Zastava_101

This was supposed to be the next generation of Saab 9-3, but other than a prototype it was never built due to Saab's financial problems.

Interesting read ...

http://www.saabsunited.com/2013/02/t...tml#more-47554

Moosetang

It certainly has a design that screams "SAAB," but I think the market said fairly plainly that they no longer cared for that.

StangMahn

unless you're Porsche, it's hard to keep the same design for 30 years and keep selling it.

Zastava_101

When did Saab keep the same design for 30 years?

This 9-3 was supposed to be retro of Saab 99.

AlsCobra

I know you're not defending Saab when you were hating on Holden? Saab has consistently made ugly crap forever.

Zastava_101

The only thing that I've said about the Holden is that there is nothing cool about it.

Saab started making ugly crap only when GM took over and started selling re-badged Opels as Saabs ...

AlsCobra

Nonononono. Saab has been ugly for a long time before that. And total garbage.

Zastava_101

Why, because they're not popular in Louisiana?

AlsCobra

No because ugly is ugly. I used to work on them way back also and yes they were trash. Not reliable. Completely bassakwards when it comes to design and engineering. Cheaply built with cheap materials. At least GM stepped in and pretty much put a fugly body on a malibu chassis.

Zastava_101

So Saabs were cheaply built with cheap materials and then GM came over, put ugly body on Malibu's chassis and made it better?

I happen to know few people in Serbia and Croatia who owned Saabs back in the 1970s ... back then Saab was just as good as the Mercedes and better than the BMW.

Especially the Saab 99 ...

AlsCobra

And this means what? BMW and Mercedes were good cars back then?
They were all trash in the 70's. lol. If I were to go looking for a quality vehicle, I don't think Serbia or Croatia would be the place I would look. I appreciate your faith in overseas vehicles but there's not much over there I would call quality. BMW, Mercedes, land rover, jaguar, all build great vehicles now but they do not age well. And are all higher end vehicles anyways so economically they really are not practical. People buy these cars because of the yuppie image they are compelled to uphold here. Not because they are anything superior to the more affordable competition. As for Saab, the one eccentric weirdo that actually thinks its a good idea to buy that thing will always just be weird and should have just bought a 3series BMW. Lol

Zastava_101

Wrong. Those are perfect places to look. Do you know why? Because, unlike the USA where people sell cars as soon as they're paid off and as soon as the warranty expires (and replace them with new ones), people in the eastern Europe don't have that luxury and they keep their cars for as long as they run. And that tells you much more how reliable those cars are during the long run.

And yes, Mercedes was really good in the 1970s.
Mercedes W123 from the 1970s happens to be one of the most reliable cars ever built.

cdynaco

For a looooong time.

cdynaco

Those Beemer 2002's were nothing to write home about concerning dependability. My buddy's brother learned to be a good mechanic on one of those. Why? Needed fixing a lot. lol

AlsCobra

Mercedes had an unstoppable Diesel engine. Really stiff thick leather seats that lasted also. The suspension was crap and everything else around them crapped out easily. So they never stopped running but were nothing more than tractors.
You would be surprised how long people keep their vehicles down here. Just look at how many fox mustangs we have just on this site. Nobody drives a 20 year old BMW or Mercedes because they are all in the scrap yards. Lol

Zastava_101

Call me crazy, but I would rather have a running tractor than the finest luxury car in the world that doesn't run (and yeah, I'm Talking about diesel Sevilles and 8-6-4 Fleetwoods).

Things are different these days than they used to be ... I agree that Mercedes and BMW today are good as long as there's warranty on them, but back in the 1970s and 1980s things used to be different.

Flagstang

saad is even more gross then holden. hold atleast puts V8's ins tuff which is cool. Saab's are for those turtle neck wearing jerks you wish you did not know.

Zastava_101

Saab is/was for people that have $$$ to afford a luxury car, but they don't wanna be "look at me, look at me" when they're driving.

Flagstang

isnt that Volvo???