The history of Toppola was summed up on the webpage toppola.com by head of the company Peter Malmberg. I have complied the most part of the materials from his writings and from still available information on the Internet
It all started in the early 80’s in Filipstad in Sweden, where the Finnish-born Arwo (Arvo) Pullola invented a camper shell which after removing the tailgate and hatch door it could be installed in the boot of a Saab Coupe. No modifications had to be made which meant that it can be mounting on and off from the car anytime. In the caravan you could stand up and it also had a comfortable bed for two people.
The word Toppola was born from combining the Swedish word “topp” (top) and the “ola” from Arwo Pullola’s name.
The Swedish Peter Malmberg was barely 25 years old and was selling boat accessories at Skåne Marine at the time. He became aware of Arvo’s invention and saw the imagination in the matter. In 1982 he bought the project from Arvo, then formed a company called EMICO Kågeröd AB (Kågeröd EMICO Ltd.) with shipbuilder Matts Mollestam. An old smithy was rented for construction in Kågeröd, between Helsingborg and Malmö. Their background from the leisure boat industry characterized their new business. Anyone who has seen Toppola up close can know that it has a close relationship with the shipping industry, the technologies and accessories used also came from there.
The spring of 1982 started vigorously, 10 Toppola were produced and their work continued day and night, while also learning about the pitfalls of the project. These early models can be recognized by the rear door, located on the left side of the back panel. The lower part of the roof racks is corrugated and the body leans slightly backwards. After the tenth construction they realized that the construction technology needed to be re-thought and redesigned. Malmberg said: The first Toppola owners do not have to worry, there was nothing wrong with their structural strength and durability but the first moulds were wrongly built and this is caused difficulty in production. For example, the core material of the sandwich composite was a cheap Bonocel polyurethane foam. Arvo thought that the corrugated bottom under the bed makes the chassis stronger but it actually made it weaker and very heavy. In addition to the 10 pieces, two more were made and shipped to Norway.
The next generation had been given new moulds that made things easier for them. The exterior had also changed a bit, the back became 10 cm higher, the recline was also eliminated, making an optically lighter impression. The corrugated part under the bed was smoothed out and changed inside as well, but the door still remained on the left. In the summer of 1982, quite a few prototypes were made that had evolved. There were usually five people working on the production. They were made in the form of high technology at the time, by hand lamination. The hull of the camper shell was sandwiched PVC (TERMANTO) sandwiched between layers of fiberglass-reinforced resin inside and out, exactly as small boats of similar material were made. And later TERMANTO was replaced by Diab Barracuda that became superior with fantastic support. This solution provided not only a rugged yet lightweight structure, but also thermal and noise insulation too.
SAAB came into view in early September. Ther was a great contrast between the small EMICO and the big SAAB, but this period brought new ways of thinking and revolutionary changes. SAAB demanded that the finished motorhome should be as beautiful and comfortable inside and out as their cars, which was also an incredible step forward.
There were several changes in the 1984 model year. The fiberglass rear door, pushed to the left, was replaced with a centered aluminium door. Windows were fitted on both sides of the rear door so that it could be seen through the interior in rear view mirror. A round window was placed on top of the door to create a “cabin feel” and two small openable round windows were mounted at the head. All textiles were replaced and the ceilings and walls were covered with light carpets. Saab required cabinets and kitchenettes to be made of wood. The biggest thing was the introduction of the Wallas stove, which was actually both a stove and a heater. It was expensive, but in return it made Toppola four seasons so they could use it even in the winter. At this time, the colour of the Toppola was white at the top and back, while it was black at the bottom, but from autumn black was changed to grey.
SAAB invested a lot of work into this project e.g. new brochures have been produced in four languages- Swedish, English, French and German. The idea was to introduce Toppola in every market. Also issued a four-language, 16 pages user manual and many other marketing measures were taken.
The Malmbergs were involved in the final development of the new Saab 9000 to avoid difficulties at during subsequent installation of Toppola. At the premiere of the SAAB 9000 at every SAAB dealer had two black 900 turbo with mounted Toppola outside front of the showroom entrance. At the time, the Toppola was the largest and most expensive original accessory of the SAAB. They delivered everything they needed and they had rebuilt the production facilities in Kågeröd and hired additional employees.
The balance of power between EMICO and SAAB was no equal, unfortunately this led to the end of the hopeful joint work before Christmas 1984. The company was wound up and the plant had to be closed. Peter Malmberg did not reveal many details but diplomatically called the collaboration a “hard school” where he learned many things. In fact, the collaboration ended because Saab has fired the aftermarket leaders. Production was suspended for a year. He dealt with something different and than took control again this time without the SAAB with his own marketing plan.
In 1986, he has founded a new company, SCANDO. In the absence of financial resources mostly press releases were issued. And the press got the specialty and in more and more places they presented Toppola in more and more detail. With the support of the Swedish Trade Council, they even made it to television. International connections have been established and sales are planned in 13 countries. Although export sales were in fact in deficit because new importers had to be supported in the start-up.
Germany was the foreign country where largest numbers of Toppola were shipped where it also received TÜV certification. The rigorous investigation lasted a year and costed a fortune. The launches of the Toppola were fantastically well received by the German press but by the time TÜV was finally ready the initial enthusiasm had subsided. The bodywork was mostly made for Ford Scorpio and Sierra models that were exported there.
After 1986, the round bedroom windows and the extra windows from the two sides of the back wall were removed because of the Bavarian supplier have increased their prices too much. At that time anyone could decide on what they need in Toppola. There were three trim levels. “Sport” with only bed and wardrobes and cabinets, “Continental” with bed, wardrobe, cabinets and kitchen and “Scandinavia” with bed, wardrobe, cabinets, and kitchen with Wallas heater for winter use. Around 1986-1987, the Toppola became completely white, from bottom to top to better match for the colours of the cars.
Some extra wide door Post Toppola (yrkes Toppola) were made for Saab’s internal mail and parcel delivery. The doors had several openings, some of which opened upwards like a station wagon.
In the summer of 1987, a fire broke out at the company in the building shared with the plant, caused significant damage. The fight with the insurance company lasted for one year while also the German TÜV certification delayed. It was too much at once and in 1988 production ceased again. In addition to manufacturing, they were also involved in renting Toppolas, fortunately this business was successful while production was at standstill.
After a couple of years, the pressure from potential customers become too great that Peter Malmberg using his experience of previous years, embarked on the development of a completely new Toppola, which was introduced in 1990 came to be called Toppola II.
By far the biggest need was to be able to mount Toppola on any car. For this reason, the Toppola II was made in two pieces, with a model-specific changeable unit attached to the upper standard part, which called “Damask”. This method also resulted a completely new model – Toppola Pickup. This model fits pretty much all the Pickup´s on the market. In terms of interior design, in addition to the standard large 1,7 x 2 metre bed they were able design a larger kitchen and a larger table with four seats. It was about 6 cubic metres of interior space, with an internal height of 1,92m and a total width of 1,7m. They were already familiar with the production of lightweight sandwich structures so they were able to keep the weight of the pickup version below 250 kg. Its width is only 1,75 m like all Toppola’s so it didn’t hang over the car, allowing it to fit in tighter spaces as well and allowing factory mirrors to be used.
Considered the aerodynamic ideas of the SAAB Aircraft, changes have also been made to the upper part of the Toppola II to reducing air resistance. As it’s clearly visible from the outside there is a break in the side wall at the line of the front door. As a result, the bed became wider and by raising the front and changing the design of the lower spoiler the foot space became longer. All corners of the body were rounded off. The new body also fitted better with the more rounded shapes of modern cars.
Removing and installing Toppola is not a difficult procedure, if you have the right equipment. It was built in a number of well functioned version but they were very expensive. For Toppola ll. they designed a new solution with a “baby swing” system where it could be lifted with a trailer winch. For safety reason, they also built a hook in the roof of the Toppola. The cost of this extra in 1990 was 4800 SEK. (the base price of Toppola was listed for 37 965 SEK)
A 9000-re emelik a Toppola 2-t 
Baby swing with trailer winch
By the time the new model was done and they could have started the business, in the early 1990s, the leisure sector had been hit hard by the Swedish economic recession. This also had consequence for Toppola, so the production had been discontinued in 1996.
In total about 300 Toppola were produced, 80 of them were exported to 13 different countries. The biggest export market was Germany, with 20 of exports. A total of 15 second-generation of Toppola ll. were built. About 3-5 for NG900 / 9.3, 4 for SAAB 9000 CC and some for OG900. 4-5 units were made from Toppola Pickup.
It’s difficult to say exactly how many remain but there’s definitely one in Hungary. 🙂
