I knew a Flight Instructor when I was an airport bum kid that would give me rides home in his with the 3 speed on the column, man what a machine for the senses! The later Saab's were so ahead of their time, many pilot types I know loved the aviation influence.
Damn shame GM tried to turn Saab into a Buick or Olds, rather than turn Buick or Olds into a Saab. Without getting into it, I saw GM take it over, and I could see that they didn't know what to do with it....
“Damn shame GM tried to turn Saab into a Buick or Olds, rather than turn Buick or Olds into a Saab. Without getting into it, I saw GM take it over, and I could see that they didn’t know what to do with it....”
That pretty much sums up the management philosophy of GM, which had to shed Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Saturn, Hummer and Saab, instead of develop and sell innovative, vehicles the public wanted.
Given the choice of putting a 200 hp turbo-four into a Buick, or putting an old GM 160 hp six in the Saab, GM would blow it every time.
That low rpm torque, from Saab’s turbo was my automobile awakening.
America is in decline, partly because of inept top management in our once great industries. GM is a prime example, along with banking/finance.