Saab History

The Saab Ice Experience is a once-in-a-lifetime adventure, and it sure looks exciting!

For more information on the Saab Ice Experience 2007 and to sign up, visit http://www.saabusa.com/saabjsp/iceexperience/index.jsp

Here is a recent promotional video, and there will be photos coming shortly. Enjoy!

The original of SAAB using the numerical nomenclature 9, is that this number was an indication that the project was a non-military, but a civilian project.

The SAAB Scandia 90 (pictured above) was the first civilian project, followed by the SAAB Safir 91, then finally the automobile being SAAB 92001 in 1946, and the beginning of production models with the SAAB 92. Here is a list of all of the the projects from the beginning until the present.

For more information about these models, please visit our “Saab designs by model number” reference list.

90 SCANDIA
91 Safir (Aircraft)
92001
92
93
94 Sonett I
95
96
97 Sonett II & III
98 Prototype
99
90
900
9000
9-5
9-3
9-X
9-2X
9-3X
9-4X
9-6X (cancelled)
9-7X

In 1944, believe it or not, Saab made a number of boats too, 250 in fact.

Here is a passage from the book “The Saab Spirit”

“A graveyard of Saab shot skywards like its planes. The seemingly inevitable World War came and, when its end was finally in sight, the firm’s director’s Ragnar Wahrgren and Sven Otterbeck started to think about alternatives. Who would need fighter planes once the war was over? It appeared to be more lucrative to build light and durable rowing boats out of aluminum rather than planes. Seriously, in 1944 this idea was top of the list in plans for the future of Saab - ahead of prefabricated houses and built-in kitchen equipment.
But instead of ending, the ware flared up again even more violently and drove away these ideas. Prefabricated houses, kitchen equipment and light aluminum boats went down the drain.
The decision not to build boats was not a difficult one for the plane manufacturers. They built 250 of these little aluminum craft with a pair of small aerofoils under the boat and they sold a few in Africa but it was just not possible to turn them into a profitable business. The boats were good on the water but not on the market. Saab concluded its excursion into the boat building business industry and scuttled the small aluminum boats. The traces of this nautical escapade disappered with a short gurgle. They can still be viewed by experienced divers: the graveyard of the small aluminum boats is on the bottom of Lake Vänern near Trollhättan.

Here is the lake where a number of these boats are stilll apparently located in.

Lake Vänern

For more information on Lake Vänern, visit. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C3%A4nern

Magnus Bjork, a Saab Enthusiast in France owns a Saab boat.

Here is what he says about it.

This is the oldest SAAB that I have. It is an original SAAB made aluminium boat, it has
“serial” number 26

For more information about Magnus Bjork’s website, visit http://mbjork.home.cern.ch/mbjork/

I have recently located some detailed drawings / blueprints for your reference that I think you will find extremely interesting.

Saab owners and enthusiasts for a number of years have had some interesting options when it came to camping with their beloved Saab automobiles.

One of these items is known as the Saabo, another was the Topolla and of course we have always had the traditional tent.

It was not as clear to me that these options were still widely used today until my return to Sweden last summer during the 2005 Saab Festival in Trollhätten. Although I did not plan ahead to camp during this event, I did manage to visit the campsite when my friend from Iceland showed me around.

I think there could be a possibility that I will ditch the traditional accomodations altogether for an opportunity to camp amongst a great group of Saab owners and enthusiasts from all over the world.

I have provided descriptions and photos I took from the Saab Festival 2005 last summer in Trollhätten, Sweden. Enjoy and please let me know what your thoughts are by posting a comment!

Saabo

At least 438 SAABOs were made.

For more information on the Saabo, please visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAABO

Toppola

The Toppola on the other hand was a camper shell that began in 1982 originally for the Saab 99 Combi Coupe, then the 900, the Saab 9-3. They state that they are looking for another company to pickup the production, so an entrepreurial spirited business minded Saab Enthusiast has a great opportunity on their hands! Wouldn’t it be nice to see this in other countries as well as Sweden?

As of writing (2006) production has stopped and SCANDO is looking for someone to take over production of the Toppola.

For more information on the Toppola, visit their home directly at http://hem.passagen.se/scarlot/toppola/ as well as Wikipedia source of this information below. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toppola

Saab vs. The Tent

Lastly, we have the classic “Saab vs. The Tent” arrangement. As you can see, this is probably the most simplistic method for a good nights sleep in the wilderness. This 9-3 Convertible owner has managed to pitch the tent, but raising the convertible top is another story altogether.

For more information on a capable tent, visit http://www.rei.com or http://www.ems.com

The name Viggen means The Thunderbolt, derived from the Norse god Thor’s warhammer Mjölner.

The Saab 9-3 Viggen was first put into production in 1999, most notable for its lightening blue paint, and production ran until 2003.

Again, the Viggen has to be without question the best example of a Saab Automobile that was 100% “born from jets”.

“The Viggen was created for performance seeking Saab enthusiasts and remains very desirable among Saab enthusiasts.”

For more information about the SAAB JA 37 Viggen jet that the automobile is inspired by, please visit this link here

The name Viggen means The Thunderbolt, derived from the Norse god Thor’s warhammer Mjölner.

The SAAB JA 37 Viggen was had it’s first maiden run in 1967, with production starting in 1970 and ending in 1990.

Since we’re on the topic of great SAAB aircraft, the Viggen was one that had such a great following, an automobile was created from it. In a way, the Viggen idea parallels that of the history of Saab in that the Viggen automobile was “born from jets”. I have provided some quotes, photos and videos for your enjoyment.

“The name ‘Viggen’ has a mythological background: it is the clap of Mjolnir, Thor’s hammer.”

For more information about the SAAB JA 37 Viggen, please visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saab_Viggen