Saab History

Photo Credit: SCANIA Trucks / Carl-Erik Andersson

SCANIA, of Södertälje, Sweden, one of the last remaining Swedish owned transporation companies that manufacture trucks & busses, was sold by the Swedish Wallenberg family’s, Investor Group whom have owned it for 92 years, to Volkswagen. Shortly after this sale to Volkswagen, Porsche stepped in and purchased Volkswagen.

It is important to express that it was SCANIA, who rejected a hostile takeover bid by the German truck maker, MAN back in 2006 as I have previously reported. It is also important to indicate that while it was Saab who took the initiative to merge with SCANIA at the end of 1968, forming Saab-Scania, it was SCANIA who contributed to Saab with their research & development of production engines and transmissions. It was also of course, SCANIA’s diesel engine development engineers, who created the world famous Saab turbo engine in the mid-late seventies.

It will be interesting to see how this acquisition pans out for SCANIA and Sweden. A thank you to SCANIA’s press secretary for clarifying the aforementioned particulars.

Below is the press release of this acquisition by thelocal.se. I also suggest you read the press release on Porsche , Volkswagen & Investor AB’s site as well.

Volkswagen’s acquisition Monday of truckmaker Scania saw one of the Swedish auto industry’s last crown jewels pass into foreign hands, following in the footsteps of Volvo and Saab, but analysts said the brand would remain strongly linked to Sweden.

* Scania and Ericsson see shares tumble (4 Mar 08)
* Porsche swallows Volkswagen as VW grabs Scania (3 Mar 08)
* Scania’s main union welcomes VW deal (3 Mar 08)

The German carmaker announced Monday that it had won control of Scania, but is expected to maintain Scania’s engineering centres in Södertälje, near Stockholm.

It now holds 68.60 percent of the voting rights and 37.73 percent of the capital in the truck-maker after buying shares from the Wallenberg family for 2.9 billion euros ($4.4 billion).

“We’re not concerned,” Scania’s main workers union IF Metall said in a statement, adding that Volkswagen was “a good, long-term industrial owner.”

“The important thing for us is that Scania be able to continue as an independent company, with its own technological development and its own headquarters,” it added.

Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt also reacted positively to the news.

“Volkswagen has shown that it believes in Scania … They are willing to maintain the brand, the research and development, and the management here in Sweden,” he told Swedish news agency TT.

Read more »

Photo Credit: Saab-Scania of America, Inc.

The Saab-Scania Skip Barber Racing series took place according to my records, 1986 until 1991 when the president of Saab-Scania of America, Inc. Robert J. Sinclair, retired in September of 1991.

After going through a number of Saab-Soundings magazines recently acquired, I found that in volume 24, number 2 in 1986 there were photographs included here in this writeup that showcased the Saab-Scania Skip Barber racing series using SCANIA trucks as transport vehicles for the Skip Barber race cars.

I wonder if these SCANIA trucks are still available here in the United States? If they are, I think it would be kind of a nice throwback fashion where they could be updated and restored as transport vehicles once again, but this time for the Saab “Born From Jets” mobile hangar promotion series that Saab Automobile USA began as part of their new advertising slogan in the spring of 2005.

If anyone has any more material from the Saab-Scania Skip Barber arrangement, please contact Saab History so that I can include this material in the archive.

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

The Saab-Scania History Promotional Film from 1984 just arrived and is now available to watch. This vintage film was part of the group of 16mm films that were donated this past fall. The film is a bit shorter than I thought, but I think it is an interesting timeline of Saab-Scania’s history from 1891 until 1984.

A special thank you to everyone that donated to make this film viewing possible. I look forward to seeing the next film converted and at this time we only need about $100 in donations to get that film moving.

After enjoying this film, I only ask that you make a kind donation so that Saab History can continue to bring you an ongoing variety of vintage films and other content for years to come.

If you would like to contribute towards this effort, please click on the paypal button below to submit your donation.

* Please note: You do not need a paypal account to make a donation as the site allows secure payments from credit cards and debit cards as well.

As a follow-up a story I posted back in January on the SCANIA Young European Truck Driver Competition , Scania just crowned an Australian as the best truck driver in the Young Australian Truck Driver competition (YATD). Congratulations David Whyte on taking home a brand new Scania R480 Truck!

Australia’s best truck driver crowned by Scania
2007-04-02

27 year old David Whyte was crowned Australia’s best truck driver at the Young Australian Truck Driver 2007 final, taking place in Sydney past weekend. David Whyte is the first champion in Scania driver competitions 2007 taking place in close to 40 countries on five continents, aimed at identifying the world’s best truck drivers.

The driver competitions is a part of Scania’s global initiative to help raise the status of professional drivers and emphasise their great importance to both road safety and the profitability of transport companies.

David Whyte, from the Melbourne suburb of Glenhuntly, won the crown of Young Australian Truck Driver 2007 – and a brand new Scania truck – from 16 other finalists in a competition designed to test for instance their precision driving skills and road behaviour.

“People’s perceptions of truck drivers need to change. We are professional people who enjoy what we do and love driving. However, there is a need for greater understanding and tolerance on the roads by all drivers,” said David Whyte, who has been driving trucks for the past eight years

More than 1500 young Australian truck drivers had entered the nationwide competition. The competition has been undertaken by the Australian Trucking Association and Scania with the support of Shell, Continental Tyres, National Transport Insurance, Freighter and Fleetmark.

The most recent round of the world’s largest competition for heavy truck drivers was held in 2005 and attracted 30,000 contestants from 26 European countries as well as Argentina, Brazil, Taiwan and South Africa. Also competing in the 2007 competition, in addition to Australia, will be South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Botswana, Namibia and Tanzania. In Europe, Bulgaria has been added to the participating countries. The African countries, Malaysia and Singapore will also invite bus and coach drivers to compete for the title of best bus driver in their countries.

In addition to the competition rounds, Scania is organising road safety seminars in the participating countries, many of these in partnership with the World Health Organisation (WHO). Scania will be represented at WHO’s First United Nations Global Road Safety Week, 23-29 April 2007, and also at EU’s Road Safety Day in Brussels on 27 April.
Portraits of the winner David Whyte are available on Scania’s homepage.

It was recently brought to my attention that there is an original Saab-Scania Intercity Bus for sale made in 1988 in Orange, Connecticut located in Hawaii. It is interesting to note that you probably do not need to repaint the exterior because it is already in Swedish Yellow and Blue.

There are plenty of opportunities with a Saab-Scania bus, including converting it to a motor-home here.

I was surprised to see the government auction as low as it was for this authentic Saab-Scania vehicle.

Here are the specifications below.

SAAB-SCANIA 48 SEAT PASSENGER BUS; YEAR 1988, VIN IS9N11643JC098192, MODEL# CN112CLU, ALL WINDOWS AND DOORS INTACT, BUS STARTS AND DRIVES, NEEDS BATTERIES, NO KEY REQUIRED, PUSH BUTTON IGNITION, 3 SPEED TRANSMISSION, HYDRAULIC DRIVER SEAT, CONTROLS AND CONSOLE INTACT, GOOD MIRRORS, AIR CONDITIONING WORKS, 6 CYLINDER DIESEL ENGINE MODEL# DS1125, WITH DRIVE BELTS, 36VOLT BATTERY SYSTEM, ALL LIGHTS OPERABLE, 34, 171 MILEAGE.

For more information and to place your bid, please visit this site

Here is another one of my most favorite photographs depicting the former Saab-Scania, Inc. partnership featuring all of their products.

For the record, Saab-Scania, Inc. began in 1969 and concluded in 1994.

The House of Sweden here in Washington, D.C. has recently started their “Cars & Transportation” program exhibit.

This exhibit started on January 12th and runs until March 23rd. I managed to stop in this morning to snap a few photos of their exhibits and I find the layout and organization quite easy on the eyes and very well done. I also got probably one of the best experiences at the House of Sweden by being the first one to arrive to see walk through the exhibit without really anyone else around.

One of the exhibits I found interesting was a photographic exploration of American Truckers and truck cabs by Annica Karlsson Rixon, a Swedish Photographer known as “On The Road”. Annica Karlsson Rixon lived and worked in the mid-ninetees on the West Coast of the United States where she took photos over the course of 1999 of these American Truckers. Karlsson Rixon is presently working with the Swedish College of photography.

There is an excellent writeup by Petter Österlund of the Fotomuseet in Sundsvall and Anna-Maria Svensson of the Swedish Institute that you should pick up while you are there.

I have provided a photograph of her collage installation of these photos below.

An excellent exhibit to see in person. For more information on visiting the House of Sweden, visit their website at http://www.houseofsweden.com/>

The SCANIA R-Series 480 is the truck that the first place competitor wins at the Young European Truck Driver competition this year. I thought it would be appropriate to provide some details about this model, although the data I found was for the previous years R470, I believe this close to equivalent in terms of specifications and technical details.

Unique Scania turbocompound technology and Scania HPI boosts performance, economy and productivity.

Cab:
Topline, Highline, R sleeper, R day.
470 Engine:
12-litre inline 6 (Scania Turbocompound).
Euro 3 peak outputs: 470 hp (345 kW) and 2200 Nm
Euro 4 peak outputs: 470 hp (345 kW) and 2200 Nm

Peak outputs:
470 hp (345 kW) and 2200 Nm.
Special features:
Scania Turbocompound and Scania HPI fuel injection.

Tractors:
4×2, 6×2, 6×2 twin-steer, 6×4.
Suspension:
Full-air or air/steel.
All available with normal or low chassis height (6×2 normal height only) for long-haulage and distribution. High chassis available for construction.

Rigids:
4×2, 6×2, 6×2 twin-steer, 6×4, 8×2, 8×4, 8×2 rear-steer, 8×4 twin-steer.
Suspension:
Full-air or air/steel; all-steel available on construction and heavy-duty vehicles. Normal or low chassis height for highway vehicles, normal or high for construction.

Options:
Scania Opticruise, Scania Retarder

SCANIA is sponsoring the Young European Truck Driver competition again, in its 3rd year running. I find that the skills driving tests, knowledge and overall information communicated to the drivers in this event are extremely important for public safety.

While it is impressive that SCANIA gives away a 100,000 Euro brand new SCANIA R-Series truck to the first-plate winner, it would be interesting to see a program like this with Saab Automobile. Individuals that have not bought a brand new Aero, but would like to hone their skills with the Saab Automobile’s Aero Academy with a chance to win a brand new Saab, could easily be enticed to go out and buy a new Saab after having experienced the Aero Academy, opposed to having to buy a new Aero just to participate.

Below is the press release from SCANIA on the Young European Truck Driver 2007 competition.

Welcome to
Young European Truck Driver 2007!

The Young European Truck Driver competition is back again for 2007, which means the search to find Europe’s most skilful driver is on once more – and with a top prize of a brand new Scania R-series truck valued at 100,000 Euros at stake, this is one event no young driver should miss!

In this competition, the driver is truly in focus – in fact he or she is right in the driver’s seat. The driver is by far the most important player in the transport operation. A skilled and well-trained driver has a greater chance of avoiding accidents and thus saving lives, at the same time as less fuel is consumed and maintenance costs for the haulage company are reduced. A good driving style also contributes to more uniform flow of traffic, and thus also a reduction in global fuel consumption and emissions.

Drivers of heavy trucks born in 1972 or later can take part in the competition. Local qualifying rounds will take place during June and July 2007 at the Heritage Motor Centre, Gaydon, Warwickshire. You start with filling in the theoretical test about regulations and safety issues then you have to prove your skill at practical tests such as precision manoeuvring, check before driving and economical and defensive driving.

The national finals will be followed by the European final featuring the winners from all the various countries, to be held at Scania’s head office in Södertälje 21-22 September 2007.

Scania driver competitions and Young European Truck Driver (YETD) is yet another step in Scania’s long-term drive to improve road safety and the status of professional drivers. It also fits in well with the European Commission’s safety target of halving the number of traffic fatalities by 2010.

Stages of the YETD competition:

Stage one: Application
It is possible to apply online or by ordinary mail. Application forms to can be found at Scania dealers around the country and in the Truck media. The most convenient way, however, is to click “Apply now” at the top of this web site.

Stage two: Qualifying round
When you have sent in your registration, you will receive a questionnaire link by e-mail or an ordinary mail. The questionnaire consists of questions regarding truck technology, traffic rules, dangerous goods etc.

How the test works online: When you have sent in your application, you will receive an e-mail with a unique link to the questionnaire. You click this link (or copy it and paste into your browser) and follow the instructions on the web page. Please note, you can only do the test once!
How the test works offline: You will receive a mail with a questionnaire. Fill it out, send it back to the address provided.

Stage three: Regional rounds.
If you score well on the questionnaire, you will be among the ones that are picked out to go to the next round. This will take place at centrally located at the Heritage Motor Centre, Gaydon, Warwickshire.
Practical test: Manoeuvring, fuel efficient driving, defensive driving and check-before-driving. Selection of regional winners to be invited to the national final.

Stage four: National final.
Winners from the regional final are invited to national final, which take place at one centrally located the Heritage Motor Centre, Gaydon, Warwickshire on 15th July 2007.
Practical test: manoeuvring, fuel efficient driving, defensive driving and vehicle checks and first-aid.

Stage five: European final.
The National winner and two runners-up will travel to the European final in Sweden 21-22 September 2007.
Practical test: manoeuvring, fuel-efficient driving, defensive driving and check-before-driving. A great event with loads of activities, prizes and young truck drivers from around Europe.

Prizes – European final 2007

1st prize:
The winning driver receives a new R-series truck, value: approx. 100,000 euro.

2nd prize:
“MotoGP and Michelin” - an exceptional and unforgetable weekend for you and a friend as VIP guests at the 2007 MotoGP World Championship final in Valencia.

3rd prize:
A visit to the home of Ferrari and the city of Maranello.  See the world famous factory where the successful Formula 1 cars and other top class Ferrari cars are manufactured.  Visit the test track and the ‘Galleria’, the Ferrari historic museum.

During 2007 the Scania driver competitions will be held not only in Europe, but also in Australia, South Africa, South America, and some Asian countries.

For more information on the Young European Truck Driver 2007 competition, please visit the following site http://yetd.scania.com/UK/Start/

On the topic of the Saab-Scania intercity buses that were made in Orange, Connecticut in the mid-ninteen eightees there was one individual that took one of them to quite a creative extreme. This owner took the Saab-Scania CN 112 bus and converted it into a motor home with every possible amenity. Take a look at the photos and specifications below.

For more information, visit the owner’s website directly at. Saab-Scania CN112 Conversion Home

Specs:

* 1986 Saab Scania Conversion
* 102″ Wide x 40′ Long
* Turbo Charged 6 Cyl w/ 6 speed Automatic
* New Tires
* Air Ride Package
* Air Leveling w/gauges and controls
* Back Up Camera
* Custom Dash
* Remote Side Mirrors w/heat
* CB Radio
* Generator
* 2 Roof Airs
* 40 Gal Fresh Water Tank
* Cloth Awnings on all windows
* Leather Interior
* Satellite Dish/Cable TV Hook Up
* 19″ TV in Front Area
* 13″ TV in Rear Bedroom
* Queen Size Bed in Read Bedroom
* 32″ Neo Angled Shower
* Convection Oven
* 3 Burner Top
* 3 Way Refrigerator
* Built in Cabinets
* This is a Must See Conversion

Interior Photos: