Saab 99

The Saab 99 is a car produced by Swedish manufacturer Saab from 1968 to 1984, their first foray into a larger class than the Saab 96. While considered a large family car in Scandinavia, it was marketed as a niche compact executive car in most other markets. It was manufactured both in Sweden and Finland and was succeeded by the Saab 900, although the 99 continued to be produced alongside its successor. The Saab 90, an updated, less complex version using many 900 parts took over from the 99 in late 1984.

Development

On 2 April 1964, Gudmund's day in Sweden, after several years of planning, the Saab board started Project Gudmund. This was a project to develop a new and larger car to take the manufacturer beyond the market for the smaller Saab 96. This new car became the Saab 99, designed by Sixten Sason and unveiled in Stockholm on November 22, 1967.
The first prototypes of the 99 were built by cutting a Saab 96 lengthwise and widening it by ; this created the so-called Paddan, which was a disguise for the new project. After that phase, also as a disguise, the first 99 body shell was badged "Daihatsu" as that name could be made up out of the badging available for the Saab Sport.
The 99 was not only built in Saab's own Trollhättan Assembly - some variants were built by the Finnish Valmet Automotive in Uusikaupunki from 1969 onwards; the last five years of this production was alongside the Finnish built version of the Talbot Horizon, which shared a similar high quality velour upholstery to the 99.
Although Saab engineers liked the company's existing two-stroke engine, it was decided that a four-stroke engine was necessary, and the choice was a 1.7 L engine from Triumph. This was the same Triumph Slant-4 engine used in the Triumph Dolomite, but the Saab version was fitted with a Zenith-Stromberg CD carburetor developed specially for Saab. A number of Saab 99s were equipped with a Triumph Stag V8, but the V8 was later dropped in favour of a turbocharged unit which later powered the 99 Turbo.
A three-door estate version was planned from the start, but never made it into production. In 1971 the work on an estate was restarted, this time as a five-door.

Description and reception

The first engine used in the original 99 was a four-cylinder inline engine which was tilted at 45 degrees. The 1709 cc Triumph-sourced engine produced SAE gross at 5500 rpm. The engine was conventionally water-cooled, but unlike most cars of the time it had an electric cooling fan.
Triumph soon upgraded the engine to 1.85 L; the appearance in February 1971 of the four-door Saab 99 coincided with the adoption of the new, bored-out, 1854 cc unit. Saab experienced reliability problems with the Triumph-sourced engines and decided to bring the design in-house. From September 1972 the 1985 cc Saab B engine was used. During the lifetime of the 99 model, several subsequent engine developments took place, including the incorporation of fuel injection for some versions.
The 99 was front-wheel-drive, its engine being fitted in a reverse longitudinal position similar to other pre-transverse engine designs like the Citroën Traction Avant, orienting the clutch towards the front to place the weight of the engine behind the gearbox to avoid nose heaviness. Drive to the under-mounted gearbox was by triplex chain. Front-wheel-drive was still a relatively uncommon configuration at the time of the 99's introduction, although traditional in Saabs.
The bonnet was front-hinged and the panel extended over the front wheel-arches. The windscreen was 'wrap-around' and very deep for the era. The A-pillar had a steep angle, providing excellent driver visibility. The drag coefficient was 0.37 while other cars of the time had 0.4 to 0.5. The chassis was also designed for passive safety, with deformation zones front and rear.
Due to the American sealed beam headlamp requirement in place at the time, the USA models had a special front fascia with four round headlights instead of the two rectangular units it had in other markets. The "US front" then became an item for car customisers in Europe, and vice versa.
Early 99s carried over the freewheel transmission from the Saab 96, but the freewheel was removed with the introduction of the 1.85 L engine, likely on account of the extra power that the apparatus would have to transmit. The handbrake was on the front wheels.
The 99 was Saab's last factory rally car, first in EMS guise and later as the Turbo version. The Saab 99 Turbo was one of the first 'family cars' to be fitted with a turbo after the 1962-63 Oldsmobile Turbo Jetfire; other contemporary turbocharged automobiles were 'specialised' vehicles and were difficult to drive. Popular Mechanics lists the Saab 99 Turbo as number two on its Top Ten list of turbocharged cars of all time.
The UK's "" magazine summarised their view of the 99 as follows: "That the 99 is comfortable, well-made, satisfying to drive and well-equipped ought to mean that other makers should take heed. The BMW 2002 and Alfa Romeo Giulia are the SAAB 99's main rivals. I would contend here that SAAB has the advantage of them, and should SAAB choose to fit an even more powerful motor, the 99 could be a class leader in a short space of time."
Australia's Wheels magazine wrote in a July 1978 road test of the 99 Turbo, "Compare the top-gear times and you'll see that the Turbo is almost as fast between and in fourth gear as any five-seater in the world". Modern Motor of August 1978 wrote; "It is necessary to drive the car to believe that such a seemingly endless surge of strong acceleration is possible from a 2.0 L engine in a far from lightweight car".
Popular Science wrote "It's in the Peugeot/Volvo price class, but in the Colt/Dasher fuel-economy class; and the little four-cylinder overhead-cam engine gives this car V8 agility" and "No American made engine since 1968 can compare with this kind of driveability, and earlier ones are still not equal to the Saab"
A police version of the 99 was also built. The hood/bonnet of the 99 caused problems for the police livery team. Since it wraps around, covering the wheel arches, the paint had to be extended up onto the hood panel and not restricted to just the fenders as on other cars.
The Saab 99 featured a heating duct leading to the rear window - a lever between the front seats controlled the de-fogging airflow. The 99 featured a floor-located ignition switch which also locked the gear stick. This arrangement required drivers to select reverse gear before the ignition key could be removed.

Models

E —Introduced for 1970, the 99E was originally only available in a two-door version. The 99 E had the 1709 cc engine displacement Triumph engine giving from Bosch Type-D Jetronic fuel injection instead of the Zenith-Stromberg carburetors. The original carbureted engine produced. Fuel consumption was 7.8 L/100 km at 105–110 km/h.
EMS—Introduced in 1972, the EMS was a sportier model that was originally only available in a two-door version. Engine was equipped from 1972 to 1974 with Bosch D-jetronic and from 1975 on with Bosch K-Jetronic mechanical fuel injection. Despite the fuel system change, letter "e" was kept in model name. In 1977 the EMS became available in the three-door 'wagonback' body that was introduced for standard models in 1974. It had a stiffer suspension and was sold in yellow or a copper coral metallic paint in 1973, Sterling Silver or Sunset orange in 1974, black or Sterling silver in 1975 and 1976, black, Sterling silver, or Cardinal red in 1977, and Sterling silver or Cardinal red in '78. The new Swedish-built engine had 1985 cc displacement giving and a top speed of. The grille badge differed from the more basic models in 1973 and 1974 only. Other features through the years included quicker steering, luxury interior, soccerball wheels, carpeted trunk, and front air dam.
SSE—Sold in the US to satisfy demand while the EMS was not yet available there. The SSE had a black or burled walnut vinyl roof cover, a BorgWarner automatic transmission and a 1.85-litre Triumph engine.
X7—Introduced in 1973. A very basic model only sold in Sweden and Denmark. The car had no self-repairing bumpers and it also had the same seats as the V4 Saabs, although these did not include electric heating elements. A simpler heating and ventilation system was also installed. The clock, cigarette lighter, glove compartment and the rear window defogger were also dropped.
L—Luxe. A budget model introduced in 1973 that came with the 1.85 L engine.
LE—Equipped with the same fuel-injected engine as the EMS; unknown what years it was produced.
GL—Grand Luxe.
GLE—Grand Luxe with E for INJECTION not executive, introduced in 1976. This was the top model, equipped with fuel injection, power steering, and an automatic transmission.
GLs—Grand Luxe Super. It was the same as a GL but with two carburetors instead of one. It had compared to the in the single-carburetor version.
Turbo—Introduced in 1978, although 100 pre-series cars were built in 1977. The 99 Turbo was fitted with a turbocharged version of the 2-litre engine. The body was originally a 3-door combi coupé version but later in 1979-80 the company produced a two-door model, which was a limited homologation exercise to enable the production of a rally car. It was available in Cardinal red, Sterling silver, Anthracite grey, and Black; the two-door was available in silver, cardinal red and metallic green. The Turbo S was a special model with factory-mounted water injection, giving an extra 15–20 PS. In 1978 there was a very limited edition of a little over 100 five-door 99 Turbos. They were only available in Cardinal red.
Finlandia—A limousine version of the Saab 99 GLE combi coupé with a longer wheelbase was introduced in 1977 by Valmet in Uusikaupunki, Finland. The Swedish head office was not too fond of this model or the concept of making an executive car out of the 5-door combi coupe. And so it was only sold in Finland and never given an official designation by Trollhättan. It was available from local dealers as the Saab 99 "Finlandia". The first year had a short extension piece between the front and rear doors. In 1978 the wheelbase was slightly shortened to longer than in the standard model but arguably more elegant in execution. The elongation was done discreetly by adding to all four doors, however inside the change was distinct only in the backseat, with significantly increased rear legroom. Three late 99 Finlandias were fitted with turbocharged engines and manual transmissions at the factory.
Petro-Multifuel engine designed to run on either gasoline or kerosene. Produced 1979–1981 in Uusikaupunki and only sold in Finland. Developed due raising fuel prices to be an alternative or replacement for a diesel engine which was missing from Saab's model line.