I spotted this 1978 Saab 99 Turbo 16V Aero owned by John Webber at the 2009 Carlisle Import/Kit-Replicar Nationals back in May. It sits lowered on a set of 16″ Saab 9000 wheels and sports a custom front air dam for a pretty aggressive yet clean look. The bright orange 99T definitely stood out amongst all the other Saabs in attendance.
I don’t think we’ve ever featured any Saabs on MotorMavens before, but I thought it would be appropriate considering today’s news. Following two decades of mismanaging and after nearly a year of failed attempts to find a buyer for Saab, GM announced earlier that the quirky Scandinavian automaker would begin shutting down operations.
I’ve never really been that into Saabs but I did appreciate their, for lack of a better term, quirkiness (I tried using a thesaurus but there simply is no better word to describe the brand).
RIP
:: Dan Hsu
Sad news sort of… The thought has crossed my mind to take advantage of Saab’s late 90’s/early 2000’s fender lips for flush fitment…
Saab turbo performance is pretty big it seems in the EU, I’m sure there’s tons of sad Saab Fans. This orange one looks cool! They’re def’ quirky.
I always thought SAAB’s were a bit weird but those Turbos were quite popular and the beastly one my sister bought after high school was a tank in any weather. Hopefully they’ll figure it out and come back one day.
between saturn, pontiac, and saab, its saab that im most depressed about, theyve always been the quirky, small, skitish cars owned by college physics profs. Im gonna miss em, so go buy your saab 92s now before they jack up in price!!
Reminds me of an RX-3. Definitely a nice Saab. Remember riding in one when I was a kid a 9000s. I believed it had a turbo. Ahh my first taste in Luxury.
GM killied Saab ! too bad for a pioneer brand always ahaid of its time !!! was good in rally’s too …
RIP
Idiosyncracies?
Great looking car, and anything made in a town thats name translates to “troll’s hat” is gotta be good. Wonder if there’s a brewery or distillery in Trollhattan?
BTW, Saab may make it through yet, keep your fingers crossed: http://jalopnik.com/5430619/saab-not-yet-dead
troll’s hat? what are you talking about? i dont get it
That’s my 1978 99T 16V Aero, I would like to get some of the original photos you may have. Email me please! CC my work email johnw@pkcomp.com. Thanks!
Hi John!
The photos were taken by Dan Hsu. He is an editor for Japanese Nostalgic Car Magazine. You can reach him through his website, http://www.japanesenostalgiccar.com
Saab is still alive and well, Spyker bought them from GM.
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Oh my days this is awesome! I’ve just bought one of these on the cheap and was looking for some inspiration and this is it! Although it needs some matt black paint and slamming on air bags!