Holy cow Richard, an official off topic

[C M Smith <cmsmith@domain.elided>]

I have owned a 1978 SAAB 99GL 5 door (pretty bizarre styling but that was 
just the outside) which I bought new and kept for 6 years. Then my sister 
drove it for another 6.

What makes a SAAB?

The 1978 car was totally odd ball, handled extremely well in any kind of 
weather on any kind of road surface. Could be yumped right off the show 
room floor, with sturdy rubber bump stops and crash bars under the tranny. 
Some minor manufacturing issues and some crappy parts prevented it from 
being a great car, but it was a very good car and my 78 was the most 
powerful 2 liter car sold in Canada without a turbo at the time with 118 
hp. Dealer network was just OK and parts availability and servicing were 
patchy. This was a real SAAB, though very different from "traditional" SAAB 
cars. Key SAAB features were: wrap around windshield for a super low cd for 
its time, door sills that were inset in the door openings allowing the door 
to cover the sill for crash protection and incidentally keeping your 
pantlegs clean when exiting the car (the door could not be pushed into the 
passenger cabin in an accident unless the doorframe suffered structural 
failure), roofline that came over the top of the doors so when you opened 
the door the snow on the roof or rain falling wouldn't drop straight down 
onto the seats (until you have a car that has this feature, like Volvo and 
SAAB used to, you have no idea how aggravating not having it is) no 
steering column lock as SAAB locked even the manual shift in reverse when 
the key was removed from the floor mounted ignition lock* (you could tell a 
SAAB car thief as they had to drive backwards), ability to remove the 
driver's seat without tools (seriously!) and the passenger seats with an 
allen key found in the tool kit (why the driver's seat also mystified me a 
bit, the others came out so you could use your SAAB as a truck, the first 
real SUV, and I suppose you COULD sit on some of the logs you were hauling 
for the fireplace), funky drivetrain with an inline engine clutch forward 
and tranny underneath, four wheel disc brakes with handbrake on the front 
wheels (a precursor to the EBD type LSD, I used this feature as a primitive 
LSD for winter driving, worked great, almost like a Torsen ATB type), 
heated driver's seat, really effective (and ugly) rubber self repairing 
bumpers which really worked as designed, and the list goes on.

 *now this well known SAAB quirk is so useful all cars should have them, 
first of all the key is really easy to put into the ignition and retrieve, 
the key cannot cause any injury in a collision, the car starting sequence 
is very efficient: enter car with key in right hand, drop hand vertically 
and the key goes into the lock (there's a light switch to illuminate the 
interior AND the lock if you're a beginner at SAABing), switch on the 
engine, clip the seatbelt in select a gear and release the handbrake all 
without moving your hand more than a few inches and your body not at all, 
simply brilliant design.

My next SAAB was a 1984 900 Turbo four door. It had a stretched front end 
and a trunk instead of a Hatchback. Otherwise it was a 99. Same virtues, 
same problems. I drove it for 6 years then it kicked around for another 12 
years, I saw it at the local dealer the other day, full of surface rust, 
still running, sort of, with well over 300,000 km on the odometer.

My next SAAB was a 1986 9000 Turbo which I bought used in 1988. Fantastic 
car, and I still own it. 260,000 km on the odometer, engine has never been 
touched nor has the turbo. Transmission was beefed up by SAAB as part of an 
after warranty program. Otherwise the car has been solid and reliable. 
However, I would not yump this car, it might not hold up. On the other hand 
it will do an honest 220 km/hr which is a good 30 km/hr faster than the 84 
900Tand over 40 km/hr faster than the 99. Ignition lock was on the steering 
column, not the floor, body was "styled" so snow falls on the seat as does 
rain (no roof gutters) etc etc. Very good high speed tourer though, a real 
mile eater with surgical steering, powerful brakes, strong engine and seats 
you could sit in all day and then get back in for a quick spin after 
dinner. Handling is first rate although the older SAAB is better on snow. 
Haul a whole bunch in the big hatchback body but the seats are firmly 
bolted in now. Big controversy about whether the 9000 was a "real" SAAB though.

Now to the point of Richard's question.

In 1991, GM bought half of SAAB Cars. By 1993, quality was up, parts and 
service improved immensely, the car was redesigned and improved. Even the 
900 became a better car after GM pumped some cash into SAAB.

I bought a 1997 9000 Aero, the factory tuned version of the 9000 Turbo. 
Absolutely amazingly capable car. GM bought the other half of SAAB in 2000. 
Parts availability is top notch, even for old cars, and service is top 
notch (our Saturn dealers sell and service SAABs). The 97 has been trouble 
free, except for a bizarre transmission failure apparently caused by a 
circlip (snap ring) failing and trashing a bearing. GM/SAAB had a 
remanufactured transmission delivered from Sweden in about four days and I 
had the car repaired and back on the road 8 days after the fault was 
diagnosed (i.e. we knew the tranny had failed but needed to know whether to 
rebuild or replace which took a couple of days to get a hoist free to start 
the work). I made a polite complaint to SAAB suggesting the transmission 
should not have failed (first one the mechanics had seen failing this way, 
and precious few failures of any kind) and SAAB stepped up to the plate no 
further questions asked and supplied the new tranny at half price. The 
warranty had expired two years before and the car had 125,000 km on (80,000 
miles near enough).

Finally, I have not owned a true GM SAAB. The first was the new generation 
900 based on the Opel. Not a great car, and not much of a SAAB. Then in 
1999 SAAB released the 9000 replacement as the 9 5. This is also based upon 
an Opel but redesigned to suit SAAB and using their drivetrains. (The 900 
was redesigned also and re released with SAAB drivetrains by 1997)The 
initial 9 5 release was a bit soft and mushy but the newer cars have been 
firmed up. All reports are the new SAABs are very good SAABs and retain 
some of the quirky traits we know and love. They are more mainstream and 
sell much better than any earlier models.

The very latest SAAB is the new 9 3 shortly to be released. It is even more 
mainstream and should sell really well. The drivetrain is all new and GM 
World design with SAAB head, engine management, intake and exhaust and of 
course a turbo.

On balance, GM has been very good for SAAB. Better cars, better service and 
more popular. Some of the SAAB "character" has gone but that started with 
the 9000 when SAAB realized that they had to appeal to a wider market. The 
latest SAABs are very good cars and deservedly more popular than the older 
ones.

My take on GM bringing Alfa in is that parts availability and service will 
improve immensely. If GM puts some money in, the cars should be better 
also. They will be more main stream but that doesn't have to be a bad 
thing. If Alfa uses drivetrains and suspension designed at least in part by 
Alfa, then the cars should be very good indeed.

Cheers

and flame away.


Michael Smith
Calgary, Alberta,Canada
91 Alfa 164L
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