The Saab Toad, or ''Paddan'' in

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

, was a development car

Saab Automobile Saab Automobile AB () is a defunct automotive industry, car manufacturer that was founded in Sweden in 1945 when its parent company, Saab AB, began a project to design a small automobile. The first production model, the Saab 92, was launched in ...

made in 1966 to test out the new

chassis A chassis (, ; plural ''chassis'' from French châssis ) is the load-bearing framework of an artificial object, which structurally supports the object in its construction and function. An example of a chassis is a vehicle frame, the underpart ...

drive train A drivetrain (also frequently spelled as drive train or sometimes drive-train) is the group of components that deliver mechanical power from the prime mover to the driven components. In automotive engineering, the drivetrain is the components o ...

and

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gen ...

for the

Saab 99 The Saab 99 is a car which was produced by Saab from 1968 to 1984; their first foray into a larger class than the 96. While considered a large family car in Scandinavia, it was marketed as a niche compact executive car in most other markets. It w ...

Background

On 2 April 1965, Gudmund's day in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, after several years of planning, the Saab board started ''Project Gudmund''. This was a project to develop a new and larger car to replace the

Saab 96 The Saab 96 is an automobile manufactured and marketed by Saab from 1960 to January 1980, replacing the 93. The 96 featured aerodynamic two-door bodywork, four-passenger seating and at first a two-stroke, three-cylinder engine, later a four-strok ...

. This new car became the

, designed by

Sixten Sason Sixten Sason (born Sixten Andersson; 1912–1967) was a Swedish industrial designer, noted for his work in designing several generations of Saab automobiles. Biographical Sason was born in 1912, the son of a Swedish sculptor. He trained in Par ...

and unveiled in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

on 22 November 1967.

Overview

The reason for this project was to preserve secrecy during development of the new model, the Saab 99, which was the company's first radically new body shape since the first cars made in 1947. The Toad used the body of a

, which was long enough for the purpose but had to be widened by . This was achieved by cutting the body in half lengthwise and inserting 20 cm of steel spacer. The

windscreen The windshield (North American English) or windscreen (Commonwealth English) of an aircraft, car, bus, motorbike, truck, train, boat or streetcar is the front window, which provides visibility while protecting occupants from the elements. Mo ...

(windshield) and rear window clearly showed the seam. The

bonnet A Bonnet is a variety of headgear, hat or cap Specific types of headgear referred to as "bonnets" may include Scottish * Blue bonnet, a distinctive woollen cap worn by men in Scotland from the 15th-18th centuries And its derivations: **Feath ...

(hood) and

grille Grill or grille may refer to: Food * Barbecue grill, a device or surface used for cooking food, usually fuelled by gas or charcoal, or the part of a cooker that performs this function * Flattop grill, a cooking device often used in restaurants ...

required widening in a different way, to prevent changing the appearance of the centrally-placed features, as the picture shows. The

Triumph The Roman triumph (Latin triumphus) was a celebration for a victorious military commander in ancient Rome. For later imitations, in life or in art, see Trionfo. Numerous later uses of the term, up to the present, are derived directly or indirectl ...

inline four A straight-four engine (also called an inline-four) is a four-cylinder piston engine where cylinders are arranged in a line along a common crankshaft. The vast majority of automotive four-cylinder engines use a straight-four layout (with the e ...

engine of the future Saab 99 replaced the

Ford Taunus V4 engine The Ford Taunus V4 engine is a 60° V4 (engine), V4 piston engine with one balance shaft, introduced by Ford Motor Company in Germany in 1962. The German V4 was built in the Cologne plant and powered the Ford Taunus and German versions of the Ford ...

of the Saab 96. The Toad project was quite short-lived. It was rightly believed that the wider body would not be noticed on

's roads, where so many SAAB 96 cars were an everyday sight. This deception was successful, for a while, until test drivers allowed a grey Toad to be followed by a similarly-colored SAAB 96, making the different proportions obvious to any observer. Four Saab Toads were made, but only one remains, in dark gray paintwork. It is currently on display in the SAAB museum in

Trollhättan Trollhättan () is the 23rd-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Trollhättan Municipality, Västra Götaland County. It is situated by Göta älv, near the lake Vänern, and has a population of approximately 50,000 in the city proper. It is locate ...

Post-Saab Toad

Further development was carried out on the

SAAB Daihatsu Saab or SAAB may refer to: Brands and enterprises * Saab Group, a Swedish aerospace and defence company, formerly known as SAAB, and later as Saab AB ** Datasaab, a former computer company, started as spin off from Saab AB * Saab Automobile, a fo ...

, a test car with the new body but badged "

Daihatsu , commonly known as Daihatsu, is a Japanese automobile manufacturer and one of the oldest surviving Japanese internal combustion engine manufacturers. The company's headquarters are located in Ikeda, Osaka Prefecture. Historically, Daihatsu was ...

", to prevent its identification by journalists as a developmental SAAB. This vehicle is on display in the SAAB Museum in Trollhättan.

External links

Paddan comparison
''Non-Working link as of 8 December 2014''
Paddan picture
{{Saab Automobile Front-wheel-drive vehicles

Toad Toad is a common name for certain frogs, especially of the family Bufonidae, that are characterized by dry, leathery skin, short legs, and large bumps covering the parotoid glands. A distinction between frogs and toads is not made in scientif ...