Saab Enthusiast, Brandon Hollinger of Pennsylvania that I wrote about back in June, has contacted Saab History and provided us a nice little video and information about his SAAB 96 EV project as well as what inspired him!

It’s great to see a Saab Enthusiast like Brandon launch this project by seeing another person’s EV project here on Saab History! I am very happy to see another SAAB 96 saved by their owner, not ending up in a scrap heap, and now quite possibly getting better energy efficiency than many modern Saabs to this day! It’s this kind of ingenuity that inspires us to follow Saab Automobile’s vehicles. It’s almost like with all of the engineering that went into them at a given time, we feel that we can’t let that go to waste, and some of us even take it a step further and improve and modernize it themselves!

I just saw my story on saab history. you have a great great site! i’ve visited it many times over the past year to gain knowledge about all the various saab models – especially christen johansen’s. i’ve been in touch with him often and he’s shared some of his experience with me. i pursued that connection because of your website! i actually had already decided to convert the saab 96 and then i actually saw his. really odd coincidence. in terms of saabs, i only know of the 4 conversions you have listed on your site and one other 900 on youtube. oh and there’s a sonett EV in oregon but i don’t know where he got it.

thanks for providing a great website,

brandon

1970 saab 96 EV (daily driver)
1989 saab 900 turbo
1984 saab 900 turbo – deceased

Saab Automobile AB, is now officially following Saab History, or should I say Saabvideos original vision back in 2005, to promote Saab’s great history through video.

This television ad features the SAAB 96, titled “the wheel” using the basis of SAAB’s legendary front-wheel drive focus with this new model that went on to have the longest production lifetime ever of 20 years. A great ad and a first for many of who have never seen this before, myself included.

I have added this video to the Saab History video archive, now at 479 videos!

Saab History has recently received yet another incredible television ad. This ad, produced by SAAB-ANA, features the first year for the SAAB 96 in 1960.

This video is included in the permanent collection of the Saab History video archive, now totalling 477!

Photo Credit: William ‘Chip’ Lamb

The SAAB 96 Monte-Carlo 850 (MC850) was created in 1966 and 1967 to show homage to Erik Carlsson and Pat Moss for their victorious rallying circuits they won at the Monte Carlo rallies and the incredible press they provided to SAAB.

The SAAB 96 MC850 had a sport chassis and an 850cc engine as well as other appointments.

This model for SAAB came equipped with the following specifications:

Read more »

Photo Credit: Saab Automobile AB

The SAAB 96 debuted in 1960 as a successor to the 93F.

The 96 was made famous by notable legendary Saab Rally Champions Erik “On The Roof” Carlsson as well as his wife, Pat Moss.

The 96 was built in the Trollhättan, Sweden factory due to capacity in and the V4 models began production in Uusikaupunki, Finland factory.

This model had the longest run of any Saab in history at 20 years, where it went until 1966 when it was converted into model equipped with a V4 engine in 1967 that carried it all the way until 1980.

On the 8th of January, 1980 the last Saab 96V4 rolled off the production line in Finland. The last 96V4 off the production line was driven by rally legend Erik Carlsson from Finland direct to the Saab Museum at Trollhättan where it is on display today.

This new model for SAAB and came equipped with the following specifications.

Read more »

 
I have just received another film from the former New England Saab Association secretary, this time a bit longer than the previous film .
 
This film, complete with narration and produced by SAAB SWEDEN in 1964, features Erik Carlsson in the entire Monte-Carlo Rally, footage of the SAAB ANA testing and competition facility as well as brief clips of the Safari, Tulip, Polish and RAC Rallies.
 
Erik Carlsson as well as his co-pilot, Gunnar Palm, were both present at the 2007 60th Anniversary Saab Festival dinner that took place in Trollhättan, Sweden last summer.
 
If you are interested Saab’s world rewknowned rally legend Erik Carlsson or Saab Rallying in general, please sit back, relax and enjoy the nearly 45 minutes worth of vintage rally footage in none other than the legendary SAAB 96.
 

Erik “pÃ¥ taket” Carlsson, or “pÃ¥ taket” in Swedish meaning “on the roof”, was born March 5, 1929 in Trollhättan, Sweden.

The nickname On the roof, apparently originated by from the children’s book, “Karlsson pÃ¥ taket” by Astrid Lindgren. In this book,the Karlsson character lived on the roof of an apartment building. This “on the roof” name was given to Erik Carlsson because he had the infrequent habit of rolling his Saab rally car on its roof.

Erik joined SAAB as a rally driver, just after the first SAAB 92 model was produced and participated in his first rally with it, the Rikspokalen in 1955. Carlsson, married to Pat Moss on March 3rd, 1963, began a relationship that expanded well beyond the homefront. Patt Moss, a younger sister of legendary rally driver, Stirling Moss eventually became Erik Carlsson’s co-pilot through most of his successful rally career.

The early SAABs that Erik Carlsson drove were significantly underutilized two-stroke vehicles that required the driver to keep the high revolutions up while moving, which meant high speeds at all times. When driving these “strokers” at high speeds at all times, Erik Carlsson developed what was called “left foot” braking where you use your left foot to brake while in the same instance, your right foot to maintain the speed at all times.

While Erik Carlsson maintained 1st place in most of his rally circuits, the most notable rally he participated in was the 1964 Monte Carlo Rally where he was victorious.

The year following this victory, both Erik Carlsson and Pat Moss wrote a book called “The Art & Technique of Driving”.

The most recent book on Erik Carlsson’s career was published in 1999, titled “Mr. Saab”. The Mr Saab title was given to Erik “On the Roof” Carlsson by Saab Automobile as he ended his rally career to continue a public relations career for the Swedish car company.

Today, Erik Carlsson has been known to make appearances at various Saab Festivals and Saab Conventions all over the world, and with any luck maybe you will get a chance to meet this legendary Saab rally champion to thank him for all of the recognition, attention and history he has brought to the Saab Automobile brand ever since.

I leave you with his list of lifetime rally achievements.

As a follow-up to the previous writeup on the past and present Saab designers and their achievements, it was necessary to include a chronological up-to-date listing of Saab projects both production and concepts.

This listing includes each Saab project, year introduced along with each designer and/or engineer that contributed to the given project.

This list is a work-in-progress, so any additions and/or modifications that you see necessary below, please add your comments to ensure correctness and accuracy.

Photo Credits: Saab Automobile

Design Contributions by Model

SAAB Scandia 90 (1946-1958)

Bror Bjurströmer

SAAB 91 (1947-1966)

A.J. Andersson

SAAB 92001 (Prototype) (1946/1947)

Sixten Sason

Gunnar Ljungström

Read more »

Image Credit: Saab History

As a follow-up to the posting I made back in November of 2006 on the logo history, it is about time that I compliment this information with the following on the correct capitalization and nomenclature of the models of the Saab Automobile brand. I hope this sheds some more light in our dialog about Saabs, SAABs and all of the great products that have been developed over the years.

I have provided a fairly well written piece already done on Wikipedia that I would like to articulate if I may regarding the correct capitalization and model nomenclature as a guide.

It is my hope that as a result of this posting, others will be able to better articulate their writing and speaking when referring to all of Saab’s products from 1947 until present. I also think that this posting will help to end search criteria that is typically entered in Google as follows: (SAAB 93 XWD, SAAB 92 ABS, Saab 94 Ski Rack, 2001 SAAB 95, 1999 93, etc.) If this search criteria was taken literally, as it should as google can only do just that, we would have had Cross Wheel Drive available in the late 1950’s, ABS in the late forties, and two long production runs for the SAAB Ninety Five and Ninety Three. Let’s hope that this clarifies this naming and model nomenclature once and for all.

1947-1969 (Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget)

The Company: When referring to the company in both written and oral communication where the products were produced between 1947 and 1969, it is proper to use SAAB in all capital letters to refer to these vehicles.

The Models: When referring to vehicles model nomenclature in both written and oral communication that were produced during this time, they are written and pronounced as 92 (Pronounced: Ninety Two), 92 (Pronounced: Ninety Three), 94 (Pronounced: Ninety Four), 95 (Pronounced: Ninety Five), 96 (Pronounced: Ninety Six), 97 (Pronounced: Ninety Seven)

1970-2000 (Saab-Scania)

* Note: Although the merger took place in 1990, the original products continued. (excluding NG900, 9-3 & 9-5)

The Company: When referring to the company in both written and oral communication where the products were produced between 1970 and 1990, it is proper & acceptable to refer to them as Saabs in lower case letters or Saab-Scania vehicles, also in lower case letters.

The Models: When referring to vehicles model nomenclature in both written and oral communication that were produced during this time, they are written and produced as 97 (Pronounced: Ninety Seven), 98 (Pronounced: Ninety Eight), 99 (Pronounced: Ninety Nine), 90 (Pronounced: Ninety), 900 (Pronounced: Nine Hundred), 9000 (Pronounced: Nine Thousand), 9-5 (Pronounced: Nine Five), NG900 (Pronounced: New Generation 900), 9-3 (Pronounced: Nine Three).

2001 – Present (Saab Automobile / General Motors)

The Company: When referring to the company in both written and oral communication where the products were produced between 2001 and the Present, it is proper & acceptable to refer to them as Saab in lower case letters and/or Saab Automobile / GM vehicles.

The Models: When referring to vehicles model nomenclature in both written and oral communication that were produced during this time, they are written and produced as 9-X (Pronounced: Nine X), 9-2x (Pronounced: Nine Two X), 9-3x (Pronounced: Nine Three X), 9-3 (Pronounced: Nine Three), 9-4x (Pronounced: Nine Four X), 9-5 (Pronounced: Nine Five), 9-7x (Pronounced: Nine Seven X)

I leave you with a brief summary from Saab Automobile’s entry from Wikipedia.

Saab / SAAB Correct Capitalization and Model Nomenclature:

While Saab is in fact an acronym, and, as with many other manufacturers, the word “SAAB” appears in all-capitals within the corporate emblem and in on-vehicle badging, the current correct capitalization of Saab when in print is “Saab,” and not “SAAB.”[citation needed] Other manufacturers such as Volvo, Toyota, Lexus, Acura, and Chevrolet employ the use of all-capitalized vehicle badging, but they are still considered proper names and capitalized as such when written. Likewise, Saab is treated as a proper name and not an acronym, despite its origins..”[citation needed]

Furthermore, all current Saab vehicles are badged with a large 9 and a smaller 3, 5, or 7x following the 9, such as “9³”. However, the digits are considered separate, and are spoken as, for example, “nine three,” and written as “9-3.” Nearly every Saab model ever produced has begun with the number 9 (Saab 600 being an exception), and Saab’s two models became 9-3 and 9-5 in the late 1990s, which was likely a marketing attempt at positioning the vehicles as direct competitors to the BMW 3-series and 5-series, respectively.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saab_Automobile

Photo Credit: Christen Johansen

With everyone “going green” these days, it does not surprise me when I received the following information from a colleague. Apparently, a Saab Enthusiast by the name of Christen Johansen in New York, has recently outfitted a beautiful 1972 SAAB 96 into a full on Electric Vehicle or “EV”.

This is certainly not the first Saab or vintage SAAB that has had the necessary modifications in order to run with electric power. Back in 1993, Walter Kern, a physicist by trade and also the creator of the SAAB Quantum, designed and re-engineered a 1974 SAAB Sonett III to run on electrical power.

Here are some additional videos covering this project that are of particular historic importance regarding this project: Pierson to Person, Environmental Forum, Newsbeat 53

It seems that Duke University also had an interest in also converting a 1972 SAAB Sonett III, although I am unsure if Walter Kern & Dave Hosmer’s work inspired them to do the same.

All in all, it seems that there has been a lot of interest these days in people converting their vehicles from conventional fuel systems to more economical and environmental ones such as electricity. Just look at the progress Mark Ward in Missouri has made just this week with his new generation Saab 900 nicknamed “Saabrina”.

Leave it up Saab Enthusiasts, who hold the record as some of the most intelligent and progressive automobile enthusiasts and the world and you have projects like these cropping up everywhere now.

I leave you with an informative piece written by Christen Johansen on his beautiful yet highly sophisticated 1972 SAAB 96 as depicted in the photographs:

I have avery simple system designed by Electric Vehicles of America (Bob Batson) with additional tech know how and parts from Electro-Automotive (Mike Brown). It’s basically a 96 volt traction system (16) 6 volt lead/acid deep cycle (golf cart) batteries connected to an Advanced DC motor through a Curtis controller.
The motor is mounted directly to the standard SAAB 4 speed transmission with a spacer and adapter plates with bolt patterns fitting the motor and transmission bell housing.
I do have regenerative braking, which is a wiring modification of the basic system which is transparent to the traction system until you toggle a switch on the turn signal and energize the motor field, changing the motor into a generator. The degree of braking is based on the controller’s demand (how far you depress the “accelerator” and the batteries’ ability to absorb more energy, you would not want to roll out of your hill top garage with a fully charged battery pack and expect the regen to slow you down much.

Springs and struts are upgraded as the car weighs 1,000 pounds more than the original V4 model, tire pressure is about 50 lbs all around, 6 batteries in front (straddling the motor), 2 in the back seat (I cut 13″ out of the middle of the back seat and 8 in the trunk where the gas tank and spare tire were located.
Top speed on the flat is around 65 mph, and the range is about 75 miles. It cost me about $10,000. to do the restoration and conversion. I think I spent about $3000 on the restoration and paint job.