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growing coterie of enthusiastic owners took every chance to demonstrate this. A
disproportionate number of those early Saabs seemed afflicted with racing stripes.
Saab’s dealer network was small, however, and by 1958, a serious problem with
the U.S. cars had become apparent. Without premixed fuel, mixing problems with
the oil and gas were accounting for too frequent engine failure. Saab was faced with
so many breakdowns that a rebuild center was opened at its headquarters—now in
Hingham, Massachussetts. The company was liberal with its warranty claims
though and survived the worst of the crisis until an oil which better mixed with gas
was developed and sold as Saab Oil through dealers.
Back in Sweden, Rolf Mellde was diligently working away at improving the 93’s
performance and in 1958, Saab was ready to introduce the first of its hotter models,
the 750 GT. Essentially a racing/rally car in street guise, the $2600 GT with its
supremely comfortable reclining seats, Halda speed pilot, wooden steering wheel
and throaty exhaust, proved a shock to road testers.
“‘Itis difficult to explain how so much performance can be obtained from % liter,”’
wrote Road and Track in May 1958. *‘But the fact is that. . . this car is faster than
several highly respected 1500 and 1600 cc machines and nearly as fast as one of the
more popular two liter sports cars.’’ The little sedan reached 60 mph in 12.0
seconds with its special tuning kit (different exhaust and carburetor) and the road
testers estimated its top speed as ‘‘awfully close to 100 mph.”
The advent of the GT began a sort of two-model policy at Saab for when the 96
version was introduced in 1960 —with a larger 841 cc 42 hp engine, revised rear
end styling with increased luggage space, flow-through ventilation, and new
instruments—a more powerful version soon joined it. By then, a station wagon
—the 95—had also been introduced (in 1959), rather novel in that it could carry
2000 pounds, more than most of its competitors, and also incorporated a rear
window spoiler, a partially successful and much-copied effort to keep that window
free of road grime.
The 96 continued Saab’s careful efforts to build a truly safe car. Like the 93, it
Saab’s first production sports car, left, the two-stroke 1966 Sonett II. The V-4 was shoehorned in to create the Sonett V-4: above right is a 1969 model.
had rollbar-like reinforcements in its roof pillars (a Saab ad once depicted a 96
tumbling down a ski slope only to be calmly started and driven away), crushable
energy absorbing front and rear body sections, an easily deformable instrument
panel and pop-out windshield. Long before it became a U.S. government requir-
ment, Saab introduced a dual brake system in 1964. Even this received some
ingenious thought when compared to the vast majority of such systems which
would follow some six years later. Saab’s brake system was of a diagonal design.
That is, one would be left with either left front and right rear or vice versa rather
than simply front or rear brakes. Thus, the Saab could stop faster and straighter
than, say, a car with its back brakes only. Saab also pioneered shoulder seat belts
which are quick and comfortable to use and unrivalled by anything from Detroit.
(Seatbelt use is now law in Sweden and fatalities have been reduced without
resorting to the expensive and wasteful foolishness of ESV vehicles or airbags.)
Since Saab sales have increased steadily, one can only conclude that contrary to
what manufacturers in this country believe, a safe car can still be appealing.
As Saab moved into the early Sixties, the company used its new 96 model and
the talents of an enormously gifted young driver to mount a concerted rally cam-
paign. That driver, of course, was Erik Carlsson—a fearless rallyist who possessed
the peculiar ability to drive cars sideways on glare ice just as fast as straight ahead
on dry roads—and he soon became an invaluable public relations asset to Saab. A
friendly colorful man who once described Swedish mosquitoes as being *‘as big as
Russian helicopters,’’ Carlsson’s sometimes overexuberant driving style soon
earned him the nickname Carlsson on the Roof as Erik routinely took advantage of
his car's sturdy build.
For three straight years, 1960, 1961, and 1962, Carlsson and his howling red
Saab won the RAC Rally, a display which made Saab a viable car on the British
market where its popularity and sporting reputation continue today. (Saab narrowly
missed winning the RAC again last year—they had won overall in 1968 and
1971—finishing second after a tlemendous come-from-behind effort by Blomqvist
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who finished ahead of a Lancia Stratos among others.)
But it was Carlsson’s back-to-back overall wins in the Monte Carlo
Rally—1962, 1963—which were, perhaps, even more significant. Rather to the
dismay of some more traditional enthusiasts, Carlsson’s Monte wins proved that an
unpretentious relatively tiny car can be more than a match for the very fastest
sedans and sports cars. In 1962, Erik's time over the rally’s special stages was five
seconds faster than that of second-place finisher Bohringer in his 220 SE
Mercedes-Benz. Carlsson maintained his lead during the final day’s race through
Monte Carlo to score his win.
The story was much the same in 1963 except that the competition was even
tougher as Ford, anxious to score a victory in the Monte, spent considerable sums
of money to field a team of specially-equipped Falcons. The fact that Bo
Ljungfelt’s Falcon was fastest over the rally’s special stages—though not fast
enough to overcome his handicap based on the Ford's hefty displacement and thus
win the rally itself—prompted so much Ford advertising that Saab (seldom an
innovator in its promotion) was forced to ask in its ads, ‘Who Really Won?”’ Still
Carlsson and navigator Gunnar Palm had beaten a team of seven Fords, among
others. A year later when Erik placed third in the Monte, his wife Pat Moss—an
equestrian and driver of great talent—finished fifth in her Saab and was presented
the Ladies Cup by Prince Rainier and Princess Grace.
Erik Carlsson’s other rally wins are too numerous to list here. Perhaps his
greatest disappointments were hitting an anteater and thus losing the 1963 East
African Safari while leading and the troubles which plagued him during the 1969
and 1970 Mexican 1000. Erik was forced out both years, once when he suffered
broken driveshafts and later when he became stuck in sand. (Another Saab driven
by California dealer Ingvar Lindqvist won the passenger car class both those years.)
With the rally successes of the early Sixties, Saab changed the name of its GT
models exported to the U.S. In 1964—a year Saab reached a new sales high of
29,000 cars in Sweden—the hotter version of the 96 was labelled the Monte Carlo
and this $2800 car was probably the most exciting Saab sedan exported to the U.S.
Boasting the interior refinements of earlier GT models, the Monte Carlo was the
first Saab equipped with an oil-injected engine. The powerplant’s oil reservoir
needed filling every 1500 miles and ended the necessity of adding oil each time the
tank was replenished. The Monte Carlo engine—fitted with a special crankshaft
with larger webs to increase crankcase compression, modified porting and three
downdraft Solex carburetors—developed 57 hp, one horsepower for each cubic
inch. The powerplant now drove through a four-speed gearbox and the car was
fitted with front disc brakes and radial tires tandard equipment.
The deep yowl of a well-tuned Monte Carlo accelerating hard did nothing to
lessen the enthusiasm of Saab buffs who if never a very sizeable chunk of the sports
car scene were certainly among its most devoted. It would be fair to say that Saab
drivers have never been overimpressed with high horsepower figures or high style
and that for them, the Monte Carlo represented a sort of ultimate. Incidentally, the
snub-nosed 96 and Monte Carlos were perhaps the best-handling of all Saab sedans,
The car’s feel changed minutely in 1965 when the front end was lengthened and
changed greatly when a major revision was made in 1967.
The Monte Carlo shared one mechanical feature with its predecessors that has
been frequently criticized by motoring journalists and added another problem
largely its own. Like all Saabs until the 99, the Monte Carlo had a column-mounted
shifter and many sporting drivers would have preferrred a floor shift. To be fair
though, the linkage was, and is, very short of throw if a bit notchy and, on earlier
cars, prone to irritating vibrations. Why Saab in all these years has never installed a
floor shift has been disappointing and perplexing though it seems to have been a
matter of economics.
The Monte Carlo's other problem—found to a lesser extent in the milder single
carburetor 96—was more troubling. The car had a voracious appetite for spark
plugs and not only was plug life a relatively short 3000 to 6000 miles but the plugs
were prone to fouling, especially in city driving. Plug fouling was made more acute
by any other weakness in the engine, a ked distributor cap, faulty plug lead, or
carbon-filled rear muffler. The problem inspired considerable ingenuity on the part
of drivers—who learned to change a plug in perhaps two minutes—and dealers,
who often installed capacitor discharge ignition systems, and finally Bosch. The
German company eventually developed a platinum-tipped spark plug, its electrode
largely protected by a shield. It can be pretty safely stated that the harder one drove
his Saab, the less fouling occurred. It can also be safely stated that plug fouling
eventually accounted for many engine failures as mechanics untrained in the ways
of two-stroke fault-finding often attempted to cure the problem by simply installing
hotter plugs. The predictable result was a holed piston or seized engine. An insensi-
tive Pennsylvania Pontiac dealer who also sold Saabs once told me he'd seldom
seen a Saab last for more than 10,000 miles. Like all too many U.S. dealers, he had
never bothered to really learn about the product he was selling. A well-maintained
two-stroke was probably at least as long-lived as any other small sedan and engine
rebuilds or replacements were also relatively inexpensive—$200 on an exchange
basis
Saab sales in the U.S. began at some 1500 cars per year in 1956 and 1957 and
rose to 4600 by 1960 when Saabs were being sold in the south (with louvered hoods
to improve cooling) as well as New England. In 1960 Saab moved its U.S. head-
quarters to New Haven, Connecticut as sales continued a slow but steady climb and
reached close to 7000 in 1966 when Saab expanded its dealer network to include
With a matte-black hood to reduce glare and an exhaust system mounted out of harm's way along the roof, a Saab 96 won the passenger car class at Baja twice.
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Oregon and Washington.
Though the U.S. market appeared fairly strong, Ralph Millet was by then
pushing hard for oil injection as standard equipment on all Saabs knowing this
would make the car more saleable. If comparatively expensive to produce because
of the more delicate casting required by the engine’s oil feed lines, an oil injected
96 was at last offered in 1967 at which time the car also received three carburetors
as well. The Monte Carlo retained a substantial horsepower advantage over the 96
though, 60 hp to 46. But even the 96 was capable of silent easy cruising at 70 mph.
In Sweden during 1966, however, sales were not going well for Saab. There the
market had dwindled drastically from 26,000 cars in 1965 to 19,000 in 1966 and
though Ljungstrém, Mellde and other engineers had been experimenting with a
variety of new higher power two-stroke engines—including a lovely six-cylinder
version and one with both oil and fuel injection—it seemed clear that the time had
finally come for a change to a more conventional powerplant. In 1966 Mellde
hinted to Ralph Millet that such a change might soon occur but officially Saab was
still firmly committed to the two-stroke and had even developed a special oil
concentrate designed to reduce smoking and emissions.
Meanwhile both Ljungstrim and Mellde were casting about for a likely engine
alternative and Ljungstréim wrote Lancia about the possibility of using their V-4.
Lancia wanted a more more formal overture, however, from company officers and
the matter ended there. But Mellde had better luck when he opened negotiations
with Ford of Germany about possible purchase of their V-4.
Ford and Saab had first cooperated when Ford—intrigued by the novel 93 with
its clever use of space—had purchased some twenty cars for study as it began the
abortive Cardinal project in 1962. Now Mellde acquired some of the V-4
engines—eventually used by Ford in the bland Taunus—for testing. Though the
powerplant had actually proved rather troublesome for Ford, Mellde solved any
difficulties on an elaborate engine test bench he developed.
In the spring of 1967, after much soul-searching and debate, the decision was
made to purchase quantities of the V-4—with Mellde’s improvements—from Ford
for use in the 96.
“This was a dramatic time at Saab,’’ PR director Hans Térnqvist told me.
“*Sales were dropping and it was absolutely necessary not to let people know of the
impending change or sales would drop even more.” Térnqvist and his associate
Sten Wennlo finalized plans for V-4 spare parts and special tools on their own,
aboard a boat cruising in the Swedish archipelago. The secrecy paid off for when
the 96 V-4 was introduced in 1967, it was a bombshell surprise. Hardcore Saab
enthusiasts may have been shocked and dismayed but the engine saved the Saab car
division. In Sweden during 1967, 24,000 V-4’s were sold compared to 500 two-
strokes. By contrast, 6800 two-strokes were sold in the U.S. that year along with
3500 V-4’s.
Nineteen sixty-eight marked the last two-stroke Saab model. Reduced to 817 cc
displacement to skirt emissions laws which began with engines displacing more
than 825 cc, this final two-stroke was dubbed The Shrike by J.L. Mathis, then
Saab’s U.S. ad agency. Since Shrikes are birds which survive largely by eating
beetles, the name’s derivation— perhaps based on Saab drivers’ longstanding scorn
for VW's—is obvious. Besides a new name, the car offered something that remains
unique in terms of automotive warranties. A Shrike buyer could get a lifetime
engine guarantee.
With the addition of the V-4 engine, the Saab 96 suddenly became a much more
conventional car and appealed to a wider segment of the marketplace. In fact the
engine looked like it had been designed for the 96, fitting in perfectly where the
two-stroke had formerly resided. A substantial gain in power and torque was
evident, the 1498 cc V-4 delivering 73 hp at 4200 rpm and 85 Ib/ft of torque. Don’t
let the figures fool you though: the V-4 was little if any faster than a Monte Carlo.
There really is something to that old D.K.W. ad claim for its three-cylinder two-
stroke: “*3 = 6.""
But the point was, as far as Saab was concerned, that the new car did everything
with no fussiness, fouled plugs, drama, or oil mixing. Those first V-4’s easily
averaged over 32 mpg and the engine's durability and low oil consumption became
so well known that hapless German Ford salesmen in Sweden began pointing to
their Taunus as the Ford with the Saab engine. Besides all these benefits, the V-4
would also prove very clean and when tougher U.S. emissions laws were effected
during the early Seventies, it was able to meet them with merely a displacement
increase to 1700 cc, lowered compression, and modified carburetor jets and igni-
tion timing.
Gunnar Ljungstrém was pleased with the engine and glad it was the one chosen.
‘I don’t think the Lancia would have been as durable or inexpensive,’’ he told me.
Though Ljungstrém remains interested in two-stroke engines and has many ideas
for highly sophisticated versions, he had no regrets when Saab dropped the two-
stroke.
If the new engine made Saab a far more viable force in the general market (by
1970 22,000 were sold in Sweden in addition to 12,700 99's), what did it offer the
enthusiast? Here there was a problem. The engine added about a hundred pounds
weight to the car’s front and though this increased traction in snow, it also added
undesireable understeer and the suspension was not adequately beefed up to counter
this. Over the yumps where the two-stroke had happily gone airborne, landed and
continued, the V-4 bottomed its suspension with an awful clunk and wallowed. On
twisty bumpy roads, there was no way it could keep up with a two-stroke. The
engine’s greater weight had an additional unexpected effect: after a year or two, the
front springs of those first V-4’s began to sag under their additional burden, a
problem Saab quickly rectified.
Introduction of the V-4 also marked the end of the Monte Carlo model. Although
a few hundred V-4 Monte Carlos were built in 1967, they had only the more
expensive car's plush interior, no engine refinements at all. Thus Saab left the
sports sedan market and although a catalogue full of competition parts was availa-
ble in Sweden, these bits were always hard—eventually impossible—to obtain in
the U.S. Once fairly common fixtures at eastern hillclimbs, rallies, autocrosses and
even some track races, Saabs have become rare if not extinct in most U.S. motor-
sports except ice racing. (During the early Sixties an effort was made to establish a
Formula S class based on Saab components. Though the cars were interesting, there
was no hope of their rivalling the already wide-spread Formula V and the class
died.)
In Sweden the story is different. There rallying enjoys the popularity of, say,
football in the U.S., is televised on the evening news and participated in on an
amateur level by many Swedes. This Scandinavian sport has no real U.S. equiva-
lent, the rallies’ special stages arranged on narrow twisting dirt roads that snake
their ways through the dark Swedish forests. Once covered with ice and snow,
these roads might be safely negotiated at some 20 mph by the average driver. The
Saab rally boys—using freewheeling and braking with their left foot while keeping
The 1972 Saab 96 V-4 with see-through headrests, draft-reducing windows and wheels designed to radiate dirt away from brake discs. Owner: Stan Grayson.
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the revs up with their right to break the tail loose—happily clock off 95 mph and
better. There are nearly 4000 licensed Saab rallyists in Sweden alone and Saab
contributes some $15,000 annually as prize money for them.
Each year the Saab competition department under the cool and methodical lead-
ership of Bo Hellberg and Bo Swaner meticulously prepares six to eight orange
V-4's taken straight off the assembly line. Chassis modifications are straightfor-
ward: an engine sump guard, interior roll cage, quick action jacks, leather hood
strap, aluminum wheels, stiffer springs, Bilstein gas-filled shocks and competiton
brake pads. It is the engine which receives more dramatic treatment. Fitted with
forged pistons that increase the V-4's compression ratio from 8:1 to 11:1, larger
valves, oil cooler and an impressive pair of double choke Weber carburetors, the
engine’s output has been raised to 170 hp. The added power necessitated a beefier
gearbox with revised ratios and a limited slip differential.
The latest rally cars have proven quicker in the mid-speed ranges than even some
of their Porsche and other more modern rivals. ‘‘It never fails to surprise,’’ wrote
Motor Sport after Blomqvist’s near win in the 1974 RAC, *‘how anyone can drive
a... Saab with its relatively old-fashioned design and the V-4 engine which Ford
decided should be phased out, so incredibly fast, often quicker than more sophisti-
cated cars of higher power.’ A look at the Saab competition department and a
quick ride with Blomqvist would, however, convince the most skeptical.
Withal, Saab spends relatively little on its competition program when compared
to other manufacturers and is dedicated to entering cars which the public can buy.
(Some eight fully-equipped cars were sold last year for about $10,000 each in
addition to other partially-modified 96's.) Hellberg feels that machines like the
Lancia Stratos and Renault Alpine do not meet the spirit of rallying, being primarily
very expensive pseudo racing cars not generally available to the public.
Saab participates in rallying today both for public relations purposes and as a
means of testing cars and has been successful on both counts. It has limited its
rallying in the last few years to mainly Scandinavian events or those like the RAC
which stress rough conditions rather than open road racing. The factory enters two
cars—one for Blomqvist, the other for Per Eklund—and each is serviced by
mechanics whose legendary efficiency has become a great show for spectators.
The Saab 96 continued to be sold in the U.S. until 1973 although there had been
little or no advertising for the car since 1970 when new Saab executives took over
in Connecticut and—to the chagrin of Saab enthusiasts—decided to ignore the 96
and concentrate on the more profitable 99, of which more later. By the time the 96
ceased to be imported here, it had reached a state of development seldom achieved
in any car and provides its owners with an entertaining robust vehicle of relative
simplicity. Saab cited the cost of further cleaning up the V-4 as the reason for the
96's disappearance from the U.S. market though this seems a rather weak excuse as
today’s overall economic conditions would seem to make the car more attractive
than ever. As the 96 remains popular in Scandinavia, it may be only the cost of
constructing the car which finally ends its production cycle. It wasn’t designed for
mass production in quite the same terms as the 99—those three old presses bought
from Clearing are still in use—and requires more handwork and costs proportion-
ally more to build than the newer car.
The 96's fiberglass-bodied two-seat derivative, the Saab 97 or Sonett continued
to be sold in the U.S. through 1974. (Contrary to what you may have thought, Saab
did not misspell the name of a fourteen-line poem in choosing the 97's appellation.
In Swedish, Sonett means *‘so neat’’ though Saab has overlooked explaining this to
Last of the line, the 1974 Coggiola-styled Sonett III with five-mile-per-hour bumpers and cast wheels. This example is owned by George D. Linton.
the very U.S. buyers at whom the car was primarily directed.) Although a two-seat
version of the 96 seemed like a natural to many Saab enthusiasts, the idea never
received much enthusiasm at the works. As early as 1956 though, Saab did consider
the idea, and Rolf Mellde then designed a two-seater based on the 93’s compo-
nents. Capable of 110 mph, the little car—of which ten were built—became the
first in a series of prototypes as Saab moved ever so hesitantly towards production
of a sports car, a style which has never been an important factor in the Swedish
market.
In 1965, under mounting pressure from American dealers, Saab executives asked
both Sixten Sason and independent designer Bjorn Karlstr6m to come up with
possible sports cars, the earlier Mellde Sonett outdated. The sober Gunnar Ljung-
strom considered the whole idea folly, termed its eventual result ‘‘useless, expen-
sive and foolish’’ and asked to be relieved of any association with the project-
—which he was. Sason’s Sonett design used many 96 chassis parts as well as the 96
windshield and was less extreme than Karlstrom’s tiny fast-back design. It was this
latter car which was chosen for production.
In early 1967, the Sonett Il was introduced at the New York auto show. The
unveiling was premature for it would be several frustrating months before Saab
dealers would be able to get any cars to sell.
Initially powered by a Monte Carlo two-stroke engine tuned for 66 hp with three
sidedraft carburetors (to fit beneath its low hood) and weighing but 1562 pounds,
the Sonett II was an exciting relatively clean-lined car. Even more nimble than the
sure-footed sedan and with its thinly padded fiberglass seats offering a reclining
driving position, it was fast and immensely rewarding to drive. Only the shift lever,
still on the column, marred this tiny roll bar-equipped sports car, for the linkage
was poor unlike the sedan’s. A relatively few Sonett II's were built —costing
$3450 each—when the V-4 was shoehorned in under an awkward hood bubble
towards the end of 1967. Now called the Sonett V-4, the car of course gained
weight and its handling suffered.
Unfortunately the V-4 Sonett was never offered with increased power over the
96, the sole engine modification being stiffer valve springs. Thus, instead of
becoming a real competitor for higher powered sports cars and a force in SCCA
racing, the Sonett was largely relegated to the status of an enjoyable toy. The rather
unfortunate amateurish appearance of the early V-4 versions drew so much criti-
cism that in 1970, Saab introduced the Sonett III with a body redesigned by Sergio
Coggiola. This model was a huge improvement in terms of styling and with retract-
able headlights and the same high quality fiberglass work that characterized all
Sonetts, immediately attracted favorable comment. It even had a fairly pleasant
floor shift. The Sonett III was built in limited quantities for four years—some 2000
per year—and is a thoroughly enjoyable economical little GT with ample luggage
space beneath its lift-up rear window. If only Saab had built it sooner and gone
farther...
With both the Sonett and 96 off the U.S. market as of 1975 (the Sonett succumb-
ing to the same reasoning that ended the 96’s importation), Saab is left with its
larger more expensive car, the 99. First shown to the public in 1967—though
Swedish journalists had been trying for months to scoop the company, one reporter
even attempting to climb a factory fence and sneak a look when he was caught by
police—the 99 is the new generation Saab intended to carry the company at least
through the Seventies.
Work on the 99 was well under way by the early Sixties and the project ulti-
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mately consumed some 400,000 man hours of development work. Again Sixten
Sason was a catalyst. *‘It was Sason’s initiative originally to show sketches for a
new car,”’ recalled Ljungstrom who viewed the idea as a way to begin anew and
work in features he’d been unable to use on earlier cars. ‘‘I’ve been known as
always being unsatisfied," he told me. **But I must say that it was a tremendous
satisfaction to work on the team that did the 99."°
That team, which included a gifted young designer named Bjorn Enwall who is
today head of Saab’s styling center, based the new car on many of the same
premises which had guided the 96's development. These included good handling,
safety and economy. Tragically, Enwall’s mentor and the man who contributed so
much to the 99 did not live to see the first car completed. Sixten Sason died seven
months before the car’s first showing.
Although Rolf Mellde was very interested in the possibility of using Wankel
power for the new car (the 99 was initially code-named Gudmund for it was on
Gudmund’s Day, April 2nd, 1964—in Sweden each day has a name—that the
decision to produce a new model was made), the decision was eventually made to
use a modern four-stroke instead. Tryggve Holm discussed the engine with Ricardo
in England and contracted with the British firm for several prototypes—ohc in-line
four-cylinder units of 1.5 to 1.8 liters. By 1965, the first of these was being tested
in a camouflaged 99, a pregnant-looking gray 96 all the dimensions of which had
been increased to incorporate the larger car's running gear.
As other prototype engines were built for testing, Saab and Mellde became
deeply involved in the engine's development. The Swedes frankly found their own
standards higher than those of their English collaborators and pushed for reduced
oil consumption and four hundred hour intervals between valve adjustments. Both
goals were achieved. The Saab 99's engine has been continually improved by Saab
development engineers and today can meet even the 1975 California emissions
requirements without resorting to a catalytic converter.
It was during a meeting with British Leyland’s Lord Stokes that Trygeve Holm
learned Triumph was then planning an engine similar to Saab’s. As Triumph had
ample facilities to build such engines and Saab had nearly completed development
of a powerplant that suited Triumph’s requirements, a decision was made to coop-
erate. The Saab-designed engine now powers both the Triumph Dolomite and the
new TR-7 though the Triumph-built engines differ in both displacement and detail
from those used and built by Saab.
Saab's new model was introduced for sale in November 1969, a 1.7 liter 87 hp
car of 2500 pounds. Like previous Saabs, the 99's styling emphasized
aerodynamics—the drag coefficient was a low 0.37—and it epitomized the modern
design concept of great interior room with modest exterior dimensions, an idea
which is perhaps only beginning to lose revolutionary connotations in Detroit.
Again like its predecessors, the 99°s shape stresses function not styling and all
Saabs have been designed with a philosophy similar to that once expressed by Sir
Alec Issigonis. **Styling,’’ said the Mini's architect, ‘tis designing for obsoles-
cence."’ The 99 remains a pleasant looking still unique car seven years after its
introduction and should remain so for some time to come.
Like any new car, the 99 was not without its share of troubles during its early
years. A bad batch of glass from a supplier was responsible for many breakages
when the doors were slammed with the windows down. Transmission failure both
with the manual and three-speed Borg-Warner automatic—the latter transmission’s
problems caused by dirt in the oil passages—also took its toll. Then too it was only
with the switch to mechanical rather than electronic fuel injection that problems
with the ‘black box’’ have been eliminated.
Today, however, the 99 stands as one of the most desirable cars in the mid-
priced sedan class. Much of the earlier version's understeer has been eliminated and
power increases—as high as 110 hp—make the 99 enjoyable to drive. Even the
more modestly-powered models were capable 90 mph tourers though and like all
99's, very comfortable. Fitted with generously proportioned four wheel disc
brakes, the 99 offers a well-balanced package that was named Sweden's car of the
year in 1972, a year when it became the first non-British car to win Great Britain's
prestigious award for auto safety, the Don Safety Trophy.
The 99 shares with the 96 Saab’s latest efforts in the auto safety field. Saab
pioneered a heated driver's seat—fully automatic and thermostatically controlled to
operate when the temperature falls below fifty-seven degrees—and whatever the
medical benefits Saab attributes to not sitting on a cold surface, the sensations
produced by the device can best be described as simply...fun. Saab also invented a
system of headlight cleaning that includes both a washer and wiper blade for each
light. Thanks to benighted U.S. lighting laws which disallowed all rectangular
headlights until 1975, this obviously advantageous feature has so far been illegal
here. Both the headlight wipers and heated seat have already been copied by Saab’s
competitors in Europe.
If Saab was the first automaker with heated seats and headlight wipers, the little
company also developed the very first bumpers capable of meeting U.S. five mile
per hour crash requirements. Of plastic cellular block construction, the bumpers
are simple and effective, decent looking and doubtless lighter than their metal
counterparts.
While Saab has continually striven for innovation in its cars, it has also worked
hard to develop new ideas and methods for use in car building. Saab was the first
company to introduce group assembly—at its Sdertiilje engine plant where it has
been building the 99 engine since 1971—an effort to reduce the assembly line
worker's boredom. At Saab, small groups of workers proceed at their own pace,
rotating job tasks as they like. The idea has proved successful and in the demanding
Swedish labor market where employers must vie for workers’ loyalty, the concept
has already been taken up by Volvo. Overall quality at Saab today—if not so high
as in earlier years when production was much lower— probably ranks with the best
in the industry. Every Saab car is tested on a chassis dynamometer before leaving
the factory.
Today Saab has grown from the isolated little car maker it was twenty-five years
ago. It is now part of a much larger organization—after a merger with Scania-
Vabis, a Swedish car and truck builder founded in 1897— called Saab-Scania.
Sweden's fifth largest company, Saab-Scania employs some 35,000 people in five
divisions: aerospace, automotive, Datasaab (computers), Nordarmatur (valves) and
trucks. Scania trucks are now marketed in fifty countries and the latest Saab fighter
plane, the Viggen, became the largest industrial effort ever undertaken in Sweden.
Through it all Saab cars have maintained the unique qualities which have long
been their appeal. In continuing the design philosophy which sets it apart, Saab has
adhered to a longstanding belief of Gunnar Ljungstriim’s, who is today a full-time
consultant to the passenger car division. **I've always felt a small company should
offer something different, something better,” he told me. ‘I think it would be
faulty policy to do otherwise."* Saab’s first quarter century has proved the wisdom
of such thinking. @
The 1974 Saab EMS, a two-liter fuel injected sports sedan offered in distinctive silver paint. This example is owned by Richard Smith.
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One Dollar
SMM
SAAB-SCANIA OF AMERICA, INC.
SAAB Drive, P.O. Box 697, Orange, Conn. 06477