SAAB Automotive calls it quits.

[Pauke! Pauke!]

Looks like the end of the line for SAAB automobiles. SAAB Group, SAAB AB, the defense aerospace company is a different company and is still in business.

http://money.cnn.com/2011/12/19/auto....htm?iid=HP_LN

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2011/...ex.html?iid=EL

http://media.saab.com/home

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[stansdds]

Back when I was in college one of my classmates bought a SAAB. He said it was a very good car... until his wife got into a fender bender with it. I don't recall how many months he had to wait for parts to be imported and installed, but the car sat for a long time.

[hey_moe]

When da wife and I were dating that was her car. The maintenance on that bad boy was high dollar. Every time she took it into the shop for regular maintenance is was over 1500.00. Needless to say once we were married that was the first thing to go bye-bye.

[brad kaste]

Never understood how SAAB lost it's way. (I'm sure it got really got lost when GM took it over...) Back in the late 70's and early 80's it was one cool car company. I always liked that iconic, aero shape it had back then.

[andersel]

When I was in High School I drove a SAAB 96 for a while. It was what one might call a "Quirky" car. But I loved it! It had a wierd 4-speed on the column shifter. It looked more like a beetle than a VW Beetle did. It was an odd Blue/Gray color. It sounded like a Cuisenart on drugs. But I loved it!

This is truely sad news. Maybe some multi-multi billionaire will buy it and keep the Marque going. A remarkable company that made remarkable cars. What a shame that they couldn't continue to make a go of it.

LA

[Railrunner130]

I was looking at a 9-3 about five years ago. It was a really nice looking car, but a new one was in the $40Ks. The lease returns were in the $20K range. I ended up buying a new, Pontiac G6 for that with a bigger engine and more room. For a GM product, the new SAABs should've been more competitively priced at right around $20K.

[Flyboy208]

I have owned 2 different SAAB 900 coupes, loved those cars ... sometimes fell under the funny acronym SAAB = "Swedish Automobile Always Broken" ... sad to see this iconic marque fade ...

Mike

[Jagdflieger]

Was the engine on those SAABs from the 60s a two cycle design? I remember that they sounded like one and had that blueish exhaust smoke like one.

[Willy]

An old Navy buddy of mine had a 87 Saab 900S. He always said that he swore by that car, but sometimes he'd swear at it.

[brad kaste]

Was the engine on those SAABs from the 60s a two cycle design? I remember that they sounded like one and had that blueish exhaust smoke like one.

Yes,........... the Saab earlier models were called the 92 and 93. Both carried a 750 cc. 2 stroke engine. They sounded like Singer sewing machines giving off clouds of blue smoke in their wake. It would be fun to pull up in one at a EPA testing lane and see how poorly the car would score.

[wombat666]

SAAB really started to go downhill during the GM years.
One of my old mates [a suspension engineer/draughtsman] was contracted from GMH to SAAB in 1996 for a year, that turned into a 6 year stint, he could have continued if he was so inclined but wanted to return to Australia.
Bad move, in 2005 GMH outsourced most of the engineering design to India.
One good reason for NOT buying one of their products and a possible pointer of how SAAB went down the crapper.

And yes indeed, the two-strokes were smoky and noisy, but they won international rally rounds, in the hands of Per Eklund, Stig Blomqvist, Erik Carlsson and Pat Moss.
The SAAB 92 was a twin and the 93 a triple, both two strokes, but the best of them was the four stroke V4 SAAB 96.
Sad to see such an individualistic company wiped out.

[fliger747]

I had a SAAB 99, was for the most part a good car, fun to drive and easy enough to turn wrenches on. They made good engines but craopy gear boxes. Had an issue with the third gear popping out due to some worn bronze parts so since I had 150,000 miles on it thought I would overhaul the engine whilst I had the whole thing out. Fixing the gear box was easy enough and the parts not expensive. Took the engine parts down to Rick, at the Machine shop and after a bit of measuring and hmmmm sssss..... He said I can't measure any wear.... So some new gaskets and rings, bearings (cheap), a valve job and right back together. Some parts a bit pricey, the fuel pump $250....

Sorry to see them go. Volvo, pronounced by the Chairman of the new owner, Gieley Motors (China) as Wo Wo, so perhaps Woe to them as well. I still have my 1963 Volvo 122S, of which I am almost the original owner...

T

[wombat666]

It appears that the nice people at GM, who apparently still retained shares in SAAB vetoed the sale to Gieley Motors.
Sheer bloody mindedness!!!!