From the Vaults: Flipping a SAAB 900

SAAB may no longer make automobiles, but there was a time when it made some really great cars. And while I prefer the older SAAB 99 design, the Saab 900 of the 1980s and 90s wasn’t a bad car – and it certainly was known for its safety. It’s been a while, but I vaguely recall this commercial from 1995 that was made to illustrate just how strong the chassis was on the SAAB 900. In the spot, Saab had five hulking men flip the car onto its roof to prove that the car would hold up to even a rollover crash.

This wasn’t the first time SAAB rolled over a car to prove its crashworthiness. In this 1960s spot for the SAAB 96, they rolled a car down a mountainside. Apparently, a driver got in the car at the end and drove it off, but that was cut off from this version of the clip:

I wish car companies would still be this ballsy with their commercials, but I’m sure their lawyers are worried someone would try and replicate what they saw for social media and might sue them.