A Far Too Brief History of SAAB
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- čas přidán 14. 10. 2022
- SAAB is one of my favorite lost brands.
Reliable, durable, quirky - they built from success to success over decades, but not often with profitability.
Started literally by airplane engineers, Saabs were always a bit 'different', but once GM took over they slowly lost their "Saab-ness" and were positioned to more directly compete against luxury brands like BMW.
The end, as GM unloaded them at the end of the 2000s, unfolded like a soap-opera with bankruptcy, unpaid bills, unpaid wages, a Russian banker accused of being tied to organized crime, two different supercar manufacturers, multiple Chinese investors, Chinese investors who didn't pony up money, and a $3Billion lawsuit filed against GM for blocking their sale.
What a sad end to one of the most iconic brands of the 70s and 80s.
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That was well done
Saab’s quality plummeted once General Motors took over
As someone from the north-east, they used to be everywhere
Saab lives through it’s devoted base keeping old Saabs going.
I had a 1978 99 Turbo Kombi Coupe. It was insane. The engine tore itself off the front mounting, actually ripping the metal. Eventually, I wrote it off on a winding country lane in the back end of Essex, leaving the road at great speed. The garage who bought the wreck from me later informed me that the engine was non-standard, similar to the Blomquist Clarion cars. That explains a lot!
The final 95 sedan was one of the sexiest cars ever. I think they finally had a winner when they were shut down. 😞
The Dolomite derived engine was one of the most unusual installations ever... the engine was installed with the flywheel to the front of the car, and then a triplex chain down to the gearbox which lived under the engine (like in the original Mini, but separated, and not sharing the same oil)... Saab were truly original in their thinking in many areas....
SAAB did a very very major redesign on that engine. So produced a fantastic reliable and powerful engine! 😅
Swedish on my Dad's side, I mourn the loss of iconic SAAB. General statement: I enjoy and appreciate your sincere, non-nonsense style of presenting.
I worked for a Saab dealer in 89-91. People loved their cars, but many were easily swayed by the new Japanese luxury cars. People opened the door on a Saab and then heard how good the 2.0L engine and trans were..They popped the hood open to see the battery needs frequent filling and the recommended 7500 mile inspections(which they had a lot of problems).
.hen they went across the street to Lexus/Infinity and when opening the door the seat moved to help them get in, and they had powerful modern V6 engines. Maintenance was oil changes and tire rotations at 5k miles, and 30k miles spark plugs.
For company that cared so much for safety, in those 2 years I saw 5 safety recalls...very high for a company with only 2 cars that only has minor changes every year.
In one cold December day we had 30 cars towed in for no-starts(electronic fuel injection issues)..Funny because the older ones that were mechanical fuel injected were fine, and my old cheap Chevy cavalier was used to get people around! Like Sweden is a warm climate!
Many owners loved them, but in terms of value, they were significantly over priced and behind.
That reminds me that in Highland Park, Il, you would see a lot of loyal customers there. A lots of SAAB!
Excellent as always! The only person I ever knew that had Saabs is my cousin she had a late '90s 95, a convertible 93 from the early 2000s and a mid to late 2000s 93 sedan. I know she liked her first one the best and grumbled about the ever-increasing GM influence. When GM was doing the employee discounting, she bought the 93 sedan and remember her talking about how it was originally 32,000 but then she was able to get it for $24,000 All she like the price, she that it didn't look all that different from the GM sedans. Honestly I don't know what you do with some of these companies If during their hot period they're not making any money. The conclusion seems to be to share platforms and engines but then that causes the brand to lose its identity and then it ends up dying off. I've never really been a fan of joint venture projects because of this. They end up stealing sales from each other and not really expanding the market all that much for the company. It would have been interesting to have seen what would have been the result if say Chrysler and Saab could have teamed up instead of Daimler. In this situation, The companies could have benefited from each other if you have the right management which would need to be someone other than Bob Eaton. The Chrysler sedans were not competing in the kind of market that Saab was competing in yet the competent platforms they had or team that was capable of developing competent platforms could have benefited Saab. Having Saab help Chrysler with their quality issues, help them with turbocharging engines, and developing a turbo version of the 3.2 and 3.5 v6s to use in a Saab model would have been mutually beneficial. And co-engine development from that point on would have been nice. I think Ford would have done a more competent job than GM, but they had way too many irons in the fire as it was. Toyota would have been a interesting partner with having bulletproof powertrains and electronics. The question would be if Saab could turn a mule into a stallion. If so that would have fit nicely as Saab didn't really compete against Toyota and it was more performance focused than Lexus.
I have always liked owning and driving Saab cars. I've owned 9 in the past 30+ years. My current daily driver is a '2010 9-3 SportCombi with 176,700 miles on the clock. That's just broken in for a Saab.
I heard a story Saab was forced to use the Vectra base for the new 900. They agreed, if thet could change some stuff. They changed so much on the Vectra platform, it was more expensive than building a unique own car.
I’ve had an SPG, a 9000 Aero, an ‘06 9-5 wagon, but my ‘01 9-5 Aero wagon with a manual transmission is hands down the best car I have ever owned. They took everything that was either missing or annoying in the 9000 and fixed it. It was an incredible car and ergonomically perfect. The ‘06 had been de-contented and it shows.
DUDE. Saab 900 turbo. I got the fever when in was in Az in 1996. There were none in good condition available there. I remembered a friend mentioned in the mid 80s they were super popular around San Francisco. So I looked and found one there. Loved that car.
Hey Jon, great video like always. Though I never owned one myself, I've always been fascinated with SAAB because they were quirky but cool at the same time. If it were my choice, I would love to have the quintessential SAAB from my childhood, the classic 900 Turbo from the 80's to early 90's, especially the later ones with the 16V cylinder head and intercooler for the increased performance and reliability.
Right on
Haha, still remember just outta high school in 88 and a start of a mechanic career from late 80s to early 00s seeing a Saab come into the shop.... Popped the weird opening hood and laid my eyes on that backward engine setup and thought, WTH.... One of the other guys said, "Another Saab story....." Pretty much sums up Saab.
Good Job, John. I have grown up with Saab, coming from a family that has owned 25 of them, in the last 50 years. We still have a couple first generation 9-5's , and Classic 900's. I have the exact Cherry Red 900 Convertible you showed..I agree, I was very sad when Saab was bought by GM and very sad by the time Saab was done.
Hey, thanks for the comment and kind words!
Loved my SAAB 9-5. Excellent comfort and performance!
Everything GM touches turns to sand.
Basically, all of the American domestic companies are struggling in at least in one aspect.
I had an ‘86 900 and an ‘88 900 Turbo. Quirky but fun and practical cars. Even the base 900 had heated seats in 1986. That was a very rare feature back then.
1972 my 1st 96 had heated seats! 😅
Thanks Jon. A very fair review of their history! (We still have our 2008 9-5 Aero. Recently sold our 1983 900.)
Thanks for being here!
Jon it seems weird that fiat and Opel played a part of Saab. Now owned by stellantias.
I'm English and have owned 3 Saab's over the years, I still have 1 today. By far the best for build quality was the first which I bought at 18 months old and had it around 8 or 9 years it was a 1993 L reg 900 Turbo se convertible it was faultless in all the years I had it, after that was a 05 55 plate 93 vector convertible 2.0 Turbo which wasn't a bad car then an 08 58 plate 93 sportwagon vector 1.9 CDTi which I've had too long certainly 9/10 years. It's probably been the worst for reliability etc. Worst thing that happened to Saab was GM getting involved. I've quite fancied instead of a Saab a Cadillac BLS which is a badge Engineered Saab 93. It was even built at Trollhattan, obviously parts are most interchangeable except for likes of the lights are different. Dash board is adsatly the same but instead of digital clock it's an analogue in the caddy or should that be Cabby lol. Also to get them out of my system buy a 12 plate 95 . Been.englisg when I say plate it means the registration and the year of manufacture on the plate, if it's built past have way through the year it gets a 5 in front so a car built in September 06 would be a 56 plate etc .
Saab 92.. prettiest car that wasn't a Citroen!
At least we have the Gripen, but even that hasn't had new sales in years 😔
Hi Jon, thank you for this video. I bought a 1988 SAAB 900 turbo. My “bachelor car”. What attracted me to this car was the looks (aerodynamic, interior like a jet fighter plane, rugged like a P47 Thunderbolt). Of course the quirkiness, the ignition between the seats, the way the engine hood opened/closed and the side lights illuminating rearward when backing up the car especially at night. My only complaints: expensive, routine service, always some interior detail rattling whether the the dashboard when the AC was on or the front passenger seat and last but not least the rear SAAB metal emblem fell off (I had seen other missing emblems on SAAB 900 and 9000 models). Little issues but overall a good car. Sad the way the company declined and eventually ended.
Thanks, Jon. You have produced another informative history of another intriguing automotive company. Although SAABs don't come close to the passion I have for Volvos, I must say the placement of the ignition switch in the center console is one cool and quirky feature that I absolutely adore. Keep motoring. 😁
Thanks for the kind words! As you know from my previous vids we have a Volvo in the family now, but I admit I'd love an old Saab from mid-to-late 80s. Just to *experience* it, you know?
I have always been Saab curious
Please do a video about the Panhard. Pioneer automakers, very innovative. The PL17 tigre with only 850cc's boxer 2 cylinder was tuned for LeMans to produce 70 HP.
I always thought the Saab 9(Oldsmobile bravada)7x and the Mexico built 94x are underrated
I have three 1992 5door classics and will never part with them.
Great post thank you. It would need $50-$100b to bring back Saab.
Sonett is derived from 'Så nätt' ≈ 'So (tiny and) neat'. My first car was a 12 year old white SAAB 95 V4 1971. It almost killed me. Rust had eaten through the left front suspension mount and it broke at 140km/h (90mph) but apart from that I have no major complaints so I replaced it with a 1972 96 that didn't have rusted suspension mounts. That one went like stink. It topped out the speedometer at 160km/h (100mph).
I had a 1999 SAAB 93 convertible and I LOVED THAT CAR! But at 135,000 miles it was falling to bits right when you could no longer get parts and I had to let it go for $1,300. I would have gotten a 2008/2009 but it became known that SAAB defied some of the orders of GM and kind of did their own thing, so the later cars couldn't be serviced by SAAB and GM refused anything to do with them. Very, very sad
When GM went banrkupt in 2009, they tried to sell SAAB, but it didn't work it. Saab is one of 4 brands GM shutdown.
Are you sure about 4? Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Saturn, and Hummer. Saab would have been 5.
My nephew had a "87 900S and l had a '90 Dodge Omni at the time. The Omni had a far better driving position, better ergonomics, better ride and handling (it had GLH tires,wheels and suspension and a 5 speed manual), much more comfortable seats and of course, with the Chrysler 2.2, was much quicker than the Saab. Who would have thought, an Omni...
I always wanted a SAAB 😢
I'd lovet o se SAAB resurrected as an EV company; I think they'd have a lot of traction with a retro-inspired 96 4wd EV.
Hi Jon, nice video! I am 63 years old. Back when I was a kid, I saw SAAB as an sub-compact economy car, nothing special at at all. I think SAAB tried to attract the Mercedes/BMW market, but it did not work. In the 1970s to 1980s, they where too different, I.e. backwards mounted engine, for what? Just to be different, but not PRACTICAL! Please reply. Dave...
I actually like the 9-2x, but not because it's a "Saab" but rather because it is a nicer WRX outback. If you nabbed the 9-2x Aero, it was a nicer STi outback. Think of it in the same why you might think of a 442 to a Chevelle or a GSX to a GTO. Same car, but the Olds and the Buick are just nicer versions than the Chevy or Pontiac. (Yes I know they all each had their own divisional engines and slightly different engineering, where the Saabru was just a badge and bumpers)
Thank you thank you thank you
You are very welcome
Had saab's for the last 15 years, wouldn't own anything else
7:54 FYI "Linshowping" is close! In Swedish, k is usually pronounced like our sh.
Thanks.
I do try my best. :)
mine was a 1974 Saab 99 Ems than 1979 Saab 900 turbo
Those early SAAB's were neat looking little cars, but the model 99 and all the models that followed were butt ugly cars. The A and B pillars being almost the same weird angle really made it look goofy.
Una gran firma y unos coches estupendos ...una desgracia su desaparicion yo soy dueño de un SAAB 13AÑOS TIENE MI CHOCHE YA TUBE OTRO 6 AÑOS Y SI SE SIGUIERA TENDRIA UN TERCERO ... UNA PENA
My family has a long history of Saab ownership, from 96,S to 900,S , you won’t believe what I’m going to say , I’m glad they are gone , I absolutely detested them , who puts an ignition key between the seats , you also have to almost sit sideways to drive one , as the foot pedals are so far offset , a lot of reviews fail to mention these things, and the parking brake works on the front wheels on the 900,S , why ?
If was that bad a history why did they keep owning them, have or do you own a saab?
I have a 900. Yes the pedal offset takes some getting used to but it's not the worst thing in the world. The key in the middle is fantastic and makes it hard to fiddle the ignition. in 1985 they changed the handbrake so it operates on the rear wheels, I'm not sure how it possibly affects your day to day driving anyway.