What’s so special about Swedish steel? And Saab’s cars are synonymous with what we popularly call “Swedish steel” to many around the world. A large part of its reputation in the field of car safety in traffic, in addition to of course engineering and design solutions, the company Saab owes to this “Swedish steel”.
Sweden has relatively small but very high-quality iron ore deposits. Also, Sweden does not have too much coal that is needed in the process of making steel. Still, the Swedes were smart enough to decide to use their ore sources and limited coal supply to produce only the highest quality steel. And not only that, they have developed a lot of skill in this process for centuries and brought it almost to perfection. Hence the well-deserved reputation of Swedish steel, which gives Saab cars special toughness and security.
And here’s the real example Andrew Williams passed on to a group of enthusiasts gathered around the Saab GB club. If you’ve ever wondered how solid the Saab is, Andrew conveys the impressions of the Catseye Rescue team that did a training day last week at the Saabtec service in Glossop, and on that occasion, the team cut out one wrecked Saab 9-3 Sportwagon.
The rescue team eventually managed to cut the Saab car somewhere, but they were all impressed with the quality of the (Swedish) steel built into the Saab car.
They’ve never had anything like it, usually, on these training days it’s like tearing tissue paper but the 9-3 put up a mighty fight. 4 layers of steel on the n/s B pillar took 2 blades on the saw and it was a few attempts with the jaws on the o/s! – Andrew reported.
Throughout its history, Saab has always advertised its cars as strong, but you never find out until you find yourself in a difficult situation, or like this at a demonstration exercise.