Saab heading for administration?

[Dr S]

Very sad news indeed. I have always had a soft spot for SAABS and ha e rallied 96's on and off for the last 10 years. I even had a stretch working for SAAB UK when I moved to the North East. I've always been a fan of the 900 Turbo and it's raw older sibling the 99 ( remember, THE first mass produced Turbocharged road car!)
They were a wonderful brand before the takeover- quirky, different, well built and very tough. Remember that SAAB gave us so many safety firsts- Side impact bars, dual circuit brakes, seatbelts, colapsable steering columns etc. Next time you crash a car thank SAAB that you will probably survive.
I hope they do pull through. They deserve to survive. The problem has been that they have not moved with the times. The 95 is so old it's started to smell of wee and that face lift a few years back made it look even uglier. BMW learnt years ago how to make big cars sexy= appeal to new generation of buyers. SAAB and Jag et al, have relied on it's loyal customer base too much- an aging group of people, at the expense of attracting younger trendier types.
if the brand is to survive it needs a new model range and a very aggresive marketing approach to win over a new generation of converts. Problem is that that costs mega bucks and if they are in the shit it doesn't look like it will happen.
I hope they make it!

Si

 

[reanimation]

Damn I fancy one now.

I had a passenger ride in a 900 Turbo in the 80's was totally awesome and like nothing else.

Oh BTW this chap who gave me a lift replaced it with an Allegro Vanden Plas, that he got my dad to paint black. would make a cool Ironic VIP now but a million miles from a 900 Turdblowa

 

[Stick Legs]

the 99 ( remember, THE first mass produced Turbocharged road car!)

Sorry to be a pedant but BMW 2002 Turbo was first european. But only limited production.

Saab were the first to make a genuine mass produced car with a Turbo though.

Let us not forget Oldsmobile though!

http://www.honeywell.com/sites/ts/tt/10 ... 11107E.htm

 

[captain8track]

re:

Well Being a Swedish citizen and Saab supporter, we have in the family a 9-5 Aero the 250bhp version. and I've owned a couple of 9000's and and 900 AERO with around 260bhp. Saab is going to get rid of Gm and Rise again...

You can't blame Saab as a brand for the aging models, it's all down to GM who makes shitty cars, the 93 model is basically an opel/vauxhall vectra or a cadillac. and this can't be any good.

the 95 model is a really good car, but it's more then 10years old! fuel economy in a saab is ridicolous you drive a 250horsepower car with automatic and cruisecontrol and it takes 0,9 L per 100 km's. My old 9000 2,3Turbo took 0,7 on the highway with cruisecontrol and 200hk. and well I'm an old alfa lover but let's just face it the 9000 is a better car then the 164. but the alfa sounds like an alfa.

I remember one time at the Alfa shop I worked on, when the new 156 GTA arrived my boss was really pleased with it, saying it was better then the M3 bla bla our mechanic had an old 2,3 Turbo 9000 with altered computer ware and it blew the alfa with the boss in it, to kingdom kong. He newer said a word about the GTA again...

 

[hamster]

Come one, the 9-5 is older than that - it's a 9000 underneath.
I still love my battered old '97 9000, but you could see even then that there wasn't enough development cash.

 

[orange71]

I'm still enjoying my 97 9000 too 200k miles will be up soon, but the old beast will keep going.

 

[captain8track]

re:

the best thing is that they are releasing a new model of the 9-3 model right now haha, feels a bit weird but...

 

[hamster]

I'm still enjoying my 97 9000 too 200k miles will be up soon, but the old beast will keep going.

Min's underused at 98k My local dealer has one on the servicing books that has done 800k :shock:

Which is yours? Mine's a 2.3 Turbo - the 200bhp job. BMW 528 killer until it reaches a corner....

 

[captain8track]

re:

Stiffen that baby up, and I promise you that a sad old 528 will be left in the dust...

Remember that the 9000 basically is an Alfa Romeo 164.

To be honest, even if the 9000 and the 9-5 is practically the same car, the 9-5 feels a bit better on the road. A bit more slimber, but we have one with some Hirsch upgrades in the suspension.

Still you have to compare theese cars with bmw, audis and other german cars that are way more expensive.

 

[hondamatic]

Over here, Saabs have a really low profile. They're dirt cheap used - a nice 2002 9-5 Aero with 100,000 kns would be $10-12k. I swear, I could barely replace my car (2001 Accord 4-cyl, 110k kms) for the same money.

I wanted one when I bought my car, but the part cost had me worried. Maybe next car. Like the Swedes on here, FWD is nice in the snow. I hope they're arounwd to sell me a next car.