VIDEO: Vintage Saab 95 is a first-class hotel room with aircraft quality
1961 Saab 95 commercial -- Click above to watch video
The Sixties really was a happier time – sleeping in the back of your car was such a fine thing to do that automakers even advertised their wares that were capable of accommodating their slumbering owners.
This 1961 commercial for the Saab's Ur-Sportcombi 95 – "Your new dream car" – has that going for it and so much more, including titchy cargo-area seats for the kids like the Tesla Model S. To see what life – and Saab – used to be like when "leech-like" handling was all the rage, follow the jump for to watch the video.
[Source: TurboNines]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
ice_berge_12 3:44PM (6/30/2009)
Hahaha I love it, looks of the people faces...classic 60's stuff lol.
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dukeisduke 3:36PM (6/30/2009)
"Honey, let's make some baby boomers!"
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Tikki 3:46PM (6/30/2009)
guy peeks under sheets: "Farrah Fawcett my arse!"
slipster17 3:49PM (6/30/2009)
Now with available 45 hp! Eager to Accelerate!
.....really?
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DKB_SATX 3:58PM (6/30/2009)
They weren't too bad, actually. Remember, they didn't WEIGH much. 0-mph bumpers, limited energy absorption, quite-small car. My best friend rescued one from a crumbling garage 5 years or so ago and made it run again... he played with it for a year or so and sold it to some sucker...er.. aficionado.
dukeisduke 4:26PM (6/30/2009)
Erik Carlsson knows how to drive these (or used to, anyway):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_Carlsson
UH2L 4:05PM (6/30/2009)
Awesome add. Love the jazzy music and the line, "leech-like handling".
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Geekengineer 6:14PM (6/30/2009)
I was wondering if I heard that correctly...
John P. 4:05PM (6/30/2009)
Mom's really pretty.
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PJ 1:57AM (7/01/2009)
I chuckled at "The Swedish Car With Aircraft Quality." I didn't realize how long they'd been pushing the "Born from Jets" pitch!
0-60 in 15 seconds might sound excruciating by today's standards, but at a time when most UK/Euro-market compact family cars took 20 seconds or more, the 95 was pretty quick!
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Berto 4:54PM (6/30/2009)
If this Saab's a rocking...
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jaartsgroup 5:10PM (6/30/2009)
HA! I've done this exact thing in my 1997 Saab 9000 Aero's hatchback...it has almost 6' of space to lay down, and with the back seats down the upturned seats serve as nice backrests.
When i set it up to sleep i put a full sized futon in the back with some pillows. I've camped a few times this way as well as taking it like that to the drive-in movies. you can close the hatch easily to sleep in there.
I've always been amazed at this car's utility and flexibilty, let alone speed and reliability.
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AMcA 9:45PM (6/30/2009)
I'll never forget loading a full-size sofa into my sister's Saab 99 and driving it across Hood Pass in Oregon in the winter.
The most practical car ever.
But GM knew better. Americans prefer trunks on their cars. No more of these hatchbacks! Make Saabs like every other car - then they'll sell like hotcakes!
Erik 5:19PM (6/30/2009)
Wow, "ninety-five" sounds SO much smoother/better than the awkward "nine five." Saab should get back to their roots with the model name pronunciation
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Clarence Young 6:50PM (6/30/2009)
My 88 Saab 900 Turbo hatchback will also easily accommodate two happy campers. I owned a 64 Saab (96) sedan in 1970. Quick acceleration it did not have, but it cruised interstate speeds very well. Those two-stroke engines fire every stroke so three equals six as they say. Maybe someday I will find one of those 95 wagons and I'm still on the prowl for a Sonnett.
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Jrejre 6:59PM (6/30/2009)
Wow, room for two extra childrohn?
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Aki 9:41PM (6/30/2009)
Aww, I was hoping it'd end with a tagline of "do it in a Saab"
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Alex 9:28AM (7/01/2009)
The 60s truly were the premier decade for modern car design.
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