The Spirit of Saab E-Book

Vaughan Grylls

• Herausgeber: Batsford
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 59

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

An evocative exploration of the iconic Saab brand, with beautiful photography and lively text that shows beyond all doubt why you should want to own one. Saab is a byword for style, performance quality and safety – the cars have a reputation for reliability and solidity, along with classic Scandinavian design that have made them the go-to car of creatives the world over. Although production ceased in 2011, Saabs are still highly sought after by enthusiasts and collectors. This fascinating book outlines all the classic Saab models from 1949's pioneering Ursaab prototype to the last cars to drive off the production line in the early 2010s, including their world-beating rally cars of the 1960s and 70s and the best-selling Saab 900, with glorious vintage photographs and insightful explanation from Saab superfan Vaughan Grylls. The perfect gift for the car nut in your life, whether they've owned a Saab or not, this book sums up everything that's great about this truly classic brand.

Leseprobe

THE SPIRIT OF

SAAB

50 REASONS WHY WE LOVE THEM

THE SPIRIT OF

SAAB

50 REASONS WHY WE LOVE THEM

Vaughan Grylls

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

01. THE SAAB IMAGE

02. THE COOL TEST

03. LOOK AT ME!

04. CUSTOM SAAB

05. STRANGE … EVEN FOR SAAB

06. THE RIGHT BACKDROP

07. DISSING SAAB

08. GO COMPARE

09. SAFE AND SPEEDY SAAB

10. PARKED SAAB

11. BODY-BUILDING

12. HOLD THAT ROAD

13. BREAKDOWN

14. DEPRECIATION

15. WHO WANTS ROAR?

16. SAAB HOT AND COLD

17. AUTO OR STICKSHIFT?

18. TURBO? DEFINITELY!

19. WHICH COLOUR?

20. SAAB HIS AND HERS

21. PARTS … ANYWHERE?

23. I LEFT IT IN THE CAR …

24. GREAT WHEELS!

25. ALL-WEATHER STABILITY

26. FRONT

27. SIDE

28. REAR

29. TOP

30. THE SAAB EMBLEM

31. THE ‘SAAB’ SPECIAL-EDITION BADGES

32. THE RADIATOR

33. THE DASHBOARD

34. FLYING HIGH

35. FUEL CAP COOL

36. WHIPLASH CRACKED

37. HOT BOTTOM

38. SAAB ENGINES

39. THE TRUNK (OR THE BOOT)

40. THE HOOD (OR THE BONNET)

41. HANDLES

42. SAAB PERMUTATIONS

43. TROLLHÄTTAN

44. TURBO SHADES

45. SAAB IN AMERICA

46. RALLYING FOR SAAB

47. I LOVE THESE

48. THE SAAB CAR MUSEUM

49. SHOULD YOU BUY ONE?

50. THE LAST EVER

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

INDEX

INTRODUCTION

The Spirit of Saab

This is not a technical book. It is about the spirit of Saab, a stylish car manufacturer, now sadly out of business for over a decade.

Saab was never a large company. It was set up by Svenska Aeroplan AB, or Swedish Aeroplane Corporation, at the end of the Second World War, as a commercial diversification when it was clear that the market for military airplanes was in serious decline.

By 1949 the company’s first motor car rolled off the production line – the curiously designed Saab 92, although it wasn’t as unusual as its prototype, the Ursaab, which certainly looked like the offspring of an airplane company. If wings had been added, it could have taken off.

The sleek Ursaab sported elegant covers over its wheel arches. Unfortunately, they jammed with ice in the winter. You would have thought Swedish airplane designers would have thought of that – or maybe not, since planes usually land on ice-free runways.

In 1969 Svenska Aeroplan became Saab-Scania when it merged with Scania-Vabis, the Swedish bus and lorry manufacturer. Twenty-one years later, Saab-Scania separated its car division into an independent company, obliging the carmakers to fend for themselves. On the face of it, this was a strange decision, as the best-selling 900 Turbo had come to define the carmaker’s worldwide image. Yet even the 900 models failed to make enough money to reinvest in extensive research and development to match that of its rivals – status manufacturers such as Audi, BMW and Mercedes. Margins had been kept low at Saab in order to allow the model to compete with these marques, who always had the advantage of volume to control costs.

The Ursaab prototype, 1947.

A Saab brochure from 1964.

So how could a worthy successor to the 900 be developed? Not by the parent company, which had been underwriting the carmakers from the beginning. Saab Cars had continually struggled to survive on its own. In the 1980s, a deal was done with the Fiat conglomerate to design a luxury Eurocar, the new Saab 9000-cum-Alfa 164/Fiat Croma/Lancia Thema. It was an uneasy relationship. Saab upgraded their version mainly on safety grounds, citing the Fiat offerings as being far too flimsy in a collision to carry the Saab badge. In doing so they eroded any profit margin.

In 1989, General Motors (GM) stepped in and bought a 50 per cent holding for $600 million. GM were an odd partner, yet the only one willing and able to risk such serious money. But over the next decade Saab still didn’t turn a respectable profit. GM had to decide either to walk away or take 100 per cent ownership, as they were entitled to do under the terms of the deal. They decided to buy the whole company.

Since their original investment, GM had been attempting to cut costs by using GM platforms, such as the Opel Calibra and Vauxhall Cavalier. As had happened with Fiat, Saab designers were sniffy, subverting the cost savings by putting in their own enhancements.

That was to be expected. Saab’s designers had never had the approach of price-point first. They were dedicated designers, trying desperately to hang on to those things that made a Saab a Saab. Their approach was more like that of a tiny, bespoke car manufacturer, such as Aston Martin, Bristol or Jensen – hand-made cars designed and built, regardless of cost, for the rich and discerning. The problem was that Saab was now a mass manufacturer competing in a world market.

GM put their foot down. To make any money at all, Saab must become a fully fledged GM division with an upmarket badge if it was to survive.

In doing so, GM deliberately ignored Saab’s long-established target market – those who bought Saabs because they were original and idiosyncratic, for that was how traditional Saab buyers saw themselves.

Even though these new GM-inspired Saabs were easier to drive and – whisper it – more modern, this actually made them less desirable for these educated, discerning Saabists who were motivated in life by vocation ahead of financial security and ease of life. Here were the architects and media types, scientists and engineers, pilots and publishers. The problem for GM was that, even lumped together, there were just not enough of them in the world to support a volume car maker such as Saab in an increasingly competitive world market.

Saab had to join the mainstream. And that begged a question. Even though Saab was producing some brilliant cars such as the 9-5, would there be enough of the non-Saabists, the main-streamers, willing to buy a Saab when they could have a BMW for the same price?

The answer was depressingly obvious.

GM gave up. They tried to sell the brand to Spyker, NEVS (National Electric Vehicles Sweden) and even Koenigsegg. Spyker took an interest, but that was short-lived. NEVS finally bought the factory. And so, one extremely sad day in 2011, Saab folded. Rather like the smile on the face of the Cheshire cat, only the cheerful Saab Museum remains at Trollhättan. Should you ever be in Sweden, do visit. Here you will find examples of all the cars Saab ever designed.

Saabs are wonderful because their best models blend Swedish design engineering with the soul of a classic Italian car. Who else has done that? Original, sometimes eccentric, yet always thoroughly thought through, the Saab spirit has made a unique contribution to the development of the motor car.

And here are 50 reasons why we love them …

01

THE SAAB IMAGE

From the very beginning, Saab meant Cool.

Why was a Saab cool? Well, for one thing, a Saab was sexy without being sexist at a time when most motors were macho.