Saab History

Wired: Saab’s Weird Joystick-Controlled Car Wasn’t a Super Idea

Saab 9000 Drive-by-wireSaab 9000 Drive-by-wire

Wired magazine that reports on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy and politics, published today known interesting story about Saab Drive-by-Wire concept from 1992.

Of course, for them too, Saab was always quirky in a cool way. The test car SAAB 9000, even has side-mounted joystick instead of a steering wheel.

The system is fail-safed with reserve hydraulic preasure and electrical power. Saab’s research tide into Europe’s Eureka PROMETHEUS smart highway program (PROgraMme for a European Traffic of Highest Efficiency and Unprecedented Safety, 1987-1995).

Continue reading after the ad

The Prometheus was part of a broader pan-European program that drew funding and expertise from governments, automakers and suppliers to make cars safer, cleaner and quieter.

Continue reading after the ad

The joystick-Saab was just one idea; other projects included things like adaptive cruise control and IR camera systems that identify things in low light or poor conditions.

Read more here.

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

  • Website feedback: the social media shortcuts cut oof the first letter of the body text of this website. Can it be solved?

Leave a Reply