SAAB 900 Turbo 1981 James Bond Silver Beast Specification.
John Gardner till vänster och författarkollegan Douglas Rutherford
VÄRLDSDECKARKONGRESSEN
1981 i Stockholm.
John Gardner och SAAB 900 SAAB007utanför
GRAND HOTEL med utsikt mot Kungliga Slottet.
Thanks to Iwan
Morelius for the picture of John Gardner and
the SAAB
Iwan Morelius Major Boothroyd (Q) and Ian Fleming's
friend. Bond...James Bond with Iwan Morelius. James Bond 007 Museum
Sweden Nybro
Obviously, Bond got his request. The nickname
“Silver Beast” first appears in this second book. Gardner’s
recollection was that it was his son Simon who gave the car its
now famous moniker. In his "Author's Acknowledgments," Gardner
thanks Saab (GB), Ltd., and Saab-Scania of Sweden "for the
amount of time, trouble, patience, and enthusiasm they have put
into proving that the James Bond Saab really does exist."
For Special Services features
what is arguably the best Saab action scene in any of the
Gardner books, when Bond races a Shelby-American Mustang GT 350
driven by henchman Walter Luxor. Bond kicked on the accelerator,
sensing the Saab’s spoiler push the rear down onto the road. His
own body was forced back into the driving seat as full power
took hold. Of course, no henchman plays fair, and we get to see
some defensive mechanisms on the Saab that we didn’t see in Licence
Renewed—such
as an automatic fire extinguisher system, which Bond uses when
the race becomes a little overheated.
For this mission, the Saab’s secret dashboard
compartments are also modified to include a compartment that
holds rare prints (as Bond is undercover as a rare print dealer
in this book). A favorite feature—the blinding aircraft landing
light hidden behind the front license plate—also gets nice play
in this book.
Once again, the Saab takes a beating aiding
Bond’s escape from the villain’s Texas ranch estate (this time,
launching aboard a moving monorail); and once again, the book
made the best-sellers list. The new series was working. There
was even reports that a Saab would appear in Octopussy,
the next James Bond film (ultimately, this proved to be false).
James Bond and his Silver Beast would return the following year
in a book generally considered to be Gardner’s best. But it
would be their last ride together. A “million-dollar prostitute”
would soon come between a man and his Beast.
Breaking the Ice
“You have a car here, I believe. A Saab
900 Turbo. Silver. Delivered in the name of Bond, James
Bond.”
– Icebreaker (1983)
Published in 1983, Icebreaker sees
007 sent to the Arctic Circle to do battle with a Neo-Nazi army.
Once again, the Saab sees action, this time facing off on the
icy roads of Lapland with three menacing snow-plows. “There was
no doubt. They were going in for the kill, prepared to slice the
Silver Beast in half. Silver versus yellow, Bond thought, and
raised his right arm, the left hand still clutching the stun
grenade…”
Icebreaker is a fan favorite and remained
Gardner’s personal favorite Bond novel for many years, mainly
because of his own experiences in the Arctic Circle, a trip
hosted by Saab-Scania. Gardner shared his Arctic adventures with
the James Bond International Fan Club magazine, OO7.
“As I had already managed to skid a Saab into
snow drifts on three occasions, I had a very good driver who
promptly managed to do the same -- but right on the Russian
border. Happily, the Finnish army was on hand, and an officer
walked the best part of two miles through icy conditions to
bring help. We were finally towed out and all ended well.”
The author’s photo on the back of the U.S.
edition shows Gardner on a snowmobile (right) and is credited to
Saab-Scania, Sweden. Gardner offered additional thanks by
including one of his Arctic traveling companions, international
rally racing star Erik Carlsson (aka "Mr. Saab"), in a passage
in the book. When Bond is preparing for his own journey deep
into the “land of the rising sun,” he finds a note in his glove
compartment: “Good luck, Whatever You're Doing... Remember what
I've taught you about the left foot!!! -Erik.
Saab once again helped promote the paperback
release of the book with a “WIN BOND’S SILVER SAAB TURBO!”
contest arranged in conjunction with Berkley Publishing. Large
standees (called “dumps”) containing the paperback edition of
the book had tear-off coupons attached, which customers could
fill out and send into the “Icebreaker/Saab
Consumer Drawing.” The prize was, indeed, a silver Saab Turbo,
“the driving machine of a lifetime for some lucky Bond fan.” The
winner was announced on May 31, 1984.
Never Say Never
Bond left the room and hurried downstairs
to reception to ask what self-drive hire cars were available
quickly. For once, Bond seemed to making his own luck. There
was a Saab 900 Turbo—a car which he was well used to—which
only just had been returned.
– Nobody Lives Forever (1986)
Gardner may have put 007 together with a
“million-dollar prostitute,” but he still liked to revisit his
$300 call girl (sorry, he started it). Saabs continued to make
cameo appearances in many of Gardner’s later Bond books. In
1986’s Nobody
Lives Forever,
Bond rents a Saab 900 in order to make an undercover side trip
to the Klinik Mozart just outside of Salzburg. Bond again rents
a Saab for a dangerous mission in Dublin in 1987’s abysmally
titled No
Deals, Mr. Bond.
M drives a Saab 9000 CD in 1991’s The
Man From Barbarossa (the
book which replaced Icebreakeras
Gardner’s personal favorite). One gets a feeling that Gardner
missed the old Silver Beast as much as the fans did.
Then as the Gardner era ran down, James Bond and
Saab were reunited. In Never
Send Flowers(1993)
and SeaFire (1994),
Bond suddenly drives a Saab 9000 CD Turbo. This choice may have
been influenced by the fact that Gardner, who was now living in
the America, drove a white Saab 9000 CD himself.
The Saab 9000 CD is a mysterious presence at the
end of the Gardner era. Gardner never explains what happened to
the Bentley (actually the second Bentley as Bond trades up to a
Turbo R at some point), nor whether this Saab is Bond’s personal
property or part of the MI6 motor pool. Is it supposed to be the
same car we saw M driving in Barbarossa?
The Saab 9000 is a conservative four-door sedan, Saab's entry
into the luxury car market. It’s no Beast. Still, it’s a Saab,
and it seemed a fitting way to send Gardner's Bond out.
Gardner retired from the Bond series in 1996.
Raymond Benson took over and put Bond in a sleek new Jaguar XK8.
Saab was purchased by American car giant GM who, over the years,
have gentrified the cars and, incredibly, rolled back many of
Saab’s unique innovations. Under GM, Saabs have ceased to be the
hot car of the ‘80s and early ‘90s, and now some younger Bond
fans question the wisdom of James Bond ever driving a car they
see as one their mothers might buy.
Ah, but there was a time when James Bond and his
“Silver Beast” raced along the backroads of Surrey—clinging
to the grass shoulder, putting a fraction more power to bring
the car out of the bend—and
the two together seemed to embody all that was cool,
sophisticated, and European in the 1980s. For a time the
original promotional tour Saab 900, still outfitted with its
deadly arsenal, was displayed in a museum in Trollhattan,
Sweden, on its hood is one of the bold colorful posters from
1981—proof that at one time a Saab 900 Turbo was the car of
choice for that great connoisseur of motor vehicles (and other
earthly delights)—Bond, James Bond.
It was a great ride. |
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