Saab Tire & Automotive

Saab Tire & Automotive was a tire company, auto parts dealer, and automotive repair shop located at 3000 Messer Airport Highway in Birmingham. The company was founded in 1958 by Charles Saab, and specialized in high-end cars and light trucks, and fleet maintenance.

Saab, a former prize-fighter and grocer, opened the Saab Tire Co., selling tire casings for retreaders from a leased space on 3rd Avenue West. Within a year he moved to a different building on the corner of 8th Avenue North and 13th Street. In 1961 he bought the former Acme Oil Co. property at 3000 5th Avenue North, which was later reconfigured into Messer Airport Highway. As new rubber tires became more readily available in the 1960s, the business expanded into retail sales of used tires, and then to factory take-offs and changeovers.

Charles Saab Jr joined his father's business in 1973 and helped the company transition into selling and mounting new tires from three exterior bays. A new 10,000 square-foot warehouse and sales office opened in 1977, soon followed by an 8-bay enclosed service center. Another 4-bay building, opened in 1981, equipped the company to offer alignments along with steering and suspension work.

In the late 1980s, Saab transitioned into a full-service auto repair company with a specialty in fleet service by hiring additional certified technicians and implementing a computerized accounting system. The business expanded by leasing the western half of the block in 1990, adding a 6-bay brake shop and 3-bay oil-change center. The company changed its name to Saab Tire & Quick Oil Change.

Charles Jr succeeded his father as president of the company at his death in 1992. He added 6 more service bays in 1998, making Saab one of the largest independent service centers in Alabama.

Saab Tire & Automotive added a mural of the former Birmingham Terminal Station by Stephen Smith to the side of its main building in 2018.

The business closed in 2021. The building was sold to Barber Real Estate in 2022.