Photo Credit: Saab Automobile AB

Rolf Melde, one of the original fifteen aircraft engineers at Svenska Aeroplan AktieBolaget or SAAB beginning in 1947, has recently passed, Saab Car Museum curator Peter Backström indicates.

Here is Peter Backstrom’s recent e-mail to us about this news:

I am sad to tell you that one of the biggest Saabpioneers, Rolf Mellde, has passed away after a short illness at the age of 86 years. Not only a superb engineer, with initiatives like the Saab Sonett and the incredible V4-project, he was also a very skilled competition driver.

Melde, was last seen at the 60th Anniversary Saab Festival where he was on stage at the dinner where he spoke about his exciting career transitioning from SAAB’s focus on Aircraft to Automobiles in 1947.

There will be much more about his passing in a press release coming early this week from Saab Automobile AB.

This past August of last year, I asked you who the original sixteen SAAB aircraft engineers were that created the first SAAB Automobile prototype in 1946. This SAAB prototype was the 92001 touted as “Ursaab”, was originally designed and fabricated by these engineers in Linköping, Sweden just prior to moving to the current home of Saab Automobile in Trollhättan, Sweden.

In my quest to determine who each of these original sixteen aircraft engineers were, I have gathered nine names so far, after scanning through both the Saab History video and book archives.

Today, I got a nice comment from a Berth Olofsson involved in with SAAB back then telling us all of the details and the fact that it was not 16 aircraft engineers, but 15 in addition to the following information:

Furthermore, Mr. Olofssson is going to be writing a book on the most anonymous of all aircraft engineers, Hugo Möller as he put it. I can’t wait to read it!

Here are his complete updates to the list of aircraft engineers below:

‘Ursaab’ is new name.
The workname was ‘Ettan’ which in English is ‘The One’ or ‘Number One’.
The number of engineers were aproximately fifteen, depending on how much you consider their involvment.

1) Gunnar Ljungström, SAAB’s chief engineer, was at the same time responsible for the construction of
the wings for the fighter air craft J 29 so he was working part time on the
prototypes.
2) Sixten Sason, SAAB Chief designer was a designer consultant on a shared time basis.
3) Rolf Mellde was not one of them, four prototypes were already completed and the fifth on the way when he was employed in Trollhättan
4) Olof Landbu, Chief Test Engineer, was not involved in the construction and assambly of the prototypes but responsible for the tests when they were ready built
5) Svante Holm, Chief Engineer, worked at Fläktfabriken in Jönköping when the prototypes were
built but at the same time confidentially project leader for the prototypes
and later on the manager for the plant in Trollhättan.
6) Hugo Möller, was working full time from the start on the 7th of January,
1946. and was responsible for tool construction and assambly and the only person working full time on the prototypes.
7) Olle Lindgren, not Lindqvist, was engine specialist.
8) Tore Svenson - chassis.
9) Tage Flodén
10) Hans Osquar Gustavsson - hood and front.
11) Erik Storerkers - body.
12) Nils Lidro - geometric
13) Bertil Baerendz?
14) Bror Bjurströmer
15) Hermansson?

I have more names but not available right now about exhaust system, wheels and axels, floor, wheel houses etc.

Sergio Coggiola, an Italian designer, created Coggiola Carrozziere Srl company in 1966 near Turin, Italy. A few years later, he was contracted to start working on two projects for the Saab Car Division of Saab-Scania.

The first project was the last of the Sonett 97 model line, the Saab Sonett III that was produced from 1970 until 1974.

The second project that was going to be produced, but ended up only as a prototype, was the Saab 98 Combi Coupé Prototype which was built in 1974, 1975 and 1976, although only one version exists today.

This experience with Saab led to a number of other projects after leaving Saab which included the Lancia Thema, a variation of the Saab 600, but both of these two projects eventually led to early designs of the Saab 9000 which began in 1978 and were eventually produced from 1985 until 1998.

For more information on Sergio Coggiola’s design, please visit his website directly to see his continued successes http://www.coggiola.com/

I leave you with a passage from the book, Alla SAABs Sportbilar by Björn Svallner about Sergio Coggiola’s Sonett III design.

Saab had turned to Italy’s Sergio Coggiola in the hope that he could give the Sonett a more attractive shape. Why go to an Italian designer? The answer is simple. Saab felt it would be a strength to be able to point to a big name and say that the lines had been dictated by a well known stylist from the country that led in car design - Italy.

I have just located a video of Saab Automobile AB’s chief designer, Simon Padian.

In this video, Simon Padian comments on importance of good design at the recent Swedish Design Award which had an event ceremony this past June in Sweden.

The film is in Swedish, but there are small English subtitles.

Enjoy the video. which puts the film archive at over 420 videos!

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 »

Björn Karlström, was the Saab designer responsible for some of the original design of the SAAB 97 Sonett II model that was built between 1966 and 1969. He began his design work much like Saab’s first designer, Sixten Sason where he illustrated aircraft.

Below is a great writeup about his background as a designer from Hobby.se, enjoy:

Björn Karlström was a well known artist who drew scale illustrations of aircraft for nearly 60 years - since the late thirties! His work was published in many parts of the world including magazines such as Air Trails, Model Ariplane News, Flying, Aviation Age, American Aircraft Modeler and RC-modeler. He was a consulant for many newspapers, for example the New York Herald Tribune where he was an expert on Russian aircraft of the fifties. He had a remarkable aptitude for accurate drawings even from very scarce information - these drawings were almost perfect when compared with better information available later.

Björn left school in the thirties to practice as an aviation mechanic. There he took care of aircraft like Waco, Stinson, Cierva C30 and Cub. In his spare time he made models and drew comic strips. At seventeen years old, in 1938, he was discovered by the editor of the magazine Flygning. During the following years he made many drawings for scale modelers and also drew front covers for the magazine. In 1941 he got the chance to do his first comic strip.

In his long career as an artist Björn was responsible for about a dozen different comic strips, one is still published daily in Svenska Dagbladet, the second largest newspaper in Stockholm. He also illustrated a number of Biggles albums and designed covers for books in many countries.

As a constructor and designer Björn worked on industrial projects, for example trains, boats, lorries, small motor bikes and even a fancy sports car - the SAAB Sonett II. He has also designed small things like refrigerators and outboard engines.

Many people appreciated the work that Björn did during almost half a century. International FAI gave Björn the “Diplome Paul Tissander”. Swedish organizations also awarded Björn medals for his work.

In a series of books we offer Björn’s accumulated works. We start with primary and secondary trainers* of the Royal Swedish Air Force and continue with Swedish fighters in the next book. Later in the series are books with the rest of the Swedish military aircraft, civil aircraft and other interesting collections of Björn’s drawings.

Source: Hobby.SE

As a follow-up to my report about Christer Nilsson retiring from Saab Automobile AB in Sweden, Gunilla Gustavs of Saab Automobile Sweden has just produced a wonderful press release discussing Saab’s focus on promoting creative design.

Gunilla Gustav is the Global Brand & Product Communications at Saab Automobile Sweden, whom Etienne, Saab History’s European correspondent interviewed this past March while in Geneva during the Saab 9-X BioHybrid Global Launch.

A thank you to Gunilla for providing this press release through the Global brand channel. On the topic of channels, it still sounds like the Saab Automobile Sweden regional channel needs some clarification as to who will be replacing the big shoes of Christer Nilsson at this time.

Here is the press release below:

2008-06-12

Saab Automobile promotes creative design

- Principal sponsor of Design S, Swedish Design Award.

Saab Automobile is the principal sponsor of Sweden’s most prestigious design prize, Design S – the Swedish Design Award – together with the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. This sponsorship is an expression of Saab’s commitment to Scandinavian design principles and interest in promoting a holistic view on design issues. The bi-annual award was founded by Svensk Form, SVID (the Swedish Industrial Design Foundation), and the Advertising Association of Sweden. The Minister for Trade, Ewa Björling, presented the award at the prize-giving ceremony.

The Swedish Design Award was presented yesterday, 10 June 2008, at Berns Salonger in Stockholm. From a total of 200 entries, 19 nominees were selected and out of these 10 were awarded with a Design S. The awarded contributions are presented in an exhibition that will go on tour, in Sweden and internationally, until spring 2010.

“The selection of this year’s Design S reflects the creativity, competence and excellence that Swedish design present today,” says Kersti Sandin Bülow, Professor of Design and Crafts at the University of Gothenburg.

The opening speech was given by Simon Padian, Design Director at Saab Automobile.

“The criteria for Design S fall well in line with Saab’s philosophy so it was natural to support this award,” says Simon Padian. “The promotion of Swedish design as an intelligent way to solve problems and create communication and functionality is highly relevant. As a Swedish brand we seriously want to be a part of that approach.”

Saab Automobile has for decades been an advocate of using design in a wider perspective. “Design with a purpose” is a Saab credo, and a Scandinavian visual language has become a central element of the way the Saab brand is expressed.

“The Design S award highlights the important link between design and sustainability, something that is of extreme importance today,” comments Kersti Sandin Bülow. “The selection reflects the breadth of the design field, with the nominees ranging from small objects used close to the body, to more large-scale elements that are highly visible in society.”

For more information: www.swedishdesignaward.se

Photo Credit: Saab Automobile

I recently participated in another installment of the GM Next chat with Saab Designer, Anthony Lo. Anthony Lo joined Saab Automobile AB in October, 2000, as chief designer for Advanced Design. Lo has lead the design of the Saab 9-X, 9-3X, 9-3 Sport Hatch, and Aero-X, 9-4x, 9-X BioHybrid concept cars.

I was very interested to hear many of his responses to the questions posed: Please keep in mind that the order in which the questions posted did not necessarily sync up with all answers, so please use your own intuition.

Here is the full chat transcript below:

NoSpeaker: Anthony Lo, Director of Advanced Design, General Motors Europe
Region: North America
Date: 25 - March - 2008
Time: 10:30 –11:30 a.m. (EST)

SME: Anthony Lo, Director of Advanced Design, General Motors Europe
Date: 2008-March-25
Time: 10:30 –11:30 a.m. (EST)

A.Lo.Moderator:
Hello everyone, I’m Dave Roman, Director of GM Europe Technology & Design Communications, and I will be your moderator for this webchat session. Anthony has arrived and he is logging into the chat right now. We’ll get started in a moment.

SaabHistory.com:
What are your thoughts on the Saab 9-X BioHybrid?

Anthony.Lo:
Good morning! The 9-X BioHybrid is our vision on what a compact size Saab would look líke.

SaabHistory.com:
On model nomenclature: Why was the Saab 9-X reusing the 9-X again, instead of 9-1x?

Anthony.Lo:
As it remains as a concept, we would like to reuse the 9-X nomenclature.

SaabHistory.com:
On Technology: What will be making production (ie. Solar Panels, etc.) and do the solar panels on this car actually work this time or is it just theoretical?

Anthony.Lo:
The hybrid system is announced for production on future GM vehicles. On the solar panel, we are working on several studies on how to improve battery performance and solar is one of them. The panel itself does not work on the concept.

Read more »

Film Credit: Saab History

Saab Designer, Bryan Nesbitt offered his time to speak to a number of members of the press at the New York International Auto Show during a group discussion.

I think that you will find his frank and to the point insight and information about the Saab 9-X BioHybrid as well as the driving styles in the United States versus Europe very interesting indeed.

A special thanks again goes to Saab Automobile USA, General Motors & Saab of Hunterdon / JMK Saab for making this interview possible.

In addition to the Saab Gear Shifter component from Bryan Nesbitt’s presentation, here is another component that features some possibile Saab key fobs we may see in the future with Saab products. Interesting indeed, what do you think?

I hope to see some more great products coming out!!

Photo Credit: GM Design

As a follow-up from the first slide on the 11 Global Design Centers thanks to Bryan Nesbitt, I am providing another slide from his presentation that he showcased to the audience at the New England Auto Show back in November of 2007 on Saab Design.

This slide covers the Saab Brand component, the gear shifter. I tried to see if this looked anything like what we’ve seen in any of the concept cars such as the 9-X, 9-3X, 9-3 SportHatch, Aero-X, 9-4x BioPower & 9-X BioHybrid and it does not. I wonder if this will be seen in a future concept or production model? What are your thoughts on this gear shifter?

A very special thank you to Bryan Nesbitt as well as the staff at the GM Design Center in North America for sharing this material with us here. This presentation many of us enjoyed back at Boston was just too good to not share with the readers on Saab History. I hope this posting as well as the more I showcase here, provide some clarity in terms of where Saab Automobile’s design process takes place within General Motors, globally.

Photo Credit: Saab Automobile AB

Michael Mauer was born on July 28th, 1962 in the German town of Rotenburg/Fulda, but grew up in Höchenschwand, in the Black Forest. He studied automobile design from 1982 to 1986 at the Polytechnic in Pforzheim, and from there secured his first job in the Design area of Mercedes-Benz AG in Sindelfingen. In 1989 he was appointed Design Project Leader, and two years later oversaw design work for the first SLK model generation. In July 1995, the company appointed him Head of Department and entrusted him with design responsibility for the A-Class, SLK and SL models.

In 1998 Michael Mauer moved to the Mercedes-Benz Advanced Design Studio in Tokyo, Japan, as General Manager, and was intensively involved in advanced development work on various model lines. A year later, he was put in charge of Design at MCC Smart GmbH. This was where he met up with Anthony Lo, who together for a number of years in the Saab design center.

In June 2000 Michael Mauer took a position with Saab Automobile as Executive Director Design and worked at the Saab Design Center in Pixbo / Mölnlycke, Sweden. Since March of 2003,
Saab Automobile’s Board of Management appointed Michael Mauer as Chief Designer of Saab and Advanced Concept Center General Motors Europe.

In July of 2004, Michael Mauer left Saab Automobile and took a position with Porsche.

Since working with Saab, he was responsible for the design of the Saab 9-X, 9-3X, 9-3 Sport Hatch, concept cars and the wheels for the Saab 9-3 Sport Sedan, the production version of the Saab 9-3 SportCombi and MY2004-2007 Saab 9-3 Convertible design, and the 9-2X.