RIP Saab

and a piece of coal in your stocking for you, General Motors.... :mad:

Hard to believe that something that ugly could have come out of Sweden and lasted as long as it did on the market.

Our shop has two customers that own saabs,I sob every time I see one come in.

I ran 2 900. My favorite was a 1989 SPG. Put over 300,000 and never had to rebuild the engine or turbo. Just the transmission. What an awesome car !!Pre GM

'Tis the season - where's the love?

I have a friend that loves his 900s. He regularly gets 400k miles out of one, then retires it for another.

hope of finding new buyers to Saab was there during the week, so Friday`s news from GM to close plant in Trollhattan, was a chock for those employees at Saab factory

Saab is certainly a good and safe car, but why was it never really popular:confused:

janne sweden:)

Saab is certainly a good and safe car, but why was it never really popular:confused:

janne sweden:)

It was an ugly looking car, starting with the 3 cylinder two stroke right up the last one off the line. It looked unlike anything on the road with the possible exception of the GM Aztec.

They are very popular in the Northeast. New York's Hudson Valley and much of New England is full of Saabs.

My favorites have always been the 9/3 convertibles with the Aero package. Sharp car but just overprices for my pocketbook.

I won't miss them....

This is why I know exactly what they look like, and no, they do not get better looking with age, mine or the cars.

They are very popular in the Northeast. New York's Hudson Valley and much of New England is full of Saabs.

Hard to believe that something that ugly could have come out of Sweden and lasted as long as it did on the market.

Pretty much disagree. Saab's had different styling. Heck, Volvo was ugly by virtue of sticking to the 3 box for so long (outside of the P1800)

Modern SAAB's are nice looking. In a world of me-too styling SAAB's always had a different characteristic look. For them to abandon that and go mainstream would have left their loyal buyers scratching their heads.

Engineering wise I think held their own. They were - obviously - an imported car. I am not sure Sweden alone could prop up a car company anymore. You need more volume to weather the tough times. I'm not sure what they could sell in Sweden alone - maybe 50,000 new cars a year? And maybe 100,000 total in Europe.

So, doing well in the US would have been crucial. If they could have added another 50,000 American sales, then they might be viable. If they could get a dealer network that was with multi brands.

Part of the problem was the stupid re-badged Chevy Trailblazers and - here in Des Moines they ar part of an import dealer that offers Suzuki-Mitsubishi-SAAB and Kia.

ALL the ad revenue gets spent on KIA. I am personally never buying a car from this dealer because of that. I'm not some shill for the other 3, but all over equally nice products as KIA.

I'd buy a modern SAAB.

It was an ugly looking car, starting with the 3 cylinder two stroke right up the last one off the line. It looked unlike anything on the road with the possible exception of the GM Aztec.

Yep, These are butt ugly -

Saab | Sedan, Convertible, SUV, Turbo, and Wagon

The problem here is not the product or it's heritage. It's 100% on that boneheaded idea bankrupt corporation known as GM.

Those are nice looking cars, with European tight handling, nice touring car interiors. Compare them to Chevy's lineup or Pontiac pre-death.

Bob Lutz had to drag GM styling kickinga nd screaming into the 21st century. All they had to do was align SAAB with their GMC-Pontiac-Buick dealers.

If SAAB sold one car per dealership in the U.S. they would have done well. But getting potential buyers to look at them against Pontiac and even Buick, they would have done well and would still be around.

So it's another marketing blunder from the General that did SAAB in, not their styling or engineering.

This is getting around to burying the corpse. Saab has been a GM badge engineering exercise for some time. The 9-3 was a decent Opel. The 9-2 was a nice Subaru with better styling that you could get a GM discount on. The 9-7 truck was clearly just a Chevy GMT900 with no reason to exist except so Saab dealers could have a truck/SUV too.

I thought Konisegg (sp?) was a hope to bring in money, engineering talent, and independence, but the deal fell apart.

I've got a question? Does anyone know if there was still manufacturing in Sweden? If so, roughly, how many jobs in Sweden were lost because of this?

A real shame when someone gets bought out, then left alone to die!

W.

Saab has about 3400 employees worldwide but most of them work at the lone plant/HQ in 'lil old Trollhatten, Sweden. Shutting down Saab would be about as devastating as DHL shutting down their large operation in 'lil old Wilmington, OH has been.

I´ve never been a Saab fan at all, ugly and expensive cars etc.

And i understand GMs decision to end the brand, you can't keep manufacturing cars that won´t sell.

However, this will make an impact on Swedish economy, and is a big thing here in all medias right now.

The newspapers here are mentioning calculations of up to 50 000 risk loosing their jobs. From workers on the plant, sub-contractors to salesmen and so on..

And as Dr Strangelove says, the city of Trollhättan and a large area surrounding will feel the impact most.. Everyone in Trollhättan is linked with the plant in some way.

Is SAAB still in the aircraft business? Did GM get that in the deal years ago or is it seperate from the automotive end of SAAB?

GM (thankfully) did not bargain for or get the aviation business, much like Volvo who retained Swedish ownership of all non-automotive business units.

The newspapers here are mentioning calculations of up to 50 000 risk loosing their jobs. From workers on the plant, sub-contractors to salesmen and so on..

And as Dr Strangelove says, the city of Trollhättan and a large area surrounding will feel the impact most.. Everyone in Trollhättan is linked with the plant in some way.

This is particularly bothersome in my opinion. We've not got the best reputation overseas as it is. Putting that many people out of work will only make it worse.

Wayne

In my early years, I drove and raced the early 3 Cylinder - 2 Stroke Cycle Saab models, and found them to be extremely reliable, and a BALL to drive. Autocross, Rallye, and and SCCA events were wonderful venues for this feisty little "driver's car". Nothing got in the way of enjoying the "all out - ba**s to the wall" spirited driving -- Ice racing, winter Rallye, and just plain fun.

We stayed with Saab, uintil we found out how much fun we could have with the Family-sized big Citroen sedans, Station Wagons, SM- Series Maseratti, Deaux Chevaux 2-cylinder models and their Ami-6 and Mehari 2-cyl. variants. It was fun to go to the SCCA Autocross events, watch the Porsche 914 showoffs, and then blow them away with a family sedan.

My son drove a 1984 Saab 900S as a "daily Driver round trip every 2 weeks between New Orleans and South Padre Island, Texas - a distance of 1600 miles for about 2 years. It sacrificed itself in a wreck, and saved his life (in my opinion), and was replaced with a second-hand Saab 9000S with the transverse (rather than traditional longitude) engine; much more Americanized. It also was in a serious wreck - unlicensed Mexican alien from south of the border without papers, drivers license, or insurance in Brownsville, Texas. This Saab also protected him from serious injury, but simply did not have the Swedish version of "Joie de vivre", and wasn't a fun toy.

BUT I DIGRESS -- Saab was a really neat car as designed by the enthusiasts in Trollhatten. The GM guys changed its nature, trying to make an Audi or BMW "me-too" out of it.

Andrew Wyeth, Norman Rockwell, Loenardo DaVinci, and Salvadore Dali were unique, and would not have been anywhere as interesting, had they tried to imitate one another -- but then, I appreciate the unique !!

Now they are saying Spiker has come back to the table and talks are back on. I hope so, like them or not SAAB's fill a niche for quirky cars for quirky people and are fun to drive. Oh, ya I drive a '03 9.3 turbo convertible.

Yes, sports car manufacturer Spyker raises new hope in Trollhattan, the employees at Saab automobile waiting for the new bid that could save the plant...

photo my soon and his Saab

janne sweden:)

Apparently, to own a SAAB is to love them.

Every SAAB owner I have known is fanatical about them, and wouldn't think of owning any other make.

I've never been crazy about them (from an aesthetic standpoint), but then, I've never owned one.

I've always rather liked the "beetle-shaped" SAABs, both the 2-stroke and the V-4 versions.

I would love to have a 3-cyl two-stroke SAAB.

At his web-site, Jay Leno has a nice video article on his '59 SAAB - "Made by Trolls in Trollheim". He loves the little car !

I have nothing good to say about GM.

I have nothing good to say about GM.

Frank,

I'm with you. I am so uber loyal to GM but the recent ways they are going makes me feel like they have truly lost their way. To kill SAAB, ridiculous.

Even if they virtually gave it away, that would be better then killing it.

I truly like what I saw on their website. I could own one for sure. As for the older stuff, some looks good to me, some does not.

I am not for countries stepping in and buying or propping up car companies but this might be a case where Sweden needs to buy the brand and plant and broker a deal with a European company.

Yes, sports car manufacturer Spyker raises new hope in Trollhattan, the employees at Saab automobile waiting for the new bid that could save the plant...

photo my soon and his Saab

janne sweden:)

Janne,

What is the Swedish view of all this? Why can't Swedish government step in and throw a lift raft to SAAB until European buyer steps in or sell shares to Swedes or something? Are Swedes just going to let their national identifying companies (SAAB and Volvo) go away?

the Swedish goverment seems to have the policy not to go into the taxpayers" money, and buy up or go in with money in companies that go bad, but the politicians seems to be divided

janne sweden:)

from a Swedish race track in the 60`s, a Saab 92, but where are the other cars:confused: it maybe that 92 an. run away from Lotus cortinor,, BMC Cooper and the other cars:D

merry christmas from sweden

janne:)