From greatest hits to lowest moments, everything you ever wanted to know... and a fair bit you didn’t
WORDS SAM BURNETT & GREG POTTS
What’s Saab and when did it start making cars?
Saab Automobile was started in 1945 by Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget (Swedish Aeroplane Corporation), or Saab. With plane demand tailing off after World War Two, Saab diversified into cars, its first model – the 92 – arriving in December 1949. Initial cars were all green as there was a job lot of camo paint left over.
Saab merged with truck maker Scania in 1969 and came under the authority of Sweden’s powerful, filthy rich Wallenberg dynasty. A deal with Fiat saw a lot of rebadging activity in the Seventies, but the firm’s iconic 900 model arrived in 1978 – over a million of them would end up getting built.
Saab was separated off in 1989, 50 per cent each for General Motors and the Wallenbergs, then GM bought the lot in 2000. This era meant sharing bits with Vauxhalls, but GM never got to grips with its Swedish offshoot and the company went into administration in 2009. Koenigsegg stepped in, but the deal fell through. Saab was sold to Dutch sports car outfit Spyker in 2010, then Chinese and Russian investors got involved and GM refused to continue providing its engineering. Saab died in 2014, and despite the efforts of a Chinese consortium in the late 2010s, remains firmly expired.
Saab’s greatest hits
01
Saab 92
Saab’s first ever production car arrived in 1949 with its aerodynamic teardrop shape following on from the wonderful Ursaab prototype. The 92 managed a drag coefficient of just 0.35 and was powered by a 25bhp (ish) two-stroke engine.
02
Saab 99 Turbo
The first Saab to be fitted with a turbocharger and a car that would define the company’s future engine choices. The little Garrett turbo fitted to the 99’s 2.0-litre Triumph slant-four engine boosted power to around 133bhp.
03
Saab 96 Sport
The rally prepped Saab 96s of the early Sixties weren’t actually fantastic cars. They were heavy and underpowered compared to rivals, but they had a secret weapon in the form of Swedish driver Erik Carlsson. He won the Monte Carlo Rally twice and the RAC Rally three times in a row.
04
Saab 900 Turbo CarlssonBearing the name of Erik Carlsson and a gloriously over-the-top bodykit, the Carlsson
