Comments by "John Burns" (@johnburns4017) on "The Saab 900 Turbo was the Tesla of its day | Revelations with Jason Cammisa | Ep. 15" video.

The 99 was introduced in 1969. SAAB rarely had any money to develop engines. When designing the 99 they were put onto the Triumph engine by British engine consultants Ricardo. The 4 cylinder slant-4 was for the Triumph Dolomite which was a few years away. The slant was to have a lower hood line. SAAB struck a deal and used the engine, being the first to use it. The first 99s had Triumph on the rocker box covers. SAAB had the first three years of Triumph production of the slant-4. Triumph gave SAAB the first three years because they never had a car to use the engine until 1972. In the interim SAAB prepared to build the engine under license once they were satisfied. SAAB later bored the engine out to two litres then put a turbo on it, as they never had the money to develop a new engine with more HP SAAB ended up making the engine under license when UK production was to go to the Dolomite. SAAB improved the water arrangement. The SAAB had the gearbox under the engine. The Dolomite was conventional rear wheel drive. The Dolomite Sprint had a 16-valve cylinder head designed with all of the valves being actuated using a single camshaft. The Dolomite Sprint was the world's first mass-produced car using a multi-valve engine. In the 1970s, SAAB needed more power to some models, but again had no money to develop a larger engine. So they resorted to putting on a turbo to give more torque and power. The slant 4 was joined to make the ill-fated Triumph V-8 fitted in the Stag. It was a strange idea to make the V-8 as the company already had the aluminum Rover V-8. The Triumph V-8 engine was a failure as it was rushed never going through R&D and testing properly. Third party companies make parts to put the engine right. The Triumph/SAAB slant-4 I believe is still made in China.
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