Good Bye Saab, and Good Riddance!

[ainadude]

Classic Saabs are just as ugly.

That "ugly" car (the iconic Saab 96) was way ahead of its time, not to mention hugely successful on the European rally circuit in the '60s and '70s.

Beauty is more than skin deep ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2yeW6jvOlI

[IronJoe]

I'll just assume all you haters are referring to the GM-era Saabs, which, with the possible exception of a few years of Viggins, were indeed miserable, corporate-stamped vanilla shit.

Go back a few years, though -- back when the company was comfortably in the black and actually in the driver's seat -- and Saab was designing some very cool automobiles, namely the 99 (pictured) and its successor, the original 900 series. In their day, these were legitimate competition for the 3-series, especially the sports-oriented 99EMS/Turbo and 900 Turbo models.

I owned a fuel-injected 1974 99LE in my early 20s and remember it fondly. Fun to drive -- despite the nose-heavy FWD -- and excellent build quality with some cool features (always loved the floor-mounted ignition switch and it was my first car with a clamshell hood). Very durable and easy to maintain, too. Owning a Saab back then was sort of like having a nice E30 today. You didn't see a lot of them in good condition, but when you did you could count on the other driver glancing your way to give you an enthusiastic thumbs up.

The blue 99 in the picture -- billed as probably the only '84 in the U.S. -- is up for sale right now. If I had the garage space, I'd almost certainly pick it up.

RIP, Saab. A select few of us enjoyed your day in the sun.

What he said.



I don't get all the hate. If you don't like them, that's cool, but... why hate? Unless of course, you got smashed on by one on the highway before, right? Saabs are fun, safe, practical and highly tunable cars. I'm glad they've stayed under the radar. It makes it that much more satisfying when removing the smile from a BMW/import/muscle car driver's face...

My Saabs (come at me, bros):












And the current DD:

[ainadude]

This is a real saab

Agreed. This is also a real Saab:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqELygo3eoo

[frankenbeemer]

No more warranty coverage for your SAAB

http://jalopnik.com/saab/

[priapism]

Sweet rides. I've been toying with the idea of a 9-5 wagon as a DD.

[frankenbeemer]

Lol:

http://jalopnik.com/5442284/saab-on-the-brink-mr-smith-sonett-goes-to-washington-motown

Excerpt: Sonetts tend to inspire fanaticism, so much so that even old-school Saab dudes — remember, these are people who believe that adding oil to a gas tank is normal — see Sonett people as odd.

[BMWerke]

my first car was my grandmas old '89 740 turbo volvo, even though it was huge and boxy once the turbo spooled up it ran pretty good. I would kill to have another old volvo or an old saab.

[freeride53]

Springs and BBS RS's can make almost any car desirable. I think. lol.

Sadly its a photoshop. ;)
Let me redirect you to the thread of Volvo sex.

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=220295

[freeride53]

No more warranty coverage for your SAAB

http://jalopnik.com/saab/

That reminds me of Peugeot in 1992.
Totally fucked over everyone in the United States owning Peugeots.
I wonder why they lost appeal in America...........

[freeride53]

What he said.



I don't get all the hate. If you don't like them, that's cool, but... why hate? Unless of course, you got smashed on by one on the highway before, right? Saabs are fun, safe, practical and highly tunable cars. I'm glad they've stayed under the radar. It makes it that much more satisfying when removing the smile from a BMW/import/muscle car driver's face...

My Saabs (come at me, bros):

Dude holy fuck. Can I haz all of your saabs? 8)
(especially SPG)

[slammin.e28]

Just got off the phone looking for a turbo bypass valve for a 2004 9-4 from the dealer. All orders are suspended, meaning if the dealer doesn't have it in stock, they cannot promise a release date = can't order, as far as I'm concerned. They said they have 19 in the warehouse, but can't get them. Seriously, WTF?

I hate SAAB. Why they have to be so difficult?

[euroshark]

I had a 900S 8v and a 900 Turbo 16v and they were great cars! They haven't been the same since 1994 though. Oh well.

[freeride53]

Black T, black gloves,in my black Saab

Black T, black gloves,in my black Saab

Black T, black gloves,in my black Saab

Black T, black gloves,in my black Saab

[Gubernaculum]

Unlike Volvos, most of the used Saabs in a r3v'er price range are manual transmission, which makes them pretty cool in my book. The 9000 Aero was an awesome car.

[1984eta]

What he said.



I don't get all the hate. If you don't like them, that's cool, but... why hate? Unless of course, you got smashed on by one on the highway before, right? Saabs are fun, safe, practical and highly tunable cars. I'm glad they've stayed under the radar. It makes it that much more satisfying when removing the smile from a BMW/import/muscle car driver's face...

My Saabs (come at me, bros):

I have always loved your vert after reading about it's feature in euro tunner :p



But yeah I found this on ebay today


[URL]http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Saab-Other-Sonett-III-Coupe-1974-Saab-Sonett-III-Coupe-Hatchback-Rare-Manual-Sunroof-Ford-V4-/160821629138?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item2571b750d2 #ht_42478wt_1282[URL]


I'm just going to super lowball this guy and thennnnnn?