SAAB always played second fiddle – in motor industry terms, at least – to their bigger and more successful Swedish competitors, Volvo. While both placed heavy emphasis on safety, SAAB made even more of their expertise in aircraft manufacture, fighter jets in particular, to elevate their image. Although they played on this link in much of their advertising, the reality was that there was very little crossover between their aircraft and car divisions, but it made for good copy. And in case you still didn’t get it, there was the logo on every car…
The company attracted a particular kind of buyer for their cars – while safety conscious, they wanted a sportier image (which SAAB had, thanks to their considerable rallying success), and wanted cars that looked a bit less conservative than their Swedish cousins. Apparently architects were a group that bought heavily into the SAAB aesthetic. I don’t know how true that was, but in any case, SAAB were always deemed to be cooler than Volvo.
Through the 1950’s and ‘60’s, their range was based on the teardrop-shaped and aerodynamically very efficient 92, 93 and 96-series, and besides competing successfully in rallying events the world over, they also competed well in their market segment, establishing the company in the small family car sector with increasing sales success, with over 620,000 sold, 88% of them the 96. By the mid ‘60’s, however, if SAAB were to be more than a maker of small aerodynamic saloons, they needed to expand their model range.
However, resources were limited, so a co-operation with Triumph to share the 1.7 (later 1.85)-litre unit that the Coventry company installed in the Dolomite was one way of keeping development costs under control, leading to the introduction in 1968 of the SAAB 99, which took the brand into the executive sector, where the 99 did rather well. In fact, it did so well that they built it for 18 years, adding the SAAB 99 Turbo in 1978, one of the earlier production turbocharged cars which proved another image boost (pun intended). I drove one of them as part of a test day while at BL, and it was a lot of fun – the kick in the back from the turbo was pretty dramatic.
As the ‘70’s progressed, it too began to date, and in 1978 the company brought out the 900 series, which actually was manufactured in parallel with the 99 for a few years – manufacture of the 99 ceased in 1984 after 588,643 had been built – and continued in production for twenty years in total. Long production runs were clearly a habit at Trollhättan, one that was maintained with the 9000 that was built for a decade and a half alongside the 900.
In amongst the 92, 93, 96, 99 and 900, however, came a model that very few people are familiar with or have forgotten about – certainly I’d forgotten about it – and that’s the short-lived offspring of a cross-breeding programme between the 99 and the 900, badged as the 90. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that the 90 was basically a superior cut-and-shut of the back-end of a 900 and the front half of a 99.
It was intended as a continuation of the 99 and one story goes that the first version was in fact a combination of the rear of the 99 and front of the 900, but it looked too similar to the 900 so the decision was made to switch the car around.
The SAAB 90 was built in Finland, and stayed in production for just three years, from 1984 to 1987. 25,378 were manufactured and of that number, some 10,000 were sold in Sweden, with other (relatively) significant markets including Germany, The Netherlands and the UK – it never found its way across the Atlantic.
10cm longer than a 99 and 18cm shorter than a 900, the 90 is a compromise between the two in every way. It came with a 2-litre carburettor-fed engine that produced a fairly modest 100bhp, so performance was nothing to shout about; when testing the 90, Motor magazine couldn’t reach 100mph. They liked its equipment level, fit and finish, but were less impressed with the gearbox whine, performance, fuel economy and lack of two rear doors.
The 90 was sold with a pretty good standard of equipment – a heated driver’s seat for those chilly Nordic winters, remote door mirrors, velour upholstery, headlamp wash wipe and a folding rear seat were all included in the base price. A four-speed ‘box was standard, although a 5-speed could be ordered as an option.
It was not a car seen in numbers in the UK and even less so now (neither is the 99, come to that) – I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen one, though if I had, I would probably have mistaken it for a 99. According to howmanyleft.com, there are 11 remaining on the road here and another 28 SORN, more than I would have expected.
Our Prime Find this week is one of these mongrel SAAB’s – it’s a 1987 example for sale in Halmstad, Sweden and is described as being as “original from the factory”. It’s finished in a very pale blue that really suits the car, with light grey velour seats and similarly coloured door cards, a very smart combination. The paintwork is original and the vendor – this is a private sale – claims that apart from a few dents in the bonnet, the finish is “almost perfect”.
It certainly looks well cared for, the interior appears to be in excellent condition, and the car has covered fewer than 110,000kms (68,350 miles) so has been only lightly used.
The asking price is €8,400 (about £7200), but with no other 90’s currently for sale, it’s hard to know whether this is a good price or not. It would buy you an interesting piece of Swedish motoring history, even though it would not be obvious to most people until they saw the badge on the right rear, and even then many might assume the second zero had dropped off the number 900, so this would be a very subtle way of standing out from the crowd. So subtle, in fact, that you probably won’t stand out at all, which is how some people like it.
You can see the full advert here, and as usual, if this interesting and rare SAAB is tempting, we recommend arranging an inspection if possible.
With our Saturday instalment of Prime Find of the Week, we’re offering our services to the classic car community, by passing on our favourite classic car for sale from the week that passed. This top-tip might help a first-time-buyer to own his first classic, or it could even be the perfect motivation for a multiple-classic-car-owner to expand his garage with something different. We’ll let us be inspired by anything from a cheap project to a stunning concours exotic, and hope that you will do the same.
Just remember – Any Classic is Better than No Classic! We obviously invite our readers to help prospective buyers with your views and maybe even experiences of any given model we feature. Further to that, if you stumble across a classic which you feel we ought to feature as Prime Find of the Week, then please send us a link to primefindoftheweek@viaretro.co.uk