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A disaster for Swedish car lovers.
[url= http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/dec/18/gm-shuts-saab ]Here[/url]
My fave ever car was the 9000 I ran for 130ooo miles. RIP
i loved both my 9-5's even though they blew up
And the new 9-5 looked like it could have been a cracker.
🙁
My '93 900SE is still the favourite car I've owned - it had 130,000 miles on it and still all worked a treat.
shame, still better dead than Vauxhall eh!
"Despite the best efforts of all involved, it has become very clear that the due diligence required to complete this complex transaction could not be executed in a reasonable time," said Nick Reilly, president of GM Europe. "In order to maintain operations, Saab needed a quick resolution."
Nonsense. DD can be done fast - I lead a team that did the legal DD on a £650m transaction in three days. You just need people. What he probably meant to say was "We can't keep it going much longer, but weren't going to sell for peanuts and a potentially massive amount of buyer protection as they didn't havew the time to DD it properly."
Shame, though. Always had a soft spot for their quirkiness.
I was seriously considering buying an old one. Is this any reason to stop me?
Shame I like Saab's, years ago I brought a third hand 9-3 (£250) & thrashed it mercyless even from cold, & up & down the motorways at 125 & it still lived to be 246,000 miles old !
[i]soma_rich - Premier Member
I was seriously considering buying an old one. Is this any reason to stop me?
[/i]
Of course not. I'll be buying another one next year. A 9-3 Sportwagon.
Pity. The old ones are the best and plenty of them still about.
I'm not a petrolhead by any means and the only car I've ever owned that I raved about was 10 year old saab 9-3. Still think it's the best car I've ever owned. Two bikes in the boot, wheels on I've just been given (free, woo-hoo) a '93, 125000 mile 9000CS. Braking sharply at above 90 is an interesting proposition and handling is more oil tanker than speedboat, but it's still a sound motor.
My dad had a 9000 Turbo, with a Mitsubishi blower (one of only six). Lots of turbo lag, but on boost was like piloting the Millenium Falcon.
To this day it was the scariest car I've ever driven.
Sad to see the last of its' ilk, even though they haven't made a "real" Saab since the early 90s.
Some of the 9000s were putting out 250bhp+. Oh yeah!!!
I had a 96 900, nowt special, but was a great car. I'll buy another one when we get rid of the van. Not sure about the 9-3 sportwagen though.
Shame, but is it just me or is this just utterly gopping?Must be a decade or more since they made a car that was decent to look at.
weird perspective on that pic, looks like the real wheel is far smaller than the front
I wonder if GM considered the fact that they were finding it hard to turn a profit with Saab might be due to the fact that they owned it.
I flipping hate GM.
GM starved Saab of investment ever since 1990 and wondered why a 9-3 couldn't compete with BMW or Audi but insisted on designing it around a 1981 vintage Cavalier chassis. The steering rack was bolted to the front bulkhead and not the front subframe FFS!
That's GM. They put the vast resources of the GM cupholder department into play, but wouldn't get Lotus to sort the chassis out. Unfortunately, the loser is Saab.
Just be thankful that it was Ford and not GM who bought Jaguar in 1990...
Shame Had a great 900I years back.
Just be thankful that it was Ford and not GM who bought Jaguar in 1990...
Ditto Volvo.
Had a 9-3 ragtop, and it was a sack of sh*t. Spinning a bearing at 73,000. Useless dealers. Climate control system dying. Twice. Roof forever problematic. Shoddy build (worse than my Alfa!) Sloppy handling (shake, rattle, roll, and a good dose of flex and scuttle shake). Suspect electrics. Generally crap.
It's sad for the people who will lose their job, but for the cars themselves? Meh.
Saab rebadged vectra, and now thats gone as wel, to be replaced by the Insignificant.
I've recently bought an '07 9-3 wagon. I really like it. it's not as fancy or as quick as the 320d Touring it replaced, but at least I can get my drum kit inside it. With room for passengers
and it has heated leather seats, mmm toasty warm in weather like this 😉
Sad news. My mam and dad had a 90 and it was loved by us all.
