Saab
Rarities . 
. Take the Tour 
| The
Ove Larsson "Clarion" Chopped 99 | ||
It took Ove Larsson, the designer and builder, 9 years of spare time to create it. Ove was awarded the famous Mellberg stipendium (prize) for building this car. The late Leif Mellberg was the builder of the EV-1 Saab concept car, and big foundation was created to honor his name and future custom car builders. All body panels are handmade in steel by Ove, even the trunk spoiler! The engine is a 2.0 16V turbo with around 155 hp 217 torque and 3" exhaust all the way. |   Pictures from the new owner, George M. | |
The interior is done in a lovely cream leather - including the dash, kick panels, etc.You can see the holes for the 12" woofers behind the "rear" seats (the back seats are two front seats with custom center & sides console. The back seats tilt forward so you can access the speakers back there.) |       | |
A note from Mikael Hemmingsen from when he brought this car over from Sweden. Mikael then sold the car to George M. (Nein) | ||
| Yes, this car comes from Sweden, where it was built between 1984 and 1993, by a skilled auto bodyshop owner, Ove Larsson. It is based on a 99 -72, that was roof-chopped close to 3", and has a 900 sedan hood and trunklid. It has a 900 windshield, cut off 3" at the top. Side windows are plexiglass, and the rear window comes from a 900 sedan, albeit tilted a lot more, due to the chopped roof. The seats have been lowered to compensate for the chopped roof. The car initially had a serious Clarion "boom-boom" sound system with several 12" woofers and goldplated battery terminals (still there). All the bodywork, including fender flares and even the trunklid spoiler (which surprised me quite a bit), is done with sheetmetal. All the fenders have closed rounded edges, going seamlessly into the inner fender well. The suspension is from a 900 SPG, subsequently lowered and stiffened up. Front tires are 225/50 and rear are 245/50. The car has next to no body roll, even when you go to the limit in the curves. Steering rack is a manual, short ratio 99 EMS. The engine is a moderately tuned (around 220 hp) 900T16 with a Ola Strömberg "soccerball" expansion chamber, right after the turbo and a 3" Supertrapp exhaust system (no cat). The front is obviously inspired by the EV-1, designed by Björn Envall and handbuilt by Leif Mellberg - Leif Mellberg sadly passed away in 1993, a few years after building the EV-1, and a foundation was created to remember his name and honor highly skilled custom autobody builders, like himself. The builder of this car, Ove Larsson, was awarded the Leif Mellberg Foundation Prize, after finishing building this car in 1993. Now, ten years later, the paint needs to be re-finished, but the car is still virtually rust free and mechanically very sound. | ||
