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View Full Version : The end of SAAB


W5GA
12-19-2011, 08:10 AM
Will largely go unnoticed. The made REALLY WEIRD looking cars.
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/12/19/swedish-automaker-saab-files-for-bankruptcy/?test=latestnews
N8YX
12-19-2011, 08:28 AM
They made really weird cars which actually worked well for their intended purpose...that is, driving in treacherous winter conditions.

I suppose this narrows my choice of similarly capable vehicles to Volvo and Subaru.
W5GA
12-19-2011, 08:32 AM
They made really weird cars which actually worked well for their intended purpose...that is, driving in treacherous winter conditions.

I suppose this narrows my choice of similarly capable vehicles to Volvo and Subaru.
Which is all well and good - until you had to get one fixed. The sticker shock there was epic, even if you also drove a Mercedes.
NQ6U
12-19-2011, 09:53 AM
So, this is what they mean by a saab story?

Seriously, back when I was a young man (and consuming a lot of experience-altering substances), a friend of mine had one of the first SAABs to be imported into the U.S.. Those had a two-cycle engine and he had a lot of fun with it because it was possible to get the engine to run in the opposite direction by bump starting it in reverse. Then he'd have one forward gear and four reverse. He became so adept at driving backwards that he could do it at 50 MPH with no problem.
W5GA
12-19-2011, 01:15 PM
Those had a two-cycle engine and he had a lot of fun with it because it was possible to get the engine to run in the opposite direction by bump starting it in reverse. Then he'd have one forward gear and four reverse. He became so adept at driving backwards that he could do it at 50 MPH with no problem.
Doesn't pass the common sense test, Carl, you'd have spark at the wrong time. While the rest of it might work with a reed valved 2 stroke, don't see how this could be overcome...unless it was magneto fired off the flywheel or something without a gear drive.
NA4BH
12-19-2011, 01:17 PM
Just got rid of a Volvo, what a P.O.S.
KG4CGC
12-19-2011, 01:27 PM
Which is all well and good - until you had to get one fixed. The sticker shock there was epic, even if you also drove a Mercedes.

Which is why if you're going to go that way, get an Audi. A transmission flush for an A6 will only be in the neighborhood of $500 but they go where other cars dare not tread.
WA4TM
12-19-2011, 03:49 PM
A friend of mine had an older Saab back in the early 80's, I don't remember what year. I had a little Ford industrial V4 air cooled engine in it. Even for a small car I remember thinking how lonely that little engine looked... It was a 4 speed with the shifter on the column, damn that was weird to get used to... When he was trying to get it up to speed it sounded like it was internally hemorrhaging!!!!!:mrgreen:
W5GA
12-19-2011, 06:25 PM
It was a 4 speed with the shifter on the column, damn that was weird to get used to
The only one of those I've ever seen was in a 60's Mercedes that a friend of mine's older brother had.
VE7DCW
12-19-2011, 07:44 PM
Just got rid of a Volvo, what a P.O.S.

If I'm not mistaken .....is'nt a Volvo the official mode of transportation of VE7KFM?? :neener:
KG4CGC
12-20-2011, 12:22 AM
If I'm not mistaken .....is'nt a Volvo the official mode of transportation of VE7KFM?? :neener:Like Budweiser, The Official Drink of Nascar.