Unfortunately, as we all know, Saab no longer builds new cars, although the Swedish brand's vehicles had a good reputation and stood for reliability and innovation. It is therefore worthwhile to understand the individual model series in more detail. Saab driver Martin Gollnick has dedicated himself to the 99, 90 and 900 series, resulting in the book entitled "Saab 99, 90 & 900 - 1968 - 1998".
Three, respectively two, respectively four model series
After an introduction in which the author rolls up the history of Saab and points out the many innovations of the Swedish car manufacturer, the history of the Saab 99, 900, 90 and 900-II follows. The individual models are briefly characterized, the development is discussed and then the changes from year to year.
And so you learn that the Saab 90 was actually a reissued Saab 99, which simply had to adapt to the new numbering rules (900, 9000).
Lots of brochure material
Gollnick, who normally works as an editor at Motorbuch Verlag, mainly uses brochure material as well as factory photos for illustration and documentation purposes. The reproduction of the brochures is certainly useful, but naturally incomplete, as less than 100 pages naturally only allow a selection.
Nevertheless, the author manages to present an interesting cross-section of excerpts. There's even space for see-through illustrations and technical diagrams. Color samples and interior fittings are also included. Of course, this does not make the short booklet a guide for restorers, as it lacks completeness.
Concise text
In addition to the many illustrations, the text is almost a little too short. It is also often necessary to look for the continuation a few pages further back.
It would have been nice to read more about the development of the Saab 99 engine, where the press at the time spoke of a joint development with Ricardo/Triumph, but Wikipedia today speaks of a takeover of a Triumph engine. And so there would certainly be an interesting story behind some of the Saab innovations, which unfortunately did not find a place in the booklet due to lack of space.
No tables
Gollnik's book completely lacks the tables that we are accustomed to seeing in works of this kind. Comparative technical data and, above all, production/quantity tables would be just as interesting as price information from back then, some of which can be found somewhere on brochure pages or in the text of the book, but not in a complete and clearly arranged form.
The lack of a keyword index is understandable given the brevity of the book.
Inexpensive
However, it must also be said that the 96-page booklet only costs EUR 12.95, hardly more than a car magazine. In return, you get a lot of interesting information about the Saab models discussed in a bundled and bound form. Perhaps the 900-II, which is based on Opel technology, could even have been left out and the pages devoted to the other models, resulting in a more self-contained work.
And perhaps the proofreaders could have looked a little more closely, in which case errors such as "trapezoidal triangular elongations" (instead of triangular steering arms) or mixed present/past forms would have been noticed. Overall, however, these are hardly disturbing and will hardly put off Saab fans.
Bibliographical information
- Title: Saab 99, 90 & 900 - 1968 - 1998
- Author: Martin Gollnick
- Language: German
- Publisher: Motorbuch Verlag
- Edition: 1st edition March 2018
- Format: Hardcover, 240 x 220 mm
- Scope: 96 pages, 91 color and 4 black and white images
- ISBN: 978-3-613-04077-9
- Price: EUR 12.95
- Buy: Online at amazon.de, online at Motorbuch-Verlag or at the relevant bookstore
