Guess all Saab owners should be careful letting the valet service park the car. Getting the key out of the car is very tricky if one does not own the correct procedure. This Seattle incident was ironed out after som leverage from a local TV station. Would be interesting to know the background of this car. Could it have been an ex. Taxi Cab. It is 4 Door and in bright yellow.
Link to the film from KOMO News:
http://komonews.com/news/offbeat/valet-saab-story-whos-responsible-for-damage-repairs
It is right that SAAB has delivered special built SAAB’s 99 Taxi in a special yellow colour. This Yellow colour is not the same colour as those with the names (for the modelyear 1973) brilliant yellow (Y9) or (for the modelyears 1975b and 1976) topaz yellow(Y12). For pictures of this kind of SAAB 99 Taxi for the Swedish market, please look at: http://www.saabkulla.se/179165486 . But if these special SAAB’s 99 Taxi were delivered to the USA and/or Canada, i don’t know.
Then the qustion of Jawara O’Connor’s SAAB 99 is such a special SAAB 99 Taxi is my answer to: I don’t know.
There is a (litle) possibility that this example is one which (once) was exported to the USA.
Then two questions Jawara O’Connor’s only can know:
1 The right front seat, is that one turnable to let people easy get in and out?
2 Then the rear seat: Is this one upholstered with cloth or vinyl?
If the right front seat is turnable and the rear seat is upholstered with vinyl, while the both front seats are upholstered with cloth, then is the possibility greater that Jawara O’Connor’s SAAB 99 is a factory deliverd SAAB 99 Taxi.
PS! I hope my English is good enough to be readable.
The reverse gear lock was never accepted by insurance as a anti- theft feature, apparently they were wrong the time it takes to get it in reverse lock out, or repair. The car with EMS wheels could be a taxi version if the seats are as described by dutch900c . The yellow color or name could be misleading. Let me know.
If the chassis nbr is known: it maybe built in belgium,finland or sweden. if it is belgium i can track it down better. In case belgium made yellow taxi cabs with rotating entering seats in a lhd version. The hell it should be in the saab museum with his rotating seats. To unblock is five seconds with a hammer and a chisel. there are six parts: housing,spring, toothed block lip,teeth wheel , teeth segment,contact slot. the last one where the key sites. An arrow indicates the right mounting position. Two versions have been made on the 99.
This is a puzzle : acc lance cole 99 specials a auto taxi specification was made.What the spec was is unclear.What made this a taxi in the factory.Treud. check the special vehicle dept records for this car if any. These swivel seats is the most interesting feature.
Looks like the place I get my Saab worked on–an ever growing graveyard of old, dead Saabs. At lest this old 99 is still going, so that is cool to see. Hey, even if it was a taxi or whatever, its neat to see it still on the road.
Paul the saabs on the back of that yellow saab is not a graveyard or Junk yard yet. About the supposed taxi version as trued suggesting i did some homework for treud. Here we go: During the years saab produced many special vehicles same as land rover for the royalties,government,police,mail,competition, and taxi cabs. About the taxi saab 99,If you have one it is a real collectors item. Why? Some items of the Taxi factory spec: One traverse bracket on the top to fit the taxi light, two antennas ,special headlights,Bike rack, spare wheel nice engineered placement, Inside: Taxi arch screen, Roof glass fibre, special 3 step automatic for city drive with friendly taxi driver control, special seat material, Two locations of the taximeter down below in the middle or in the glove compartment. 90 degrees swivel seat in the front used if disabled person want to step in. Real saab thinking.All these things you will find back in a camper of today. If nevs want to produce only in china and the plant is for sale buy it and make Rv vehicles there 4WD electric,The home market is there because the nordic is a important market. And if it has a saab logo on it that business plan is more realistic than nevs.
I am talking about the ones further back on the lot. A lot of them look pretty darn like parts cars to me. Even the old dealership in my town had a bunch of parts cars in the far back, and that was in the rip-roaring 1980s! Any Saab-centric repair facility is going to have parts cars around, as it makes repairs easier and cheaper and far more realistic for those who want to keep their old Saabs on the road. My old Saab has a lot of parts pulled from parts cars. The value of older Saabs has plummeted to the point in the US that any repair that is even remotely major is the end for all but the nicest (little old lady driven) or most special (convertible) vehicles. I have had Saabs for 35 years, and even I am shocked by what I can get for $$ peanuts nowadays.
How long this situation will continue? Keeping more and more parts cars for rapidly declining saab owners. Car registration will tell you But your saab may survive if it is a classic. Treud started already with his two 99. Make a bid to the taxi version or look alike.
We have to move on and the diagnosis and the disease of our patient, a saab car is very bad. There is no cure prescription at present. We have only estate fall-out scrap. There is no saab car horison . Just take it at it is. Nevs engineers spend their time between sweden and china as a work base. Today i met a saab driver at a park lot he was not even aware of the situation, he was just lucky with his saab. Tears were coming up by me and wished him all the best and run away. Its all over now.
And i am in a very bad mood now, because my dog has a pancreas infection and has to lay two days on a infuse to clean his blood. saab is on a infuse for a very long time W/o cure, Next monday my dog will be better as before because pancreas infection is very painful.
For clarity Rv vehicles are living houses on wheels standing on a chassis, a power train , and a steering wheel. that’s it . Anything can be built on this depending on your Imagination. New from 30000 euro to the sky even place for your saab classic.I have one. And the freedom of travelling .