Saab’s Tour de France ended earlier this week and I’ve just received some very nice images from the final stop in Bayonne.
Let me ask the question before you do – What’s that silver/grey convertible?????
I’ve made enquiries and will let you know what I hear. It looks like on of Leif Mellberg’s custom creations to me. If I hear anything, I’ll let you know.
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The observant ones amongst you would have noticed a rather unusual looking Saab 9000 in some recent photos from the dealership tour in Germany.
Here’s one of them. And what’s that there in the back? A yellow Saab 9000?
A reader from the USA noticed this 9000 and wrote to me asking for some more information about it. I figured it might be good to feature it here on the website.
The car is actually a Saab 9000 converted to be a vehicle transporter. The Saab Museum has a few of these vehicles, converted by a Swedish company. This 9000 was built according to the same plans, but the job began with it’s first owner, a former Saab dealer in Germany.
The car is now owned by Autohaus Lafrentz GmbH, a Saab service partner in Kiel, Germany. I recently received the following information from Markus LaFrentz:
The car is a model year 1988 Saab 9000 CD 2.0Turbo with 163 Hp and a manual transmission. The car had had an accident in the rear end, so it was cut in two pieces and became the ideal candidate for this transporter conversion.
The previous owner nearly finished the car, but then his business came into some trouble and his company went bankrupt. My dad than helped him a little and bought all his cars from stock with the precondition to get the transporter also. He accepted the offer from my dad and we then got all his cars and “his baby”. The car has now driven nearly 180,000km.
In late 2009 we started a restoration job on the car and made some upgrades. The car has now the look of a 1994 CS. We also made the transport area a little wider and we added some nice Hella LED backlights for better visibility. The restoration took us nearly 10 months because it was only done when we had some free time for the repair job. We have had the car since 1993 and we have done a lot of transportation with it.
I don’t really know how long it took to build the car originally, but I think it was a long time and an even more expensive job than the guy first thougt. The biggest problem was to get the approval from the German authorities.
As far as we know, it is the only existing one in Germany.
Click to enlarge any of the images from the gallery below. My thanks to Markus for the background information.
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Top Gear Magazine in the Netherlands is very interested in current stories surrounding Saab. They’re keen to support the company in an hour of need and in a gesture of goodwill, are offering free subscriptions to the Dutch Top Gear magazine to anyone who picks up a new Saab in Holland.
Nice work, gents. A small token that’s much appreciated.
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This week’s must-read, from my personal point of view:
A report in the local Trollhattan newspaper, TTELA, (in Swedish) takes a look at events and reports about Saab in the last few days. I thought it represented things pretty well and I personally can’t wait to welcome Anders Carlsson back to the fold when things work out. His reasoned and honest approach was a welcome one to read.
There’s also a good quote in there about parts, for those who are interested.
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If you’re after some more images from the 2011 Saab Owners Convention, Bob M’s album is available here.
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I’ve been enjoying bits and pieces from the Saabfans weblog recently, which gathers some entertaining videos and tidbits from around the web.
The Sonett dyno video from SOC was fun.
As was this image of a car I wish I’d kept from my childhood. Is it just me, or did everyone have one of these? I used to adore this little model car before I ever knew what a Saab was.
Note: Photo originally taken by Tommi at Saabisti.fi.
And seeing this matchbox car is seen around quite a bit, let’s add an impromptu poll:
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Good reading for those who think Saab ought to be more like Apple (personally, I agree to some degree, but with the overriding belief that we have to redefine what makes Saab, Saab).
So if you really want to be like Apple, drop the fluff- filled vision statements and magical wishes. Pretend your company’s existence is at stake, coldly evaluate the environment, and make choices. Stop thinking of strategy as meaningless verbiage or financial goals and treat it as a serious design challenge.
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The Saab 9-4x was on show in southern Sweden a few weeks ago and if you want an enthusiast’s eye view on how it looks, check out this Saab 9-4x gallery.
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And our final story for today is the Saab-based custom car that’s currently for sale right here in Trollhattan.
The UNO-001 was the only example made from a sports car project back in the 1980s. The goal was to develop and produce a Swedish sports car but the project never got off the ground and UNO-001 passed through a few owners before current owner, Jörgen Scherdin, bought it in 2009 (for just 30,000SEK).
The UNO-001 used a tubeframe body with custom sheetmetal and a Saab engine mounted mid-vehicle for best balance. The car has now been restored and is being offered for sale for the cost of the restoration, around 155,000SEK.
More videos here.
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Yesterday we had some brief notes from IntSaab 2011. Today I have access to my photos, so it’s time for some more elaborate postings…..
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It’s a situation that I hope to rectify soon, for all of us.
This is Simo Lampinen, one of the original Flying Finns. He drove Saabs in rallies throughout the 1960s and 70s with multiple wins and podium finishes in rallies all over Europe. He has spent his retirement from competitive rallying as an administrator and clerk for the WRC circuit (amongst others) and if you’ve not been hit by a car whilst attending a competitive rally stage, you can probably thank Simo for your safety.
Simo did a presentation at IntSaab about Saab rallying and his career with both the Swedish and Finnish Saab rally teams. I missed that presentation as we were still on the road, on our way up to the event. Simo was kind enough to give me a personal encore on Sunday morning and I can’t be more grateful.
Simo has just passed his 68th birthday and still has the energy of a child. He loves a good story and I’m planning to get together with him again to record his story, from his perspective, for sharing here in Inside Saab in the future.
Two of Simo’s competition cars, which are now privately owned, were on display at IntSaab and still get a run regularly.
I can’t let this article pass by without thanking Marco H, who is the man primarily responsible for bringing Simo’s name and career to a higher place in my consciousness. Much appreciated, mate.
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I also learned yet another way that the Saab 900 was ahead of its time – it has an iPhone holder built in……
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The Saab Performance Team did their thing, albeit on a slightly smaller scale, on Saturday. Three shows were held during the afternoon at the Nokian Tyre Warehouse, in Nokia.
Kenneth fielding a question as to why they use cars with an automatic transmission…..
I’ve got a lot of video editing to do, but hopefully we should have something to show from the event in the next few days….
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Most attendees at IntSaab saw the 9-4x for the first time at the Nokian Tyre Warehouse. It was unveiled at the end of the Performance Team show and then parked, and opened for inspection.
We also had it at the IntSaab hotel venue and it attracted people every time the doors (or other parts) were opened…..
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I didn’t see this Saab 96 custom job at the main IntSaab venue, but it showed up at the Nokian Tyre Warehouse on Saturday afternoon.
The car has had its rooline chopped and many of the panels have been fabricated from fibreglass to get the custom look. A Ford V6 engine (the ‘Essex’ V6, if I understood correctly) has been fitted in the car.
It probably won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but for the amount of work and dedication that’s gone into this, and for the superb quality result obtained, you have to respect it. Amazing stuff.
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If you’re lost whilst looking for next year’s IntSaab, which will be at Spa, in Belgium, then just look for the guy in the matte black Saab 96 and do as the sign says…..
The Belgians have hosted some wonderful Saab gatherings in the last few years and IntSaab 2012 will be a cracker, I’m sure.
I’ll be providing more details as soon as the whole package is ready for publication.
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It’s time for our wrap of what happened in the Saabosphere over the last week or so.
Of course, our ongoing situation continues to make the headlines. There are some good services and some not-so-good services for keeping up with that. A few of the good enthusiast sites who cover the news in detail are Life with Saab and Saabs United.
If you want a great single piece of news coverage to show where things are at, then this piece from Go Auto is a very accurate and independent summary piece.
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I’ve heard of the Saab bull-nose era, but the long-nose? And it’s for sale!
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Another interesting tranche of historic Saabs for sale was noted by Saabworld. The collection comprises six vehicles, including a couple of very nice Saab 99 Turbos, a Commemorative Edition Convertible, a custom Saab 96 convertible, and others. All look to be in very good condition.
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Wondering how the Saab 9-4x stacks up physically against it’s GM-built Saab 9-7x SUV segment predecessor?
Wonder no more. Just Saab, a Saab dealer in Ohio, have put the two side-by-side for an album of comparison photos and measurements. It’s quite amazing how well packaged and good looking the 9-4x is compared to it’s brand forebear.
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Saablog-in has a video that I’m surprised hadn’t crossed more radar screens until now.
PlayboyTV took one of their centerfolds up to the Ice Hotel in Kiruna to participate in the Saab Ice Experience. Relax, the vision is safe to watch and it’s a great, non-automotive perspective on just how good an experience it is that Saab and the Ice Hotel have provided in past years.
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Your must-read piece for this week is this review of the Saab 9-5 2.0T from LeftLane News. If you’ve read my own Saab 9-5 reviews on Saabs United a year or so ago, you’ll know that the 2.0T was my personal pick of the bunch. It’s lighter engine and good equipment level make for a fantastic, engaging driving experience. I’m glad LLN seemed to enjoy it just as much.
During our time with the 9-5, we couldn’t help but compare the big Saab to one of its chief rivals, the BMW 528i. It might be powered by the wrong wheels and it might have too many GM bits, but the 9-5 just became the driver’s choice between the two. Where the BMW felt cold and artificial, the 9-5 delighted with its sporty responses and thoughtful touches.
Now if only Saab can find a few more buyers for what might be the best car that nobody’s noticing.
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A very close second in must-read terms is Pierre’s review of the Saab 9-4x over at the Charles River Saab blog.
If you’ve read Pierre’s work before, then you’ll know that he’s a man who doesn’t mince his words. It’s always well worth a look and this brief look over the Saab 9-4x, which just arrived at CRS, is no exception.
Highly recommended.
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It’s always interesting to see what sort of Saab-related oddities are out there in the world.
Last week it was the SaabViper making big waves on the internet – a Saab 9-3 SportCombi with a Dodge Viper engine.
This week, it’s something quite different……
It seems this Jeep CJ5 is the latest Saab mashup to get noticed. The car appeared at the Carlisle Import and Kit Nationals event staged last weekend in Pennsylvania. It’s a big gathering of vehicles from all around the United States and Saab always has a massive presence there.
Visitors to this year’s Carlisle show might have been a bit puzzled when they saw the Jeep parked amongst all the Swedish metal. All was made clear, though, when they looked under the hood.
From a little reading around the web, it seems the owner of the vehicle had a Jeep with no working engine, and a Saab engine laying around without a body. Why not bring them together?
The engine is a 2.3turbo and the Jeep is rear-wheel-drive.
My thanks to Mark M and Jim C for the images. More can be seen over at Thor’s Saabs @ Carlisle pages.
We’ll have more from Saabs @ Carlisle later. It looks like people had a great time there.
It’s time for our weekly round-up of Saab stories that caught our eye this week.
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Back at Easter time, I visited the Bilsport custom car show at Elmia, Jönkoping. At that particular show, I took this particular photograph…..
That’s a Saab 9-3 SportCombi body fitted to the chassis of a Dodge Viper. Of course, it was just one photo amongst many and didn’t grab too much attention.
It seems someone has passed the story of this radical project around, however. It was picked up by Jalopnik early in the week and has spread like wildfire around the internet since then. Those of you with Swedish reading skills (or Google Translate) can also read the Saab 9-3 / Viper V10 build thread.
I’ve recently met one of the guys involved in the project and am hoping to see more of this vehicle’s development in the near future. I know it’s not a “Saab Saab” but there’s something very alluring about the whole thing, isn’t there?
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Whilst we might be indifferent towards the song, this Saab video mashup was most enjoyable.
Kudos to Saablime (and ps…. he’s also done a really cool 99Turbo video that fans of the model will love, too)
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I felt incredibly proud when I read this letter/editorial at Dagens Industri on Friday.
Saab has been analysed by just about every analyst on the planet in the last few months. It was nice to see the company respond with a well-reasoned and inspiring piece of writing.
Those without Swedish skills will need to copy and paste the text into an online translator.
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I linked to Jalopnik earlier in this entry. Here’s another one.
Their Question of the Day today is What’s the most iconic turbocharged car?
They answer it themselves before opening comments for others to contribute. Thankfully, their self-provided answer is the correct one 🙂
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Teknikens Varld is a Swedish technology magazine and they’ve recently published a special magazine all about Saab.
Saabworld has a good overview for those who don’t read Swedish.
The magazine costs only 99SEK and is available from the teknikens website.
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A late addition…..
Ezra Dyer has another enjoyable article over at Automobile Magazine.
He single-handedly explains why many road tests are irrelevant, as well as making up a new saying – “As comfy as a Swede riding shotgun” – based on his experience in a Saab.
I’ve always loved his work. This is a good example as to why.
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The Bilsport Magazine Custom and Performance Motor Show was on at Elmia, in Jönköping, Sweden on the Easter weekend. This is an annual event that attracts huge crowds, with plenty of exciting metal on display for the visitors to peruse.
Brands like Saab typically have enthusiasts at their core. It’s one of the reasons this website exists. Some enthusiasts show their passion for the brand by keeping a car in absolute factory-fresh condition for years on end. Others take a different view, seeking to customise their car to their tastes – whether they be mild or extreme.
The Bilsport show at Elmia tends to cater for the custom car builder, though there are plenty of well-preserved examples of different marques in the ‘Nostalgia’ halls as well.
Saab were well represented in a number of displays, the single most notable of which was a 5-car display by aftermarket tuning company, Maptun. The company’s owner, Fredrik Bengtsson, even had his own new Saab 9-5 on display with custom carbonfibre trim parts that the company is developing.
A Saab 96 V4 historic rally racer was a particular highlight, having been restored to immaculate condition. This car is a now a regular competitor in the Midnight Sun historic rally held here in Sweden.
The Saab 900, below, was restored by a couple of young, 18 year old Swedes. These guys should be very proud of their work as the car showed brilliantly.
There were many more customised Saabs on show at Elmia, including a hybrid combining the body of a Saab 9-3 SportCombi with the running gear of a Dodge Viper!
Please feel free to check out the slideshow, below, or view the images in a larger size at Flickr: Custom Saabs at Elmia 2011.
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Note: Tuning Saabs is a tricky business. Saab have only one official tuning house who can tune your new Saab whilst still maintaining your new vehicle warranty coverage. This tuner is called Hirsch Performance and they are located in St Gallen, Switzerland. Their products are available in many markets where Saabs are sold. Check with your local dealer.
