Photo Credits: Tom Letourneau

Tom Letourneau of Providence, Rhode Island, a former Saab-Scania of America employee worked for almost a decade as a district parts sales manager in Orange, Connecticut from 1980 to 1989, has kindly provided Saab History a nice account of his restored & heavily modified 1979 Saab 99 GL 2-door.

This Saab 99, had a color coordinated european air flow kit installed, then it was converted to a Saab 900S Twin Cam 16-Valve engine and 5-speed transmission in the mid nineties!

A sincere thank you to Tom Letourneau, your enthusiasm is evident and your kindness in providing this material is much appreciated.

Here is a writeup in the Providence Journal thanks again to Tom.

CUMBERLAND Tom Letourneau’s 1979 Saab 99 hardly looks its age.

In addition to its modest size and modernist design, the car is armed with a Euro AirFlow Kit that, with its lower body panels, front scoop and spoilers plus Shelby American Mag Wheels, gives it an updated tuner look.

But the AirFlow package dates back nearly 30 years when Letourneau, who worked for Saab at the time, said he and others convinced the company to import a show car.

However, Saab decided not to import the package and Letourneau acquired the car after it had done its turn as a demonstration and executive model.

Letourneau then took it a step further — after his son had blown out the engine — by installing a 16-valve twin-cam engine with a five-speed transmission that he picked up from a Saab dealer in Maine.

“George Siegmund of South County Motors helped me fabricate it,” he said in an interview at his house. “It’s the only one like it in the country.”

Read more »

The Saab-Scania promotional film made in 1979 titled “22 Minutes & 22 Seconds” has now been converted and is available to watch here online. This film was able to be converted thanks to the Rocky Mountain Saab Club’s (RMSC) extremely kind donation recently. The RMSC provided everything that Saab History needed in order to meet the financial goals in concluding the first phase of the “Saab Film Project“. This additional to the Saab Video archive will be the three hundred and fifteenth addition to the archive since it was launched over a year ago.

The film you are about to see is certainly a unique mix featururing footage of Scania, SAAB Aerospace as well as SAAB Automobile. The variety of footage of these industries that were all a part of Saab-Scania AB at the time include manufacturing, testing, development, design, promotional clips, out takes and a number of other bits that I think you will find particularly unique and rather interesting.

Please enjoy the film and post your comments below.

Saab-Scania - 22 Minutes & 22 Seconds, 1979

Photo Credit: Saab Automobile AB

I have just received a hot tip that Car Magazine is looking to vote for the best “hot hatch” of all time. In their list of nearly 50 makes and models to choose from, the Saab 99 Turbo is listed and at this point is almost holding its own with a near majority of votes.

Please visit their website and vote for the Saab 99 Turbo, to ensure it’s the winner. The poll ends February 1st, so please send this around to everyone you know!

Update: The Saab 99 is still the leader, but a close second from a Lancia Delta may take the lead, so please cast your votes between now and February 1st, to ensure that the Saab 99 makes it to the “hottest hatch’ at Car Magazine’s poll!

Photo Credit: Saab Automobile:

The Saab 99 Combi Coupé or Wagonback as it was initially referred to in the U.S. arrived in 1974 following the Saab 98 prototype while it took on the additional characteristics of the 99.

The Saab 99 Combi Coupé was designed by Bjorn Enväl and was produced in Uusikaupunki, Finland as well as Trollhättan, Sweden.

The Saab 99 Combi Coupé was a hatchback and known as the Wagonback in the U.S. and was Saab’s first designer, Sixton Sason’s final project of the 99, to be produced.

This model set the history books as the first true “hatchback” for Saab and the first model is on display today at the Saab Car Museum.

This model for SAAB came equipped with the following specifications:

Read more »

Photo Credit: Saab Automobile AB

The Saab 99 debuted at the New York Auto Show in April of 1969 as the successor to the 96. The 99 was initially designed as a larger 96, however over the time this model became the initial signature design and inspiration for future Saab designs of today.

The 99 was final vehicle that the first Saab designer, Sixten Sason’s designed. However, this design was collaborated with Bjorn Enväll and was produced in both Trollhättan, Sweden as well as Uusikaupunki, Finland.

The production of this model began as a 1969 model year and continued until 1984.

This model for SAAB came equipped with the following specifications:

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I have just received the 1974 Saab 99 Television ad from the United Kingdom titled “Ghost”, enjoy!

A thank you for everyone who has contributed to getting this film converted for others to enjoy as part of the “Saab Film Project” here on Saab History.

This ad brings the total Saab History video archive to 438 total films!

Saab History has recently acquired a 3rd installment for the Saab Film Project that was last updated on November 7th, 2007.

The Saab History film project needs your help in transferring a 1970’s Saab 99 TV Ad to digital format.

This super rare film, made for the United States features a Saab 99 titled “Ghost”that runs for 30 seconds, filmed sometime during the 1970’s. There are not many films in the 1970’s section of the Saab History film archive, so this will be another special addition to this section.

I am looking for some donations for the film production cost to have this 8mm transferred to dvd, and should have the cost figured out early next week as it’s very short. I will be using the same format of “telecine” to convert it as before, so we can ensure it’s quality is preserved in both audio and video.

This just in, the cost from the conversion company:

Here is a pricing breakdown.

Total $70.00

If everyone of you donate just $1.00, we’d have enough! Please click on this button to donate.

* Please note, you do not need a paypal account to pay, credit card works.

In the meantime, it’s really nice to be able to save another extremely vintage Saab television ad on 8mm from the trash, and keep it here on the Saab History Video Archive for generations to enjoy!

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the introduction of the first Saab 99 Turbo in 1978, so I believe it is necessary to provide us with as much information about this important milestone for the Saab Automobile brand.

I will begin by providing you summaries from the original press kit here at Saab History that includes content such as photographs, press summaries and drawings of how a Saab Turbo works and what the inspiration was behind it.

Saab Introduces the Power of the Future. The Turbo.

The Saab Turbo is an engineering masterpiece. Saab has taken the turbo power that dominates the big trucks - Le Mans and Indianapolis — and harnessed it to work at speeds you drive at everyday.

The Saab Turbo breakthrough is its ability to deliver 34% more torque at low 3500 rpm’s. More torque at low rpm’s means more power at your command in daily situations. When you have to pass, feel that surge of power shoot you ahead. Feel the take-off thrust of turbo power move you on to a highway. That’s power!

Yet, the Saab Turbo isn’t merely cold, engineering innovations. Its performance as definite psychic compensations. Here’s ow a few of the car experts have responded to driving one.

“Saab now has fetched up a model that’ll get second gear rubber and double the double-nickel any day of the week…Saab’s Turbo installation offers more pleasure per dollar than any other on the market” - Pat Bedard, Car & Driver

“One heroic blast down the highway is enough to convert anybody” - David E. Davis Jr., Car & Driver

“Saab Turbo… a genuine Fourth-of-July driving experience, full of sudden pleasure and high spirit..” - Steve Thompson, Car & Driver

“The Saab Turbo is exhiliarating to drive..it’s so much fun, the price is irrelevant…” - Road & Track

Read more »

Saab History Receives Three 1971 SAAB Motors, Inc. Saab 99 Television advertisements

I have just received a number of vintage Saab films over the weekend from the former New England Saab Association secretary including three extremely rare 1971 SAAB 99 television advertisements titled “Now You Need Us”. These last films of the contract were done by the advertising agency, J.M. Mathes & Co. who worked with SAAB Motors, Inc. from November 1967 - 1971 as part of the “SAAB, The Well-Build Swede” campaign.

I am extremely happy to finally have some Saab USA television ads that will compliment the 1970’s section of the Saab Film Archive.

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 »

Photo Credit: Saab-Scania of America, Inc.

In 1970, SAAB-SCANIA of America, Inc. partnered with Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Massachusetts to create the “Clean Air Saab”.

This Saab was a normally aspirated Saab 99 that was built in order to compete in a national Clean Air Car Race across the United States from August 24th through the 30th of 1970.

I managed to see this entire press kit by Saab-Scania of America, Inc. from my visit to the GM Heritage Center in Detroit, Michigan back in January, but I did not have time to get all of the details, but hopefully in time I may.

If you have heard of this Saab 99, the race and know more about it, please don’t hesitate to contact Saab History and let us know more about it! It is great to see that Saab used to work directly with Universities in the United States and not just Saab in Sweden doing this.

Here is a map of the route of the national Clean Air Race:

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