SAABs in limbo

Who cares ... company had no direction, hence their current problems. I do feel though for the employees, but I'd never own one and I'm sure I am not the only person who feels this way.

Pete

 

Saab is, and was one of the best car manufacturers out there. I speak for a lot of people when i say they built a really amazing car.

I miss both of my 9-3's

 

Wow, speak for others why dont you.

As Saab owner there was is something unique about their products, a character quite different to anything. Sad to see so many nice cars just sitting there. There is no doubt the last 9-5 was a quality product which received many great reviews.

Saabs were just perhaps too different from anything else to appeal to a wide enough audience.

The loss of Saab is indeed a loss to the motoring world, in my opinion of course without speaking for others.

 

I took my GTI to the local (exclusively VW) dealer last week for an oil change and there was a brand new 9-5 wagon still with the window sticker sitting outside the service dept. I didn't ask anybody about it, but when I left it had been moved to a service bay as though it were being prepped for a buyer. Nice car.

 

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They truly made exceptional cars that weren't for everyone, I'm happy to fit in this category.
Love the German marques but I 've never felt as safe driving in horrid conditions with anything else. Their build quality was second to none, they perpetually felt nimble and the controls had an engaging responsiveness. The turbo 4s were economical, lasted forever and made plenty of usable power.
Throw in a few quirks and odd styling for good measure, really what you ended up with was the best Italian sedan you could buy outside of a Quattroporto .

Whether they continue or not, I'll likely be buying a few more well past my retirement ....


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qnfSHnrL90

 

Loved my 1993 red/tan turbo convt with 5 sp manual! Had it for 6 yrs of fun motoring. Too bad company lost its way. RIP

 

I LOVE my SAAB. But then again it's probably only 3% SAAB.
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I had a very early saab and loved the car. I thought they went belly up as part of the GM problem. I thought GM owned them.

Our government for better or worse bailed our GM but did not do the same for Saab.


Very sad

Lee

 

Pete, you're getting really curmudgeonly these days; is the "Fakes & Replicas" thread getting you down?

Back to the topic....Saab made unique and quality cars with very good direction, for a long time......unfortunately after a poorly thought out acquisition, GM badge-engineered them to their grave. GM was / IS the ones with no direction.....

 

Anyone here ever have an SPG? Always preferred the lines of those over the 2 900s I had.

 

My first car was a 1980 SAAB 900 turbo.

Quite frankly, it was a POS, but that was because I was a bit naive, and the SAAB "dealer" who sold it to me with a bad head gasket and faulty pop off valve was more than a bit unscrupulous.

Other than the undisclosed (major) flaws in this particular car, I found and still believe that the 900 turbo had some design elements that were better than any other car I've driven.

One point in particular: I've never found another car in which I can open the sunroof in less than 3 seconds and literally stand up & put my head thru.

Still don't much like front wheel drive cars though...

 

I had to look up the meaning of that word . The replicas topic is beyond getting me down, it is just unbelieveably sad. Over the years mankind has pretty much constantly destroyed played the me, me, me I'm all that matters attitude and we never learn.

Okay I'll explain my point, since I have upset the SAAB fans. SAAB did lack direction, and this is why it struggled. What are they? Are they sports saloons?, not really. Are they luxury saloons?, not really. Are they an engineers car?, not really, but maybe. They were well built cars that main customers who just wanted something slightly different, but could not really put their finger on what. Hardly a wide market!.

BMW either has badge snobs or sporty owners,
All the FIAT brands have a class for want of a better word ... although Lancia and Alfa Romeo are a bit too similar, but Lancia is more up market than Alfa Romeo with Alfa supposed to be more sporty of the two.

I see SAAB as like Porsche in that they appear to be good at constant development. They took that Triumph engine and developed the cr@p out of it and made it a good engine ... a long with the turbo charger.

I believe Alfa Romeo will likely die soonish because their market is not wide enough to cover the investment required to develop a modern car, and on top of that you have Alfisti's (like me) who are not really happy that modern Alfa Romeos are not really Alfa Romeos but FIATs wearing different clothes.
Pete

 

I'll probably keep my 1999 9-3 (5 door) Stage 3 car forever. Slowly make her into a beast. These older models have strong internals so the sky is the limit.

 

I've given thought to keeping my Saabaru for a long time and when I'm done using it as a DD, turning it into a track rat.