A Summer Saab Fans Will Not Forget
The Swedish summer of 2026 was already shaping up to be special – with Svenska Saabklubben’s 50-year anniversary festival and IntSaab 2026 in Stockholm. Now comes a third highlight, and arguably the most ambitious museum initiative in decades: The Box, a temporary exhibition that brings together a scale of Saab history never shown in one place before.
From June 6 to September 30, 2026, the Saab Car Museum will move almost its entire fleet to Nova Arena, an enormous former industrial hall just steps from the museum’s historic home in Nohab’s locomotive factory. For enthusiasts traveling to Trollhättan, this will be the closest one can get to experiencing the entire evolution of Saab under one roof.
Why The Box Exists – And Why It Matters
The museum building at Nohab, opened as a permanent exhibition space in 1987, is one of Trollhättan’s industrial landmarks. Its century-old roof and skylights – the same ones that flood the halls with that unmistakable soft light in countless visitor photos – are now due for essential renovation.
To do this safely, the museum must be completely emptied. Most institutions would simply close the doors. Saab Car Museum chose a different path: turn the disruption into an opportunity.
By relocating to Nova Arena, the team can display more cars than ever before. Normally, visitors see 70–80 vehicles at a time. The full collection counts around 140 Saabs. For The Box, “almost everything” will be on display — an astonishing promise from a museum known for rarely revealing its full depth.
Among these vehicles will be models that shaped Saab’s identity, prototypes that defined its engineering trajectory, and cars never before shown to the public in the museum’s 50-year history.
For long-time enthusiasts, this is more than an exhibition. It is a rare alignment: space, timing, and necessity enabling a level of access unlikely to be repeated for many years.
Inside Nova Arena: A Setting As Industrial As Saab Itself
The choice of venue is poetic.
Nova Arena, housed in Byggnad 88 – a 1959 turbine-assembly building – provides over 2,700 square meters of floor space and a ceiling height reaching 25 meters. Decades ago, it held massive steel structures and components for power-generation machinery. Later, it served as a film location, an event hall, a concert venue, and a stage for large-scale productions.
Now, Saab returns heavy industry to the building – but this time in the form of its automotive heritage.
The Box will use this monumental space to present the collection in a way impossible inside the museum’s charming but spatially limited brick halls. Expect broad sightlines, grouped eras, rarities positioned with breathing room, and a sense of scale that reinforces Saab’s far-greater industrial heritage beyond what casual observers ever associate with the brand.
Will the Museum Itself Close? Only Briefly.
The museum will remain open in its regular building until May 3, 2026.After that, it closes for one month to allow the building to be emptied and prepared for roof work.
During the exhibition period:
- Closed: May 4 – June 5, 2026
- The Box Opening Day: June 6, 2026 (Sweden’s National Day)
- The Box Closing Day: September 30, 2026
- Museum closed again: October 2026, while renovations conclude
By November, the team aims to reopen the main museum – restored, refreshed, and ready to welcome visitors back to the classic halls.
In the meantime, The Box becomes Saab’s headline attraction.
What Visitors Can Expect
The museum has avoided revealing specific cars — a deliberate choice to preserve the surprise. But reading between the lines, enthusiasts can anticipate:
- Key development milestones from UrSaab to the Saab 9-5ng
- Prototypes rarely, or never, shown before
- Competition and rally machinery
- Engineering test vehicles
- Unique one-offs and design studies
- Concept cars that defined Saab’s direction in the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s
The Box is not a themed exhibition – it is a comprehensive reveal, a full-scale unloading of the museum’s archives into a space finally large enough to showcase them.
The Saab Car Museum summarized it perfectly:
“We won’t be able to show everything, but ‘almost everything’ goes a long way. Trust us.”
A Temporary Home That Will Leave a Lasting Impression
The Box is both a logistical challenge and a curatorial opportunity. The museum team has made it clear: this is hard work, but it is meaningful work – the kind that will shape visitors’ memories for years to come.
For Saab owners planning summer trips, for overseas enthusiasts coordinating IntSaab itineraries, and for families curious about Trollhättan’s industrial history, this might become the defining Saab event of the decade.
Saab’s story has always been about engineering with purpose, unexpected solutions, and turning limitations into breakthroughs.
The Box follows that tradition.
Learn More and Plan Your Visit
All updates – including ticket information, schedules, and additional program details — will be published on the official museum site:
https://saabcarmuseum.se/the-box
You can also reach the museum team directly at info@saabcarmuseum.se.
