New England SAAB Links:
The Vintage SAAB Club of North America (formerly The New England Sonett Club)
The New England Saab Association
The Spirit of SAAB - a journey into the character of an automobile
Main page               92001                92/92B                Sonett I               GT 750                 Bullnose 95B            The Monster
Formula Junior        SAABO              Quantum             Catherina             MFI 13                 Sonett II              Monte Carlo V4
Gudmund               The Toad           1968 DeLuxe       The 98                The Baja 1000        SAABSA                             EMS
1977 99T               The 5 Door        1980 96               The 90                The EV-1              The Convertible                Rallying
Lime Rock             The "Fleet"         Drivers                Barber Saab         Toy SAABs           Personalities            Saab-missions
    A Brief  History  of SAAB in New England               Autocross            Literature              Talladega                      Resources
previous page
next page
The Toad - aka "Padden"
Back in 1966 the development of the 99 required a way to test the new chassis and components without being noticed. Saab's solution was to take a 96 body - or rather 4 of them - widen them by about 8 inches, and fit this "Toad" body to the 99 chassis. When placed side by side with a standard 96, the difference becomes fairly obvious. But to the driving public, the Toads were like any other 96. And most of the testing took place at night - just to be on the safe side.
These days the only place you'll find a Toad is in the museum in Trollhattan, and on a recent trip there, it wasn't in the showroom, so perhaps sealed of in a back room (the legendary "back room" of the museum?) so for now, these commonly reproduced photos will have to suffice.
Hosted by www.Geocities.ws

1