The Saab Toad, or ''Paddan'' in Swedish, was a development car

Saab Automobile Saab Automobile AB () was a 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 1949. ...

made in 1966 to test out the new

chassis A chassis (, ; plural ''chassis'' from French châssis ) is the load-bearing framework of a manufactured 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) or transmission system, is the group of components that deliver mechanical power from the prime mover to the driven components. In automotive engineering, the drive ...

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 ge ...

for the

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

Background

On 2 April 1964, Gudmund's day in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, 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 Swedish automaker Saab from 1960 to January 1980, replacing the Saab 93. The 96 featured aerodynamic two-door bodywork, four-passenger seating and at first a two-stroke, three-cylinder e ...

. This new car became the

, designed by

Sixten Sason Karl-Erik 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 t ...

, and unveiled in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

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 (American English and Canadian 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 t ...

(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 Native American *War bonnet, feathered headgear worn as an earned military decoration by high-ranking Plains Indians United King ...

(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. Under the bonnet, the

inline four A straight-four engine (also referred to as an inline-four engine) is a four-cylinder piston engine where cylinders are arranged in a line along a common crankshaft. The majority of automotive four-cylinder engines use a straight-four layout ( ...

engine for the future Saab 99 was mounted, developed by Triumph in coordination with Saab. 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 loc ...

Post-Saab Toad

Further development was carried out on the SAAB Daihatsu, a test car with the new body but badged "

Daihatsu is a Japanese automobile manufacturer headquartered in Ikeda, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. One of the oldest surviving Japanese internal combustion engine manufacturers, the company was known for building three-wheeled vehicles and off-road vehicle ...

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

Literature

References

External links

Saab Toad
at the Saab Museum {{Saab Automobile Front-wheel-drive vehicles

Toad Toad (also known as a hoptoad) 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. In popular culture (folk taxonomy ...