Saab History

Saab – The Iconic Movie and TV Car

The Saab MovieThe Saab Movie

Sometimes cars become movie stars, but they mostly play a supporting role in movies and TV series. However, without cars and their character, no screenwriter or director can create a convincing story for the audience. Throughout Saab’s long cinematic history, Saab cars have played a notable role in all the accomplishments in which they appear, and they have contributed to each of them in a certain way.

Unlike BMW or Mercedes, which have a role to play in emphasizing luxury, Saab, on the other hand, is quite strongly represented as an example of the smoothness and sophistication of the heroes. Maybe it’s the loyalty of the creators to this brand. And it may be a matter of subjectivity, but it doesn’t matter after all. The thing is in the position of the key and the hand that goes through the white, yellow and red colors. And they feel a slight push in the back. Damn Turbo.

After the 96 model, which appeared shyly in several movies half a century ago, and which looks like they took off the wings of a plane, put four wheels and said, here, this is our car, followed by the successors in the form of model 99 and especially model 900, who deserved cult status.

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96 was followed by a sedan, 99, and then the famous, probably the most famous model 900. It was also driven by Bond, that Bond. The description of the scene in which the 900 turbo accelerates safely approaching a speed of 200 km per hour is exactly what a car needs to stay in legend. True, it wasn’t Fleming who put it in Gardner’s novel series, but it’s still Bond.

When it was decided in 1984 that Bond would drive a Bentley or Aston-Martin in novels, SAAB flew out of the game. A million-dollar prostitute appeared, a great choice, but SAAB would not have been SAAB, nor would Bond have been Bond had he not occasionally, for a good ride and a long juicy kiss, returned to the $ 300 girl. After all, in which car does Colin Firth drive his Portuguese maid in the movie “Love Actually”? Then he tells her that it is the most beautiful part of his day, and she tells him that it is the worst for her because they are parting… In a SAAB car, of course. There are a whole host of films where SAAB appears, urban legends say it was the choice of designers, architects and doctors, people who are supposed to always choose something different from stereotypes.

Of course, these are just a few lines with Saab cars in the movies, and there are a huge number of them. That’s why Marcus Bergfeldt, a big fan and owner of several Saab cars (to remind you of his video channel as well), decided to make a really great compilation of clips from popular movies and TV productions in which a SAAB car appears at least for a moment. At the very beginning, his compilation film called “The Saab Movie” lasted much longer than these an hour and a half to the time he reduced the final work.

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Of course, most of these are copyright issues, so it’s not certain how long this movie will last on Youtube, so hurry up and watch it. According to Marcus, a special problem is TV series, and an even bigger Swedish production, due to copyrights, so most of the clips are from movies.

Of course, from today’s point of view when Saab went bankrupt and practically no longer exists as a car manufacturer as we know it, this dimension of characterization through the choice of vehicle also has a nostalgic dimension. However, the decision for the hero to drive a Saab is justified not only because of the brand image but also aesthetically. Saab cars, from the appearance of the chassis to the organization of the command, are simply different from most other cars, so it is quite logical that such machines are chosen by people who stand out from the environment and know what a good car is.

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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.

1 Comment

  • I was a military extra in “A Few Good Men”. Over the course of 4 days, I was required to park my ’84 900T, Amaranth Red, in the same spot. They paid me $100/day. You can see it in 2 scenes if you look closely in the background.

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