Bond's Saab - Where is it now?
Discussion
I woke up this morning with a weird urge to own a 90's 900 Turbo with the prerequisite 3 spoke wheels. After a bit of internet digging for available cars I came across the story of the Bond Saab 900 specially customized by the factory as a marketing ploy after being mentioned in the John Gardner authored 007 novels.
Being a huge Bond fan I decided to hunt down the car itself but it hasn't surfaced on the net since being purchased at the museum closure auction in 2012. So PH'ers and internet sleuths who can tell me where the 1981 Saab Turbo 900 (chassis number #17901) with SAAB 007 GB plates is currently hiding or how much it made at auction?
Link
http://the-saab-specialist-register.com/james-bond...
In the interim I'm back to the classifieds...
Being a huge Bond fan I decided to hunt down the car itself but it hasn't surfaced on the net since being purchased at the museum closure auction in 2012. So PH'ers and internet sleuths who can tell me where the 1981 Saab Turbo 900 (chassis number #17901) with SAAB 007 GB plates is currently hiding or how much it made at auction?
Link
http://the-saab-specialist-register.com/james-bond...
In the interim I'm back to the classifieds...
coldsnap said:
I can't help with the Bond car, but you didn't happen to watch a TG replay recently (on Dave i think) noting a farewell to Saab, the manufacturer did you? Clarkson and May got all emotional!
They loved the 900 turbo.
I do remember watching it at the time but unfortunately youtube can only offer up a teaser clip from the beeb:They loved the 900 turbo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jemRabq74WA
Don't know what it is about the shape of the 900 or the wacky dash with is "Black out" function but I'm drawn to them, especially one of the quicker versions.
velocitas said:
I woke up this morning with a weird urge to own a 90's 900 Turbo with the prerequisite 3 spoke wheels. After a bit of internet digging for available cars I came across the story of the Bond Saab 900 specially customized by the factory as a marketing ploy after being mentioned in the John Gardner authored 007 novels.
Being a huge Bond fan I decided to hunt down the car itself but it hasn't surfaced on the net since being purchased at the museum closure auction in 2012. So PH'ers and internet sleuths who can tell me where the 1981 Saab Turbo 900 (chassis number #17901) with SAAB 007 GB plates is currently hiding or how much it made at auction?
Link
http://the-saab-specialist-register.com/james-bond...
In the interim I'm back to the classifieds...
Was it ever properly registered or did it just live in a museam on showplates? It's a cracking piece of history from a late lamented manufacturer. I hope you find it!Being a huge Bond fan I decided to hunt down the car itself but it hasn't surfaced on the net since being purchased at the museum closure auction in 2012. So PH'ers and internet sleuths who can tell me where the 1981 Saab Turbo 900 (chassis number #17901) with SAAB 007 GB plates is currently hiding or how much it made at auction?
Link
http://the-saab-specialist-register.com/james-bond...
In the interim I'm back to the classifieds...
velocitas said:
I do remember watching it at the time but unfortunately youtube can only offer up a teaser clip from the beeb:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jemRabq74WA
Don't know what it is about the shape of the 900 or the wacky dash with is "Black out" function but I'm drawn to them, especially one of the quicker versions.
Yep, there's something about them and I think they look great as well!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jemRabq74WA
Don't know what it is about the shape of the 900 or the wacky dash with is "Black out" function but I'm drawn to them, especially one of the quicker versions.
Good luck with your search.
M3DGE said:
Was it ever properly registered or did it just live in a museam on showplates? It's a cracking piece of history from a late lamented manufacturer. I hope you find it!
According to the auction catalogue it was GB registered but the SAAB007 plate in the pictures unsurprisingly isn't a valid registration. The car did a tour of various dealers, 25-30 years ago now, and I sat in it when it visited the dealer my father worked at. My brother and I had our pictures taken with it and found ourselves in the local paper as a result. If you're interested, I'll post the picture if I can find it. 
And here it is:
image by bobturner1975, on Flickr
Apologies for the poor reproduction, it was a few years ago now. All I can remember is that gun I was holding was incredibly heavy and I nearly dropped it
Unfortunately I can't read what was written on the information board behind the car, even on the original.
image by bobturner1975, on Flickr
Apologies for the poor reproduction, it was a few years ago now. All I can remember is that gun I was holding was incredibly heavy and I nearly dropped it
Unfortunately I can't read what was written on the information board behind the car, even on the original.
velocitas said:
coldsnap said:
I can't help with the Bond car, but you didn't happen to watch a TG replay recently (on Dave i think) noting a farewell to Saab, the manufacturer did you? Clarkson and May got all emotional!
They loved the 900 turbo.
I do remember watching it at the time but unfortunately youtube can only offer up a teaser clip from the beeb:They loved the 900 turbo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jemRabq74WA
Don't know what it is about the shape of the 900 or the wacky dash with is "Black out" function but I'm drawn to them, especially one of the quicker versions.
That was a 99 Turbo on TG, and Saabs didn't have the black out feature until the 1994 'GM' 900.
BobTurner said:
And here it is:
image by bobturner1975, on Flickr
Apologies for the poor reproduction, it was a few years ago now. All I can remember is that gun I was holding was incredibly heavy and I nearly dropped it
Unfortunately I can't read what was written on the information board behind the car, even on the original.
Great picture Bob image by bobturner1975, on Flickr
Apologies for the poor reproduction, it was a few years ago now. All I can remember is that gun I was holding was incredibly heavy and I nearly dropped it
Unfortunately I can't read what was written on the information board behind the car, even on the original.
, particularly the Walter PPK in your hand. I suppose any details on the car are asking a lot of a 6 year old.Edited by velocitas on Tuesday 1st April 13:00
DKS said:
(Pendant)
That was a 99 Turbo on TG, and Saabs didn't have the black out feature until the 1994 'GM' 900.
Thanks DKS, correct on both fronts. My original search was for an 80's 900 Turbo as the 99 Turbo have become too desirable for any real value. Back in my school days my mother drove a 1999 93 HPT for a time which had the "jet inspired" black out panel and diagnostics display but I wasn't really expecting that in the 80's version just some quirks I liked about the brand including the centre console ignition.That was a 99 Turbo on TG, and Saabs didn't have the black out feature until the 1994 'GM' 900.
The search continues...
velocitas said:
BobTurner said:
And here it is:
image by bobturner1975, on Flickr
Apologies for the poor reproduction, it was a few years ago now. All I can remember is that gun I was holding was incredibly heavy and I nearly dropped it
Unfortunately I can't read what was written on the information board behind the car, even on the original.
Great picture Bob image by bobturner1975, on Flickr
Apologies for the poor reproduction, it was a few years ago now. All I can remember is that gun I was holding was incredibly heavy and I nearly dropped it
Unfortunately I can't read what was written on the information board behind the car, even on the original.
, particularly the Walter PPK in your hand. I suppose any details on the car are asking a lot of a 6 year old.Edited by velocitas on Tuesday 1st April 13:00
The dealer was, I think, Bates in Colchester. I remember very little of the car, it was silver, dark, perhaps blue, interior and had been kitted out with various "gadgets". If I manage to find the local newspaper article I will post that too - it might have some details.
It is my little brother with what looks like a PPK, I had some kind of long barrel revolver - my brother didn't seem too reluctant to point it at me; I was told to put my hands up!
Apparently it's still in the Saab museum in Sweden:
"We have just received the good news that all cars in the SAAB museum (incl. "Silver Beast", the SAAB 900 Turbo as driven by James Bond in John Gardners first three novels) will remain in Trollhättan, Sweden. 500 offers from all over the world came in but thanks to the local community, Saab AB (the defense and security company) and the Wallenberg family (who used to own the car factory), the museum will be intact. The entities mentioned paid 28 Million SEK for the entire lot and rescued a piece of Swedish industrial history from being departed all over the world."
(Unless something's happened since 2012).
"We have just received the good news that all cars in the SAAB museum (incl. "Silver Beast", the SAAB 900 Turbo as driven by James Bond in John Gardners first three novels) will remain in Trollhättan, Sweden. 500 offers from all over the world came in but thanks to the local community, Saab AB (the defense and security company) and the Wallenberg family (who used to own the car factory), the museum will be intact. The entities mentioned paid 28 Million SEK for the entire lot and rescued a piece of Swedish industrial history from being departed all over the world."
(Unless something's happened since 2012).
Monty Python said:
Apparently it's still in the Saab museum in Sweden:
"We have just received the good news that all cars in the SAAB museum (incl. "Silver Beast", the SAAB 900 Turbo as driven by James Bond in John Gardners first three novels) will remain in Trollhättan, Sweden. 500 offers from all over the world came in but thanks to the local community, Saab AB (the defense and security company) and the Wallenberg family (who used to own the car factory), the museum will be intact. The entities mentioned paid 28 Million SEK for the entire lot and rescued a piece of Swedish industrial history from being departed all over the world."
(Unless something's happened since 2012).
Mystery solved! I suppose that would have been the most logical place to start looking for it but I hadn't come across any articles saying that the museum had been saved. In some ways I hoped it would pop up on eBay, unloved and looking to be taken in."We have just received the good news that all cars in the SAAB museum (incl. "Silver Beast", the SAAB 900 Turbo as driven by James Bond in John Gardners first three novels) will remain in Trollhättan, Sweden. 500 offers from all over the world came in but thanks to the local community, Saab AB (the defense and security company) and the Wallenberg family (who used to own the car factory), the museum will be intact. The entities mentioned paid 28 Million SEK for the entire lot and rescued a piece of Swedish industrial history from being departed all over the world."
(Unless something's happened since 2012).
Edited by velocitas on Tuesday 1st April 15:12
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