September 29, 1986. An interesting Toppola test in the US magazine Auto Week. Author: S.L.T.
Topping it off
Here’s the ideal idea for those who like to rough it
There aren’t many pickups in Europe. You need to understand that before you understand why anybody would make a camper for a Saab. Without pickups, where would the American camper market be? Building stuff like the Toppola, probably for Toyotas.
The Toppola responds to the same need that generated the American pickup camper tops. People in Europe obviously love to rough it, so you can just see the gears turning in somebody’s head: Why not let them do it in their own cab-over camper. one sized to fit their car? No reason. So when Saab USA marketing people read about the Toppola in a Swedish magazine. Saab president Bob Sinclair OKcd a request to get one from Sweden to are what it was like. He also later agreed to let me take it for a week. His parting question to me in the parking lot of Saab’s Orange. Conn, headquarters was simple: Would anybody in the US be interested in something like this?
As I rolled through New England, one thing was immediately obvious: every-body was interested in it, if not to buy then to ogle. You can see their point. Here’s a brand-new 16valve racer-red Turbo Saab lugging around a huge white – what?
Once we got used to the stases, some things quickly became apparent about the Saab-Toppola combination.
First, the Toppola did not substantially alter the car’s performance. The Turbo’s mar suspension had been beefed with airbags and stiffer springs, so the added 2000 or so pounds of the fiber glass top and stuff packed inside did not seem to upset the car’s balance. Second was that the aerodynamics were surprisingly good; up to about 100mph, you hardly knew it was there, its presence mainly obvious only by the front lip spoiler that curled over the windshield into the upper edge of the forward view. Since it was simply dropped onto the gasket that usually seals the rear hatch (which was removed) then secured with drip-rail clips and rear deck bolts. I’d expected some queasiness in crosswinds or in hard cornering. But the only time the Toppola made its presence obvious was in really stiff crosswinds and on wet, winding twolane, where the normal tenacious grip of the Turbo became less secure – but only at speeds far beyond anything a reasonable driver might use in any comparable camper.
But what’s comparable? Nothing, really. The Toppola is not a “family” camper; like the Turbo three-door itself. it seems designed for a couple. Hence the accommodations: a large, comfortable double bed above the cockpit, with boatstyle vents, reading lights and stuff retainers, cloned off from the standing-room-only “kitchen” with a sliding curtain.
As a visual joke, the Toppola was a laugh a minute. Asa lark, driving with it soon became just driving. Because, it was so event-free. Fuel economy dropped from the Turbo’s nominal 29 average to about 20, but otherwise you could easily forget you hod a huge fiberglass sten clamped to your car because the combination really acted like a car, not a truck. It was this aspect of the Toppola that endeared it over the week and a thousand mites, and made us agree that, looks notwithstanding, such a seemingly preposterous thing might make sense after all here in America. A lot of Turbo-owning couples probably like to camp, backpack and hike, after all, and this solution is notably more attractive than either the usual car-camping or the extreme alternative of motor-homing.
Whether the Toppola would sell in the US is a moot point, because shortly after we returned the Toppola. Saab USA learned there would be none of the $3000 campers sold, period. The company that made them had gone out of business.
S.L.T.