Saab files for bankruptcy.

Wow..........just wow. I love me some Saabs until GM got a hold of it.

Link:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090220/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_sweden_saab

Where's the crying emoty?

I hope, HOPE GM cuts them loose... I'm thinking that the Swedish government was taking a hard line on help because they knew GM would squander the money elsewhere.

Truth to tell, I never 'got' the SAAB/GM partnership. When GM was buying up various stuff, there was usually a tech reason: Lotus for the head design for the Northstar and also the active suspension that sorta fizzled, Isuzu/Toyota/Suzuki for the small cars and the LUV pickup which bridged the gap during the gas crunch whie they were putting together their own platforms, Subaru for the AWD technology (which also fizzled), but SAAB? All they did was put different valve covers on Ecotecs and put them in SAAB bodies.

I admit.. I love my NG900 Turbo.. but I do wish I had held out a week.. I found an SPG not far from home, that would have been better

Maybe I'm kind of "special", the tests at birth said so but through the dedication of my dear sweet mother I don't need a helmet to eat dinner anymore.

My point is...I never really got Saab at all. They were always the one car you could count on to do something different....just because it was different. Not better, just backasswards and confusing.

Need to start the car? Put the key in the center console. Can't find reverse? Surprise! Check out our engine placement! Different right?

I'm probably speaking heresy because Per has that Saab rally car...but come on! Everyone else could agree to put the ignition key in same area code as the steering wheel.

I heard that the ignition switch placement was to lessen the chance of knee injury in a crash compared to a dash or column mounted piece. It sounds good until your girlfriend keeps spilling Cokes in the damn thing meaning removal and cleaning on a regular basis. It got to where I could do it with my eyes closed.

I like the quirkiness. It might not make sense, but I like it.

Our 9-5, admittedly a GM, was weird when we first got it. But a lot of that weirdness turned out to be very useful. I'll always have a soft-spot in my heart for that car (after we replaced the engine, paid for by GM)

I can't believe that GM kept them as long as they did. Saab never made money under GM ownership and hadn't made money for a long time before GM bought them.

Smart cars have the key in the exact same location. Now, having to put the transmission in a certain gear to remove the key, that one had me for a couple minutes the first time I drove one.

The center console key locks the transmission, as I understand it. Pretty clever, I think.

If you think about it, the only reason most people put the keys on the steering wheel is because it makes the steering lock easy. Prior to steering locks, it was pretty common to have the ignition on the dash. My volvo has it there again. What goes around comes around.

Really, the steering column is kind of a dumb place for the ignition. Visibility tends to be poor, and keychains tend to dangle onto your knees.

Real cars have ignition switches in the dashboard.

Sucks about Saab, and I really hope the Swedes jump in and save them. A little quirkiness keeps the rest of the manufacturers on their toes.

I love 9-3 Aero's , and used they are cheap. I borrowed a 9-5 aero wagon (black 6spd) for a weekend... absolute ball to drive.. tons of power.

reliability scares me thou!

If it hekps them get out from under GM it will be good, if they end up folding that sucks. I learned to drive in a 83 900 my Dad get new when we lived in Germany, great memories.

I have 2 GM SAABs, but both with real SAAB motors, and I love them both.

Hopefully they will be able to get back to the way they used to be

I also think I read someplace that the key in the floor was also to help with races where the driver has to run to the car and start it, better line of sight, less time to get going.

P71 wrote: Real cars have ignition switches in the dashboard. Sucks about Saab, and I really hope the Swedes jump in and save them. A little quirkiness keeps the rest of the manufacturers on their toes.

Agreed!

I've had a Saab 9000 Aero, and it was AWESOME. One of my favorite cars. Yeah... it was weird, but it was weird in a good way.

That company may as well have been dead since GM took over. If this makes it official, meh. If it means they break free and start making weird cars of their own design again, great.

Poor old Saab, I kept hoping they'd recover. Short of the Viggen, though, there wasn't really anything looking at from them since the C900 left us.

All i can say for saab is i like the look of the hatch backs.

P71 wrote: Real cars have ignition switches in the dashboard.

Real cars are started by the mechanics and engineers standing outside the cars with all the special equipment.

I love my GM-era Saab, '05 9-2X Aero! Say what you want about GM's management of Saab and Subaru, but I got a bitchin' car out of the deal.

belteshazzar wrote: That company may as well have been dead since GM took over. If this makes it official, meh. If it means they break free and start making weird cars of their own design again, great.

Is "design" the word for that? I thought it was called a clusterhump when you stuck random parts where they don't belong for no apparent reason except to be different. After wrenching on a Saab 900 turbo some, I pity the fanatics that have to service those things regularly. That's like making a hobby out of stabbing yourself in the leg.

Bryce

As a locksmith, I have always had a love/hate relationship with the console mounted switches. At least on the column or dash, you don't have gravity working against you. Whenever I was called to work on one of those damn things, the keyway would be full of cigarette ashes, cola residue, and dust. Doesn't make for an easy job. A switch should never be mounted verticaly; keep that in mind when you design a car. Have some compassion for the guy who's gonna have to work on it later.

Having finally gotten my 900 legal.. I can say that I am enjoying driving it.. even if I am still unsure when the turbo will make itself felt.

Yes, replacing the transmission was a dirty backbreaking job.. but honestly, well worth it.

I love quirkiness, I love hatchbacks, I guess that means I love my 94 900 Turbo

I have a soft spot in my head for the 3 cylinders and the early V4. My dad was the first or 2nd Saab dealers in the U.S. and I grew up with smell of 2 cycle. We had on mechanic (no technicians then) who did nothing but change over engines. Great little cars, and a great company when they were based in Connecticut.

car39 wrote: I have a soft spot in my head for the 3 cylinders and the early V4.

+1 SAAB screwed up when they quit making the 96. I loved my 1967 96 with the V4. I could go anywhere anytime with that car with no problem. I even used it to flat-tow my Morris Minor Auto-X car all over MD, PA and VA for 3 years.

car39 wrote: I have a soft spot in my head for the 3 cylinders and the early V4. My dad was the first or 2nd Saab dealers in the U.S. and I grew up with smell of 2 cycle. We had on mechanic (no technicians then) who did nothing but change over engines. Great little cars, and a great company when they were based in Connecticut.

Don't forget the V4 was a Ford engine.

My '95 900S I owned from July '07-February '08 was an OK car. It was the nonturbo 5-door. It was dog-slow, the clutch pedal had to be pushed through the firewall to engage it, and it wasn't as good in the snow as everyone thinks it is (may have been the tires, though). The Saab got me from point A to point B reliably, which is all I needed at the time. It was also a very tough car: When I spun it in Dec. '07 into a guardrail on a slushy road, it still ran despite missing nearly the whole left front quarter. A new radiator and headlight bucket later, and it got me to and from work til I got my Subie in Feb. '08. I'd consider a 900 Turbo as a DD/parts hauler if/when the Subie's time is up, but that won't be for a while.