Saab Toad
Saab Toad, or Paddan in Swedish, was a development car Saab made in 1966 to test out the new chassis, drive train and engine for the Saab 99.
Background
On April 2, 1965, Gudmund's day in Sweden, 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. This new car became the Saab 99, designed by Sixten Sason and unveiled in Stockholm on November 22, 1967.
Description
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 Saab 96, which was long enough for the purpose but had to be widened by 20 centimetres (7.9 in). This was achieved by cutting the body in half lengthwise and inserting 20 cm of steel 'spacer'. The windscreen (windshield) and rear window clearly showed the 'seam'. Of course, the bonnet (hood) and grille required widening in a different way, to prevent changing the appearance of the centrally-placed features, as the picture shows. The Triumph 'in-line four' engine of the future Saab 99 replaced the 'Ford Taunus V4 engine' of the Saab 96.
The end of the Toad
The Toad project was quite short-lived. It was rightly believed that the wider body would not be noticed on Sweden'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-coloured but 'normal' Saab 96, making the different proportions obvious to any observer.
Four 'Toads' were made, but only one remains, in 'Dark Grey' paintwork. It is currently on display in the Saab museum in Trollhättan, Sweden.
Postscript
Further development was carried out on the Saab 'daihatsu', a test car with the new body but badged 'daihatsu', to prevent its identification by journalists as a developmental Saab. This vehicle is on display in the Saab Museum in Trollhättan.
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