Saab History

Saab Designer Profile – Sergio Coggiola

Posted on 06. Aug, 2008 by Ryan.

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.

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Saab Automobile Chief Designer Simon Padian On Design

Posted on 17. Jul, 2008 by Ryan.

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!

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The Saab Project Designs by Model

Posted on 28. Jun, 2008 by Ryan.

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

[...]

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Saab Designer Profile – Björn Karlström

Posted on 28. Jun, 2008 by Ryan.

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:

Bj̦rn Karlstr̦m was a well known artist who drew scale illustrations of aircraft for nearly 60 years Рsince 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 Рthese 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 Bj̦rn worked on industrial projects, for example trains, boats, lorries, small motor bikes and even a fancy sports car Рthe 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

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Saab Automobile AB Sweden : Promoting Creative Design

Posted on 12. Jun, 2008 by Ryan.

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

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Saab Designer Anthony Lo On the Saab 9-X BioHybrid

Posted on 27. Mar, 2008 by Ryan.

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.
[...]

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Saab Designer Bryan Nesbitt On the Saab 9-X BioHybrid

Posted on 27. Mar, 2008 by Ryan.

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.

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Saab Brand Component – Saab Key Fob

Posted on 09. Mar, 2008 by Ryan.

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!!

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