Seems like a good time to write my first ever post on Saab, as Saab was in the news recently (although not in a good way).
Made for two decades, the Saab 96 is a curious vehicle with a two-stroke engine, front-wheel drive, column-shifting transmission and a 'freewheel' overrunning clutch, allowing the engine when coasting to reduce its speed to idling, thus requiring only
the small lubrication available from the closed, coasting, throttle.
So where did the company go? In 1989, (from The Guardian), General Motors, "panic-bought Saab... after losing out in bids to acquire Land Rover, Volvo and Jaguar." GM had actually bought 50% of the company at that time, and purchased the remaining 50% in 2000. That year, Saab sold a record 133,000 cars worldwide. Following GM's bankruptcy, it sold Saab to Swedish sports car maker Spyker.
That tiny company's attempt to keep Saab going was a failure from day
one; and because GM wouldn't allow Spyker to include the GM technology
in Saab cars as part of any sale of the company, Saab filed for
bankruptcy.
Saab's assets were then purchased by a Chinese company who announced the brand name National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS). That company's plan was to restart production of the Saab 9-3, first as a gasoline powered car, then switching to electric. Long story short, after producing a handful of electric cars, the NEVS project is over and the company is trying to sell its Saab assets. While in theory the Saab brand could rise from the ashes yet again, it seems unlikely.
The logo above represents that Saabs are the cars "born from jets". The car company was started in excess factory space by Saab Aviation.
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