What GM did to SAAB is a sin. A stellar example of how GM management took a once great company known for producing quirky, original, innovative, reliable and safe cars that could outrun Porsches and Ferraris in the twisties (once they were already moving) and turned it into Just Another Car Company.
I've been in love with SAABs since I was a kid. I always wanted a new one instead of the hand me downs I drove all through school. Then, by the time I was in a place where I afford a new one for myself, GM had already gutted the company, ripped out the soul and had essentially left an empty shell. At that point, Saab was selling gussied up Saturns. Really, what's it say about Saab when the best performing vehicle they sold in the past decade was a rebadged Subaru WRX? When you think about it, that's the closest they actually got to selling a hatchback in the last decade, too. What does that mean, when Saab didn't have a single example of their iconic hatchback in the lineup?
For years, I had held out hope that Saab would manage to resurrect themselves. I gave up a few years ago. My mom and pop wanted a station wagon/estate as their retirement car and I test drove everything in the Saab lineup. It was sad to see how desperate the sales guys were go move anything off the lot. There wasn't a single thing any Saab did that Subaru didn't do better for 5-10k cheaper. Even the interiors, for which Subaru is notorious for cutting corners on, were about the same. Yet they wanted a BMW price. No. I whittled the prices down on them but at the end of a long shopping process the 9-3 and 9-5 lost on every aspect against every other vehicle I was cross shopping it against. The only things that gave Saab any value to were the front fascia and really nice seats.
These days, Subaru does Saab much better than Saab.
I'm glad they've decided to take SAAB out back to shoot it. It's been sad watching it die.
