Saab 99
| Saab 99 | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Overview | |
| Manufacturer | Saab |
| Production | 1968–1984 |
| Designer | Sixten Sason |
| Body and chassis | |
| Class | Compact executive car (D) |
| Body style | 2/4-door saloon 3/5-door combi coupé |
| Layout | Longitudinal front-engine, front-wheel drive |
| Powertrain | |
| Engine | |
| Transmission | 4/5-speed manual 3-speed Borg-Warner 35 automatic |
| Chronology | |
| Predecessor | None |
| Successor |
Saab 90 Saab 900 |
The Saab 99 was a compact executive car produced by Saab from 1968 to 1984. It was manufactured both in Sweden and Finland.
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 on November 22, 1967.
The first prototypes of the 99 were built by cutting a Saab 96 lengthwise and widening it by 20 centimetres (7.9 in); this created the so-called Paddan (The toad), 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 (1979-1984) 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 (later 1.85 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 run of 48 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.
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Wikipedia