Page 11
A body with built-in
safety
The Saab 99 has unit body construction. Its
all-welded steel body is considerably thicker
than that normally employed in the auto-
motive industry. Despite the steel body thick-
ness and the large interior dimensions, the
overall weight of the car is low.
The windshield pillars consist of 39 inch
long, exceptionally strong steel sections
made of ,080 inch thick material. The
bottom of the steel sections are welded to
the wheel housings. The sill beams and side
pillars are also exceptionally strong, and a
reinforcing steel rail is welded around the
edge of the roof.
The front and rear sections of the car are
designed as energy-absorbing deformation
zones, Development work is continuously in
progress to improve and refine the design.
g
7,
The "'cage’’ around the passenger compart-
ment has given ample proof of its immense
strength in many tests and after actual
accidents. As an example, a Saab 99 has been
dropped upside down onto a concrete floor
from a height of 7 feet without the wind-
shield or center pillars being deformed.
Even a stable steel structure is subject to
corrosion attack, The anti-corrosion treat-
ment carried out at the factory is, therefore,
an important part of safety. All Saab 99 cars
are subjected to extensive treatment in
several stages during the manufacturing pro-
cess, Priming is done by the electro-
phoresis process. After the body has been
phosphated, it is immersed in a bath of
anti-corrosion primer, where the particles
are induced by a strong electric current to
adhere securely to all steel surfaces, even
along edges and in cavities.
G2 Before the fully-assembled car leaves the
GU factory, it is subjected to additional unique
anti-corrosion treatment, All cavities, such
as doors, sill beams and brackets, are
sprayed internally with anti-corrosion oil,
The joints between the wheel housings
and ferlers are also treated with anti-
corrosion agent, as well as the space between
the outer panef and framework of the trunk
lid and hood. This oi] treatment is applied to
30 points on the body. The whole engine
compartment is protected with a special clear
substance and the outside of the car is
coated with a wax which protects the paint-
work while the car is being transported to
the sales outlet. Asa final measure, the
whole underside of the body is sprayed auto-
matically with an anti-corrosion agent.
1) Before the body receives its final coat of
paint, it is given a protective and sound-
absorbing layer of underseal compound on
the underside of the body and in the wheel
housings. The compound is applied by
means of an airless high-pressure spraying
process, to eliminate the risk of air bubbles
in the final coating.
Page 13
—
Interior — Safety
The interior of a Saab 99 has a well-
developed safety design. Improvements and
detail modifications are continuously in-
troduced as a result of laboratory tests and
accident investigations. Since 1971, a group
of specialists — physicians and engineers —
have been engaged in road accident research.
Saab cars which have been involved in serious
accidents are investigated, with the primary
aim of obtaining the information necessary
for further development of an already well-
proven safety design,
Simulated collision tests against a barrier are
carried out at regular intervals in order to
establish the strength of the body and in-
terior fittings, and to find the means for im-
provements, particularly as regards the pre-
vention of injuries.
The dashboard is designed with the safety of
the occupants in mind. If subjected to a
heavy impact, it will absorb energy by
deforming, The dash panel is polyurethane
foam with 2 .039 inch thick surface layer and
incorporates reinforcing plates of such design
that they will absorb energy by deforming
upon impact, The plates are perforated at
strategic points for energy absorption con-
siderations. The panel, in its entirety, is
mounted on four bulkheads running in the
longitudinal directions of the car, and these
bulkheads will fracture if exposed to an ab-
normally high load, The integral material
provides the panel with the necessary soft-
ness, and cun also assist in distributing the
load over a wide area, The shape and loca-
tion of the windshield in relation to the heads
of the front seat occupants minimizes the
risk of contact with the windshield in the
event of a collision, provided that their seat
belts are fastened, The stable corner pillars
are covered with abundant engery-absorbent
padding,
The head restraints of the front seats are
designed to take into account the passengers
in the back seat. This is illustrated by the
absence of sharp corners and edges, and the
seat back’s impact-absorbent padding. The
bottom edges of the seats are provided with
extra soft padding to protect the ankles of
the back seat passengers.
The location of the ignition key on @ special
console between the front seats has been
chosen for safety reasons. Many serious knee
injuries have been caused by the key in an
ingition lock fitted on the steering column at
knee height, The handbrake lever is fitted
where it can also be operated by the
passenger in an emergency situation.
The steering wheel allows for a firm grip,
and is provided with substantial, energy-
absorbent padding, The padding is located
on the steering wheel center section. This
padding, though ample, does not block
vision to the instruments.
All Saab 99 models are equipped with inertia
' reel belts for both the front and back seat
occupants. Front seat belts are connected
across a switch which lights up a red warning
light with the text "Fasten belts’ if the driver
or passenger has not fastened his seat belt
when the ignition is switched on and the
handbrake has been released, The seat belt
has no metal buckle, and is passed around a
special flap lock on an upright location
between the front seats, This design allows
for a lighter inertia reel mechanism and
reduces the seat belt pressure, an advantage
on along drive.
The defroster duct is also designed to provide
ahead restraint for the back yeat passengers.
The duct can be fitted with comfortable
cushions available as optional extras.
‘The roof lining acts as a large, impact-
absorbent shield extending down over the
roof beams and around the edges.
In order to reduce the risk of knee injuries to
the front seat occupants in the event of an
accident, a three-piece shield is fitted in front
of the footwell and extends up to the bottom
edge of the dashboard of all new Saab 99
models. The three parts of the shield are
hooked to each other and the outer parts are
secured to brackets at the wheel arches.
Thus, they form a sort of hammock with a
chain action, Experience has shown that this
shield provides excellent protection. The
material (ABS plastic) is highly flexible and
has a rounded pattern of fracture, even at
Jow temperature.
All models are fitted with sturdy longitudinal
beams welded into the sides of the doors to
protect the passengers in the event of a colli-
sion from the side, In addition, the inner
door panel of the WagonBack and EMS is
designed to form an energy-absorbent hip
protector, The one-piece door lining ts
covered with strong vinyl, The panel is de-
signed so that it will progressively fracture
and collapse at predetermined points if ex-
posed to a very heavy blow. All four-door
models are equipped with childproof locks in
the rear doors.
Page 15
ll
14
Interior — Comfort
The Saab 99 offers a comfortable ride-
The mterior is remarkably roomy. Since
there is no drive shaft tunnel under the back
seat, passengers are comfortably seated and
ample space is available even for five
persons,
The interior of the Sash 99 LE is clegant
and comfortable, The seats are upholstered
with a plush nylon velour material. Nylon
velour "breathes’’ and is not cold in the
winter or hot in the summer, The door and
side trim are in a matching shade, The color
coordinated all-nylon carpeting is of ex-
cellent quality and is casy to keep clean.
) The seats provide good lateral support, and
the springs and padding are nicely balanced
so that the seat feels neither too hard nor to
"spongy". The front scathacks are totally
adjustable for excellent seating comfort.
Comfort can be improved further by fitting
soft, specially designed, headrest cushions
in the seat back.
§
“Li
®
|
=
‘The EMS model has special upholstery with
vinyl trim on the seats, The folding center
armrest improves the comfort further when
two passengers travel in the back seat. Soft
and comfortable headrest cushions for the
driver and passengers round off the comfort
of the interior. These cushions are
available as accessories for all 99 models. In
the back seat, the cusions can be simply
secured to the defroster duct by means of
two-sided tape. In the two-door models, the
sides at the back seat conform to the shape
of the body, thus offering extra space where
it is best needed — at elbow level. This isa
further contribution towards comfort when
three passengers travel in the back seat.
The rear door opening on the 4-door model
follows the contour of the rear backrest.
Comfortably, There are no sharp or awkward
corners Lo restrict entry and exit.
The roofliner is made of moulded fiberglass
for impact protection and is covered with
@
nylon velour, The fiberglass and nylon
velour combination offers superior insula-
tion against heat, cold and noise. The roof-
liner is yet another Saab safety and comfort
feature found in all Saab 99’s as standard
equipment,
The luggage compartment of the WagonBack
is of functional but elegant design. The flat
floor is covered with a fitted, tufted carpet
with a plastic backing, The front interior
door trim is made of an impact-absorbent
material covered with durable vinyl.
Dimensions according to the above drawings
(2-door sedan),
H6i Height seat/roof, front 37.7 in,
H63 Height seat/roof, rear 37.4 in,
A Width at elbow height, front 54,3 in,
B Width at elbow height, rear $9.7 in.
W3 Shoulder room, front $2.8in.
W4 Shoulder room, rear $4.5 in.
WS Hip room, front $0.0in.
W6 Hiproom, rear 50,9 in,
Page 17
&
Driver’s Seat
The driver of a car must always be in a posi-
tion to carry out all driving operations con-
veniently, safely, sometimes quickly and
often for long periods and under varying
conditions. Strong light, darkness, bad
weather, varying road conditions, dense
traffic and tight situations are factors which
make heavy demands on the driver, And the
driver's workplace’ must also be designed
to suit a wide variety of individuals. Saab
engineers, in collaboration with physicians,
have therefore designed a seat which is ana-
tomically as correct as is reasonably possible,
i.¢, a seat which offers the correct seating to
any driver. Characteristic features of the
Saab seat are:
© Total adjustability,
© Built-in injury-preventive safety.
© Comfort.
Scope for adjustment
The Saab 99 has separate front seats. The
fore-and-aft adjustment is stepless, and can
easily be carried out even from the outside,
in order to facilitate entry into the rear of the
car. The distance to the pedals can be varied
by 6.3 inches, The angle of the backrest on
all U.S. models can be steplessly altered to
the horizontal position.
) A truly exclusive feature is that the driver’s
seat can be raised and lowered, and that the
driver can set the slope of the seat bottom to
suit his individual requirements — high or
low at the front edge, high or low at the rear
edge. Resetting is simple to carry out by
means of a handle at the front of the seat,
Built-in safety
A. Mounting is stable. [tcan withstand a
load which is almost four times as great as
that specified in U.S. safety codes.
B. The seat is built around a stable steel
structure,
C. The head restraint is integral with the
backrest, and the openings are designed for
maximum visibility. The head restraint can
be fitted with a comfortable cushion.
D. A special lumbar support is provided
between the backrest and the head restraint,
E. In the event of a heavy collision from the
rear, a safety mechanism will be released and
the front seats are allowed ta move hack-
wards to prevent injury.
PF. The rear section of the front seats is not
provided with a transverse stay. Soft padding
is provided instead to protect the legs of the
back seat passengers,
G. The backrest contains no sharp metal
which can cause injuries to the back seat
passengers. The backrest ix smoothly shaped
and is well padded in the rear.
H. The seat is equipped with a load-sensing
contact which lights up a warning lamp and
activates a buzzer on the dashboard to indi-
cate that one of the front seat occupants has
not fastened his-seat belt,
Comfort
The anatomic design of the seat allows the
driver to be comfortable and relaxed even
after along trip.
1. The backrest and the seats are contoured
to fit the small of the back.
J. Due to the length and depth of the seat,
body weight is distributed from the base of
the spine to the knee joint,
K. The flexible lumbar support inside the
backrest adjusts itself to suit different shapes
of backs,
L. The seat is upholstered with nylon velour
which is comfortable in both the summer and
winter.
M, The driver’s seat is equipped with an
automatic heating element,
N, Latch for folding the backrest forward to
protect the passengers in the back seat of
two-door models,
O. Lever for adjusting the slope of the seat.
P. Release catch for fore and aft seat adjust-
ment.
Q. Wheel for adjusting the rake of the back-
rest,
R. Quick-release catch for folding the back-
rest forward.
S. Quick-release lever for folding the back-
rest forward from the back seat.
For many people, winter is a season of
uncomfortably cold weather, Aching backs
ache more, bladders become inflamed and
rheumatic pains become irritated. Medical
experts regard chilling of the lower parts of
the body as often being directly responsible
for these ailments, The cold also creates
stress. A cold driver is not a safe driver. Ina
car which is thoroughly cold on a winter day,
it may take more than 15 minutes before the
seat has ceased to feel uncomfortably cold.
The picture illustrates the skin temperature
during a winter start, Two cars have been
parked for 12 hours at an outdoor tempera-
ture of $ degrees F. The black curve repre-
sents a car without a heated seat, and the red
curve represents a Saab with a heated seat.
Electric heating wires run underneath the up-
’ holstery of the driver's seat, both in the seat
cushion and the backrest, When the ignition
is switched on, power will be supplied to the
heating wires if the temperature of the seat
cushion is lower than +57 degrees F, But the
engine will usually have started and the alter-
nator will have begun to generate before any
appreciable power is used for heating the
seat. This saves the battery. When the seat
temperature has reached +82 degrees F, the
heating clement will automatically be
switched off. A bi-metal thermostat, whichis
sensitive to heat, ensures that the system
operates automatically,
» The heating wires are placed in net pockets
) underneath the upholstery and rest on
aluminium foil which reflects the heat
upwards,
Fy? The picture shows the seat impression made
by a man weighing 154 lbs. The rectangle
indicates the area of the heating element.
Page 18
i
Weak
sensation of heat
——7
Normal heat
ar eer
5
nN
Subject remains
outdoors for
three minutes
1
|_|
/|
ie" L
ot heat
|
temperature “S
Skin
Minutes OF 1 2 3
12 13 14 15
T
Weak sensation
Page 19
Instruments and
controls
Every Saab is easy to drive and is safe on the
road. A good view of the road and the
surroundings, clearly visible instruments,
and controls and levers within casy reach are
factors which contribute to a feeling of con
fidence, Time and again, the motoring press
throughout the world has lavished praise
the safety and design of the instrumentation
and location of controls in the Saab 99
The indicating instruments are circular, non-
reflecting and easy to read. Above, from the
left
A. Combined instrument which includes
@ fuel level and cooling water
temperature, and warning or indicating
lights for oil pressure, alternator, direction
indicators, high beam and handbrake. The
fue! gauge is combined with a warning light
which lights up when che contents of the tank
have fallen to about 1.5 gallons. The brake
warning light will light up if che brake pedal
is depressed too tar during braking, ¢.g. if
one of the brake circuits fails,
pauges for
B. Speedometer, odometer, and trip meter,
C. Large, easy-to-read clock
D, Revolution counter combined with a
clock (exclusive ta the EMS).
The instruments are large and recessed well
’ back into the frames, to avoid reflections in
the glass. The figures and symbols are light
against a black matt background, The
pointers are yellow-orange, a color which
has been found to be most clearly visible
under varying light conditions. The instru-
ments have no bright areas to cause dazzling
reflections, The brightness of the instrument
illumination is continuously variable by
means of a rheostat located to the left of the
steering wheel, In the 99LE, the speedometer
and odometer are located in the center of the
group of instruments, The combined instru-
t with warning and indicating lamps is
located to the left, To the right is a large,
easy-to-read clock.
The EMS has a smaller clock than that in the
LE series. Instead of the clock, an engine
revolution counter is located to the right of
the speedometer, and the revolution counter
includes the clock. A trip meter is standard
equipment on all Saabs.
In cars fitted with automatic transi
he gear lever is located on the center con-
sole. The lever can be set to six positions:
P = Parking position, The lever must be set
in this position to allow the ignition key to be
turned co the locked pasition and removed.
The lever and gearbox will then be locked
R = Reversing position
I Neutral position. No power is trans-
mitted to the driving wheels, and the car is
free ta roll,
D » Drive position. The fever should be set
to this position for all normal driving for
ward. The transmission will change gears
automatically through all ratios,
2 = Drive position with third gear rendered
inoperative.
| = Drive position in bottom gear only, Can
be used on very steep hills and when heavy
engine braking is required,
Switches and controls are designed so that
* inadvertent operation is avoided, They are
grouped on a wood-grained panel below the
dashboard, To the left of the steering wheel
is the main switch for the lights and the
switch for the warning flashers.
To the right of the steering wheel is the
switch for the two-speed ventilation fan, the
cigarette lighter and the seat belt warning
light, In the WagonBack model, the switch
for controlling the electrically heated rear
window defroster is fitted at the center of the
panel. A ereen light is activated when the
heating element is switched on,
All switches and controls are indirectly
illuminated in an ingenious manner. Light is
transmitted through a perspex tube and
through prisms to each point which is to be
illuminated.
The ignition lock is located behind the gear
lever on the console between the seats. It is
combined with a lock for the gear lever, On
standard transmission Saabs,
before the key can be turned to the lack
position, the gear lever must be set in reverse,
The gear lever is then locked by withdrawing
the key, This is an excellent anti-theft
precaution.
A further refinement in connection with the
ignition lock system is the headlight inter-
lock. When the headlights are on, they will
be automatically switched off when the igni-
tion key is turned to the locked position. This
eliminates the risk of discharging the battery
by having forgotten to switch off the lights
The parking lights are unaffected by the
headlights being switched off. The head-
lights will light up again automatically when
the ignition is switched on, if the headlight
switched is still in the ’""ON”’ position,
) A critical situation may require the instant
’ use of the windshield wipers and washer,
This aiso applies to the headlight flasher and
the direction indicator, The levers con-
trolling these various functions are therefore
located within fingertip reach below the
stetring wheel rim. The light control is fitted
on the teft-hand side and the wiper and
washer control on the right-hand side. The
pattern of operation of both levers is based
on simple logic.
Asan example, when the right-hand control
is moved down, all wiper and washer func-
tions will start immediately
The hom is actuated by depressing the strip
on the pad in the center of the steering
wheel
The handbrake should be easy to reach, and
located in a position where it cannot cause
injury in the event of an accident. The front
seat passenger should also be able to use it in
an emergency, This is why the handbrake
lever is located on a console between the
front seats