Saabs in popular culture

Saabs in popular culture refers to vehicles produced by car manufacturer Saab (and occasionally the aircraft manufacturer Saab) of Sweden which appear in popular culture.

Songs
Popular songs inspired by Saabs:
* "Ireland" by Tori Amos
* "Driving in my Saab" by Sonic Surf City
* "Me and my old 96" by Twang Gang
* "Saab 99" by Hjalle & Heavy
* "Djungeltrumman" by Michael Tretow

Album artwork
Album artwork featuring Saabs:
* On the cover of his album Music for the People, Mark Wahlberg poses with a Saab c900 Airflow Convertible
* Slint's cover photo for their debut album Tweez features the front view of an early 1980s Saab 900
* German band Bolk's Let Your Heart Decide album cover art is a drawing of a Saab 96

Music videos
Music videos featuring Saabs:
* A Saab 95 is featured in the video to Robbie Williams' "Tripping".
* A Saab 99 combi-coupé is featured in Brainstorm's Thunder without rain.
* A Saab 99 turbo in the 1981 "Don't You Want Me" video clip by The Human League
* A second generation Saab 9000 is featured in Mobb Deep's Shook Ones Pt. II.
* The 1998 Ace of Base video for Travel to Romantis features the then new SAAB 9-3.
* British indie rock band Feeder's single "Tumble and Fall" featured lead singer Grant Nicholas crashing a Saab in the promotional video as one of many unfortunate incidents he experiences.

Films
Films with footage of Saabs:
* Bamse (aka The Teddy Bear) (1968) - Saab Sonett II V4
* Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) - Saab 900
* Throw Momma from the Train (1987) - Saab 96
* Moving (1988) - A silver Saab 900 turbo was Richard Pryor's pride and joy
* Back to the Future Part II (1989) - Saab EV-1 seen in the background in the scenes in the future
* Who's Harry Crumb? (1989) - classic Saab 900
* Christmas Vacation (1989) - Saab 9000 driven by neighbors
* Crazy People (1990) - Saab 99 GLE - a 4 door car (supposedly a 1976 EMS - a 2 door car)
* Straight Out of Brooklyn (1990) - Saab 900 - during robbery
* If Looks Could Kill (1991) - Saab 900 driven by a henchman in the car chase
* Scenes From a Mall (1991) - Woody Allen and Bette Midler both drive Saab 900s, Allen's is a convertible - there is a great scene where he returns to where he last parked the car to find it has been towed, and he yells "where's my f*@*ing Saab?"
* Final Analysis (1992) - classic Saab 900 cabrio
* Mr. Jones (1993) - classic Saab 900 cabrio driven by the female main character
* I Love Trouble (1994) - classic Saab 900 cabrio
* Reality Bites (1994) - classic Saab 900 cabrio
* The Arrival (1996) - Saab 95 V4
* A Time to Kill (1996) - classic Saab 900 cabrio
* Beautiful Girls (1996) - Saab 9000
* Rowing Through (1996) - Saab 96
* As Good as It Gets (1997) - Saab 900 cabrio
* The Boxer (1997) - Saab 99
* Grosse Pointe Blank (1997) - Saab 900 cabrio
* Volcano (1997) - Saab 900
* City of Angels (1998) - classic Saab 900
* Deep Impact (1998) - classic Saab 900 driven by main character (a 9000 and a 900 conv. can also be seen in the background)
* Inside Man (1998) - classic Saab 900
* Martha, Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence (aka The Very Thought of You) (1998) - Saab 96 V4
* Under solen (Under the Sun) (1998) - Saab 92
* ' (2000) - classic Saab 900 cabrio
* What Lies Beneath (2000) - classic Saab 900 crashed by wife
* Woman Wanted (2000) - classic Saab 900
* Bandits (2001) - Saab 9-5 Estate
* Swordfish (2001) - Saab 9-3 convertible driven by Hugh Jackman
* The Glass House (2001) - Saab 900 owned by parents
* Traffic (2001) - Saab 9-5 owned by parents (starring Michael Douglas as father)
* Polonaise (2002) - Saab 99 GL, 900 conv.
* The Sweetest Thing (2002) - Saab 9-5 Estate
* Sweet Home Alabama (2002) - Saab 9-3 conv. driven by main character
* The Transporter (2002) - classic Saab 900
* Black Cadillac (2003) - burgundy classic Saab 900S driven by main characters who, after a wild night in a bar, find their Saab being chased by a mysterious black 1957 Cadillac Eldorado
* Gothika (2003) - Saab 9-5 estate crashed by Halle Berry's character
* Highwaymen (2003) - classic Saab 900 driven by one of the main characters
* Love Actually (2003) - Jamie (Colin Firth) drove a navy Saab 900s in France in numerous trips with his love interest (later wife) Aurélia
* Terminator 3 (2003) - Saab 900 - seen in T-800's runaway crash scene, where T-800 drives the caretaker's car
* The Bourne Supremacy (2004) - 1999 Black Saab 9-3 conv.
* Secret Window (2004) - Saab 9-3
* Sideways (2004) - classic Saab 900 conv.
* Taking Lives (2004) - Saab 9-3 convs. and several 900s (in the background)
* The Family Stone (2005) - Black 9-5 Sedan driven by Dermot Mulroney's character

TV series
Television series with footage of Saabs:
* Brothers & Sisters - A silver 9-3 convertible is parked in front of the family home. You see it in transition scenes.
* Cold Feet - 'Rachel Bradley' drives, crashes and dies in a 900
* Dalziel and Pascoe - 'Andrew Dalziel' drives a 900 T
* Dharma & Greg - 900 NG convertible (crashes into a deer)
* Diagnosis Murder - 'Dr. Mark Sloan' drives a convertible 900 NG.
* Daria - 'Timothy O'Neill' drives Daria & Jane home from a movie theater during a rainstorm in an apparent 900 in the episode "Monster"(#2.6).
* ER- 'Dr. Luka Kova' Drive a white 1980 Saab 900 in session six.
* Fat Friends - one of the main characters drives a Monte Carlo yellow 900 NG/9-3 convertible
* Halifax f.p. - 'Dr. Jane Hallifax' drives a convertible 900 NG
* Life on Mars - You quite often see a 95 and a 96 parked up and driving about the set.
* Seinfeld - Jerry Seinfeld drives multiple Saab 900 Convertible models throughout the 9 seaons on air.
* Silent Witness - 'Dr. Sam Ryan' drives a 9-5 (sedan and estate)
* Tru Calling - Tru drives a red 1987 Saab 900.
* The Office - Jim Halpert and Toby Flenderson both drive an Arctic Silver 9-2x Aeros.

Novels
Novels mentioning Saabs:
* Angels & Demons - Robert Langdon drives a Saab 900S.
* Detective Inspector John Rebus, in a detective series by Ian Rankin, drives a Saab.
* The Saab 900 Turbo was James Bond's vehicle of choice in many of the John Gardner Bond novels of the 1980s, beginning with Licence Renewed. In the second novel, For Special Services, the 900 was dubbed the "Silver Beast". The car is Bond's private vehicle that he had outfitted with various gadgets by the real-life company Communication Control Systems, Ltd. (CCS). In conjunction with the release of Licence Renewed, Saab had a real "Silver Beast" created that was virtually identical to the specifications in the book. The car is currently located at the Saab Museum in Trollhättan, Sweden.
* In Paul Auster's novel The Music of Chance the main character drives a Saab 900.
* In Joyce Carol Oates's novel Missing Mom the main character drives a Saab of indeterminate model (most likely a 9000).
* In Louis Begley's novel (and film) Sideways the main character drives a Saab and crashes it into a tree.
* In an essay originally published in In These Times in November, 2004 entitled "Have I Got A Car For You," writer Kurt Vonnegut recounts his experiences as the owner/operator of a Saab dealership in West Barnstable, Massachusetts and humorously claims that his criticism of Swedish engineering is the reason he was never awarded a Nobel Prize in Literature. The essay also appeared in the 2005 anthology A Man Without A Country.
* In Charlie Higson's novel Getting Rid of Mister Kitchen a Saab 900 also appears.
* In Larry Beinhart's novel The Librarian, protagonist David Goldberg drives a fourteen year old Saab.
*In Michael Chabon's novel "Summerland" the father of protagonist Ethan Feld owns a Saab dubbed "Skidbladnir."
* In Nelson DeMille's novel "Spencerville", the main character, Keith Landry, ex-United States of America (US) Intelligence officer, drives a Saab.

Other
* A Hewlett-Packard CPU-support chip features a Saab 900 Turbo 16 Cabriolet.
* The Australian band 78 Saab derived its name from the Saab marque.
* The video game for Playstation 2 features a Saab 9-X concept car.
* Scooter Libby- Drives a 1999 or 2001 Blue Saab 9-3 Conv.

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See Also

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