Saab History

How did Cozy Powell die in Saab 9000?

Cozy Powell drummer for Black Sabbath and Saab fanRemembering Cozy Powell: Tragic Death of Iconic Rock Drummer in High-Speed Car Accident

Colin Trevor “Cozy” Powell (29 December 1947 – 5 April 1998) was an English rock drummer, who made his name with many major rock bands and artists like The Jeff Beck Group, Rainbow, Robert Plant, Whitesnake and Black Sabbath. On this day Powell was killed when his powerful Saab 9000 Turbo blew a tire – He was a great Saab fan.

Cozy Powell died on April 5, 1998 following a car crash, driving his Saab 9000 Turbo at 104 mph-167km/h in bad weather on the M4 motorway near Bristol, while talking to his girlfriend on his mobile phone. He was not wearing a seatbelt and was over the drink-drive limit.

The girlfriend of rock star Cozy Powell listened on the phone as his car spun out of control at 104mph, killing him instantly, an inquest has heard. Ms Reeve said she heard a “terribly loud noise” then Mr Powell said “Oh shit” followed by silence. She phoned the emergency services when she was unable to ring Mr Powell back. He was pronounced dead on arrival at Frenchay Hospital in Bristol.

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The Saab suffered a rear tyre puncture shortly afterwards that sent it spinning out of control. It hit the central reservation and rolled several times before coming to rest on a grass verge. He was well known for his love of fast cars and even raced Mazda saloons for a brief period in the mid-seventies.

He loved his cars (a Saab 9000 and a Ferrari) and motorbikes probably as much as his drums. At one point he quit the music business to pursue auto racing full time, becoming a Formula Three Racer.

Cozy & Neil Murray at at the Ferrari factory in Maranello, Italy in 1993 during the Brian May/Guns n’ Roses tour.
Cozy & Neil Murray at at the Ferrari factory in Maranello, Italy in 1993 during the Brian May/Guns n’ Roses tour.
Goran Aničić
the authorGoran Aničić
For over 15 years, Goran Aničić has been passionately focused on Saab automobiles and everything related to them. His initial encounter with Saab cars took place back in 2003 when the first Saab 9-3 and sedan version were introduced. At that moment, he was captivated by the car's Scandinavian design logic and top-notch engineering, and everything that followed stemmed from that first encounter. Later on, through his work at the editorial team of the Serbian automotive magazines "Autostart" and later "AutoBild," he had the opportunity to engage more closely with Saab vehicles. In 2008, he tested the latest Saab cars of that time, such as the Saab 9-3 TTiD Aero and Saab 9-3 Turbo X. In 2010, as the sole blogger from the region, he participated in the Saab 9-5ng presentation in Trollhättan, Sweden. Alongside journalists from around the world, he got a firsthand experience of the pinnacle of technological offerings from Saab at that time. Currently, Goran owns two Saabs: a 2008 Saab 9-3 Vector Sportcombi with a manual transmission, and a Saab 9-3 Aero Griffin Sport Sedan from the last generation, which rolled off the production line in Trollhättan in December 2011.

3 Comments

  • A pointless article that just goes over old ground that only hurts those closest to him.

    If that was the point of this ….then well done ….congratulations job done!

    This has nothing to do with the car itself!!😡

    Which incidentally is a great car!

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