Odoardo Grey or Edwardian Grey, that is the question.

Posted on 18. Apr, 2007 by in 2000-2009, 900, Italy, Sweden, United States


The Saab color that has been ubiquitous with a number of Saab models, namely the SPG from 1986 until 1989 has been confusing because of the two names that have been used for the color.

Odoardo Grey

The color Odoardo was named after Odoardo Pagani, who was an importer of Saabs in Turin, Italy. I have included a photograph of a bottle of “official” Saab touch-up paint labeled as “Odoardo grey” as an official reference to this name.

Edwardian Grey

The other name that has been used for this color is “Edwardian”. The use of the word Edwardian was started at some point, unsure where and why and became used quite a bit and so much in fact that it is believed that because of the use of the word and that in and of itself was why people started to agree that it was the proper name. The other name became unrecognized and as a result Edwardian was assumed the proper name. edwardian_grey_metallic300.jpg

Today I was recently presented with some new information about the official use of the word Edwardian which now places it as a worthy contender to Odoardo for being the “official” name of the color. This information came from an individual by the name of Tim Winker, who kindly provided me with a chart that shows the 1987 900 and 9000 Body colors in United States in 1987. This chart shows as you see to the right as, “Edwardian Grey Metallic”.

With this recent “proof” that Edwardian was also used as the official name for the color, it could arguably be understood that perhaps the use of the word “Edwardian” was either used in North America or the United States, whereas the use of “Odoardo” was used in Europe and other countries. I would like for others to help me prove or disprove this new theory of mine, based off of the information that we have been presented with.

I leave you with a photograph of Odoardo Pagani.

odoardo_pagani.jpg

Photo Credit: The Spirit of Saab

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3 Responses to “Odoardo Grey or Edwardian Grey, that is the question.”

  1. Carl

    19. Apr, 2007

    Oduardo is the Italian version of Edward. The name, therefore is interchangeable. Like if the guy’s name were Guiseppe, and they called it Guiseppe Grey it would be called Joseph Grey.

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  2. peter

    19. Apr, 2007

    The 2l turbo engine was very popular in Italy : engines over 2l carried higher taxes, and,even worse, the risk of a tax investigation. The Saab engine was pretty well the most powerful 2l available at the time.

    Sadly Odoardo Pagani died in the early 90′s. His wife and daughters carried on the business. Sales fell.

    A new MD was appointed, and the long serving Sales Director, Marcello Chiesa was fired. Sales fell and the dealers became unhappy.

    Saab founded their own importer for Italy, who were eventually merged into GM.

    Sad.

    Peter

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  3. 1985 Gripen

    20. Apr, 2007

    I remember former President of SAAB USA Bob Sinclair talking about how they had to call Oduardo Gray “Edwardian” because nobody could get the “Oduardo” thing. It was at the 60th Anniversary Event in San Diego in February.

    If you have a way to contact Bob Sinclair (maybe through SAAB USA) I’m sure he can set the record straight. I don’t remember the exact story.

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