Last week, I finally got to travel to Trollhättan to visit the Saab Car Museum at the Box - it lived up to every one of my expectations.
Considering my love of Saab, this has been a long awaited trip, it's been on my wish list for many years, but the limited time period of the Box, made me take action and visit. This will be one of many posts related to the collection, as I found so many of the Saabs shown inspirational , and being a 9000, this particular car just ticks all the boxes so to speak.
'The Saab Ecosport is a high-performance car that has been evolved to reflect Saab’s regard for the environment. The Saab Ecosport illustrates the vast development potential on the Saab concept.'
'This concept car was showcased at the Geneva Motor Show in 1992 and demonstrated a range of innovations primarily in the powertrain and environmental areas. With the new Trionic engine management system, Saab set the standards in terms of performance, exhaust emissions and fuel consumption. Additionally, it could run on alternative fuels such as methanol and ethanol. A heat storage unit connected to the cooling system stored heat for the next cold start and reduced exhaust emissions. The Sensonic automatic clutch, in combination with 17” Super Aero wheels and low-profile, low-rolling-resistance tyres, added to the driving pleasure.'
The more you study this very special 9000, the more innovation you notice, the sunroof for instance features solar cells that would power the interior ventilation, technology that eventually appeared in the early Audio RS6, and later, the Fisker Karma. It had a thermo accumulator to improve cold Winter starts, heat absorbing windows, UV headlights and a low emission, high performance engine, capable of running on various fuels. Of course, the visibly wonderful Super Aero alloys had me completely fixated, with their larger 17" diameter and more purposeful form to cater for the large, 4 piston calipers and uprated front vented discs.
Not content with just the museum's explanation of this amazing Saab, I did a little more research and discovered that Saab Héritage in Paris can recreate an almost perfect replica of the Ecosport model, with some beautifully considered details, and of course, the all important 17" Super Aero wheels, 35 000,00 €.
Apologies if you see a few too many posts related to the museum, but I found it exceptionally exciting, also managing to talk to some of the volunteers who shared wonderful memories or their time working at Saab was an absolute privilege, thanks to all the wonderful people in Trollhättan who've made this collection possible for all of us to enjoy.