Saab Toad

[1][4] The reason for this project was to preserve secrecy during development of the new model, the Saab 99, which was the company's first radically new body shape since the first cars made in 1947.

[5] This was achieved by cutting the body in half lengthwise and inserting 20 cm of steel spacer.

The bonnet (hood) and grille required widening in a different way, to prevent changing the appearance of the centrally-placed features, as the picture shows.

It was rightly believed that the wider body would not be noticed on Sweden's roads, where so many SAAB 96 cars were an everyday sight.

This deception was successful, for a while, until test drivers allowed a grey Toad to be followed by a similarly-colored SAAB 96, making the different proportions obvious to any observer.