Toppola
Encyclopedia
Camper shell
A camper shell is a small housing or rigid canopy used as a pickup truck accessory. The housing is usually made of fiberglass or aluminum, and is mounted atop the pickup truck's rear bed. It usually covers the entire bed of the pickup truck, and is large enough to be used for camping purposes...
originally made for the Saab 99
Saab 99
- Development :On April 2, 1965, Gudmund's day in Sweden, after several years of planning, the Saab board started Project Gudmund. This was a project to develop a new and larger car to take the manufacturer beyond the market for the smaller Saab 96...
combi coupé
Combi coupé
Combi coupé is a proprietary marketing term used by Swedish manufacturer Saab for marketing their fastback styled hatchback models.The term denotes a car with a mixture of a "combi" and a coupé...
. By removing the hatch and putting on the Toppola a car could be converted to a campervan
Campervan
A campervan , sometimes referred to simply as a camper, or a caravanette, is a self-propelled vehicle that provides both transport and sleeping accommodation. The term mainly describes vans that have been fitted out, often with a coachbuilt body for use as accommodation...
in about 15 to 30 minutes. It is also just as easy to lift the top off and reattach the hatch door and use the car without the Toppola. Even if the unit looks small it features full standing height (2.0 m) and a 170 by 200 cm bed. It could be fitted with a complete kitchen and even a heater for use during winter. The total weight addition is about 115 kg, so the unit is very light.
The Toppola was first made for the Saab 99
Saab 99
- Development :On April 2, 1965, Gudmund's day in Sweden, after several years of planning, the Saab board started Project Gudmund. This was a project to develop a new and larger car to take the manufacturer beyond the market for the smaller Saab 96...
, but later also Saab 900
Saab 900
The Saab 900 was a car produced by Saab Automobile from 1978 until 1998 in two generations. The first generation from 1978 to 1993 is known as the "classic"; the generation from 1994 to 1998 is known as the "new generation" ....
, Saab 900 (NG), Saab 9000
Saab 9000
The Saab 9000 is an automobile that was produced by the Swedish company Saab from 1984 to 1997. The 9000 was replaced by the 9-5 in the late 1997....
, Saab 9-3
Saab 9-3
The first generation 9-3, a substantially improved 'new-generation' Saab 900 was launched in 1998 for the 1999 model year. Saab claimed that 1,100 changes were made, including a revised suspension in an attempt to tighten up the handling characteristics of its predecessor, the Saab 900...
and Ford Sierra
Ford Sierra
The Ford Sierra is a large family car that was built by Ford Europe from 1982 until 1993. It was designed by Uwe Bahnsen, Robert Lutz and Patrick le Quément. The code used during development was "Project Toni"....
and Scorpio
Ford Scorpio
The Ford Scorpio is an automobile that was produced by the Ford Motor Company from 1985 through to 1998.It was the replacement for the European Ford Granada line...
.
Production has stopped in 2006 and SCANDO was looking for someone to take over production of the Toppola.
External links
- The Toppola Homepage - a fan page
- Saab Central - The Toppola Camper
- Dream Trip Home page of Catharina and Bert Öhman's trip around the world with a Saab 900 Toppola
- Toppola on the internet - most in swedish