising boasted, “The 5-speed Saab 9000 Aero will streak from 50 to 75 mph faster than a Ferrari Testarossa or a Porsche Carrera 4.” Writing for Automobile magazine, David E. Davis summed up its performance with the following: “I look at the dry specifications I’ve written here and see that nowhere do they make your eyes pop the way the car does when you shift down to third and stand on it to pass somebody who thought he was driving pretty briskly. The 9000 Aero is an enthusiast’s car, period. It has more capability than you need, but it’s just what you’ve always wanted.”

In summation:

…you’ll be rewarded by a luxurious, spacious car that hauls, as well as hauls.

And, finally, upon the introduction of the current generation of the 9-3, from CBS Marketwatch:

For Saab diehards, it will come back to the hatchback. No other maker could pull off a 5-door or 3-door hatch like it could. On the 900s of the late ’80s, the trunk is flat with the rear bumper — a wagon-like feature.

Still, form rules over function in the entry-level luxury market. A purchase there is about aspiration.

“Not enough of the U.S. consumers considered the hatchback body style to be a luxury car,” said Saab spokesman Kevin Smith. Smith is an able defender of the new model’s split with its past and points out that not enough people wanted the older model to justify its production.

Painful as it might be to those that have filled a 900 or 9-3 with firewood, that makes sense. A future wagon version will let Saab lure traditionalists who are clamoring for the hatch.

As Smith said, the outgoing 2002 hatch models sold surprisingly well over the summer as devotees snatched them up. Those are the customers, the purists, who should be lining up for the crossover wagon version of the 9-3 when it debuts in a couple years.

I think that last entry sums up where we are right now — making do with the sport combi. Still, the hatch is a great design that allows form to follow function.

Long live the hatch!

Some more Saabs with a difference……

I don’t think was a standard Saab colur…..

And these definitely weren’t standard Saab doors….

Robin M has been scouring the web and found a bunch of photos with Saab hatches loaded with all sorts of stuff.

The versatility of the Saab hatch is one of the many reasons why the 99 Combi Coupe and 900 hatches built up such a loyal following for Saab back in the 70s and 80s. This continued with the 9000 in the 90s.

So here’s a few Saabs, loaded with various items. I’ll post 2 a day until I run out.

Some are practical, some a little crazy – and some are wishing they were hatches!

It’s the month of hatch loving, where we celebrate the versatility and beauty of some of Saab’s best work.

Gripen’s been kind enough to scan this one and send it through. It none other than Mr Saab himself, Erik Carlsson, and somehow I get the feeling that this wasn’t anywhere near the first time he’s done this in a Saab.

How many others have done the same? I’ve got to confess that I’ve always believed that man belongs in the bed that’s customary to the period he lives in. There was a day when straw mats were great, but give me a queensize posturepedic matress and a woolen quilt any day. I’m not much of a camper.

I’m also puzzled by how a guy as tall as Carlsson could be even remotely comfortable. I know there’s plenty of room back there, but this is some tall timber we’re talking about here.

Regardless, the hatch proves itself again. BRING BACK THE HATCH!

It’s the month of hatch loving here at TS.

One of the great things about the Saab hatch was that it could be done up to look pretty sporting, whilst retaining all of its practicality. Body kits and wheel packages meant that the 900 hatch could look as fast as it’s turbocharged engine.

This one, below?

I’m trying hard but even I’ve got limits. This one was spotted from a Russian Saab site and I’ll keep the donating party nameless just in case there’s some connections there that are as shady as the job done on this car