People My Age Don’t Know What Saab Is And It Hurts

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Good day, Autopian friends. I’m back for the weekend and here to start our time together with a devastating story. Yes, that’s right, I’m here to tell a sob story. Excuse me, I meant to say, Saab story. You be crying tears of frustration, sadness, and nostalgia hopefully at the end of your reading.

I own a shirt that I ordered from blipshift.com, a crowd-sourced website for car shirts, apparel, and stickers. The shirt is bright red with a Saab 900 stamped across the middle. Right below the 900 is “STORY” spelled out in big bold letters. Take a peek:

Swede Dreams Insta Grande

blipshift

I wore this shirt the other day to class for the first time in months. I forgot I owned it. I figured people would point to me and say with a chuckle, “Oh, haha, I get it. Saab’s story is like a sob story! Because they’re gone!” That certainly didn’t happen; quite the opposite did.

A classmate of mine came up to me between our orchestra rehearsals and inquired about the shirt’s meaning. I said, “It’s a Saab story because the downfall of Saab is a sob story in my books.” He looked at me puzzled and asked, “What’s a Saab?” I said in confusion, “Huh?” He was like, “I’ve never heard of that before.” I was mesmerized.

This was a kid who had heard of Polestar and the glorious Volvo V70R but had no idea what Saab was. I couldn’t believe it! Then it got me thinking; do people my age know about Saab?

Images Saab 900 1987 1
Photo: Saab

I asked some of my friends, who can’t tell a Civic apart from a Diablo if they were familiar with “Saab.” I got a mixture of responses, some including:

“Is that a type of chicken?”

“I sobbed yesterday during my Calc test.”

“It sounds Swedish” (this was the closest one.)

As an aspiring teacher, let me practice educating you all, my readers, on a brief history of Saab’s mangled past. Saab began life in 1937 in Trollhättan, Sweden, as an airplane manufacturer to provide planes for the Swedish Air Force, just as Europe was steeling itself for another war. The company’s full name was Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget, giving the world the acronym Saab. Try saying that four times in a row!

Saab 92 1950 Images 1
Photo: Saab Archive

The very first Saab car project was known as Project 92, hence where the model, 9-2 emerged from. Saab produced many cars throughout the 20th century, and by the 1980s some of its turbocharged models competed with the likes of BMW. General Motors took a 50% share of Saab in 1989 and eventually made it a wholly-owned subsidiary in 2000.

I was born in 2003, the year Britney Spears received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the year General Motors introduced the “mighty” Chevy SSR. [Editor’s note: Mighty, huh? Who wants to tell him? —PG] But the 2000s were really Saab’s last hurrah. Even in that decade, many of its cars started to unceremoniously blur with various other GM products, resulting in at least one bizarre but generally well-respected team-up with Subaru too.

Saab 9 7x 2006 1600 02
Pictured: Something that didn’t help

Sadly, when GM began to decline in 2008, so did Saab. Later Saabs still had the old-school Swedish charms like the night panel and center console ignition, but were plagued with the problems and interior quality issues GM was known for at the time. Eventually, GM sold Saab off to supercar manufacturer Spyker, which was unable to revive Saab, resulting in a filing for bankruptcy in 2011.

For years, the brand has been owned by a Chinese group called National Electric Vehicle Sweden, or NEVS, but it’s apparently defunct as of this year. NEVS spent about a decade not doing much with the Saab brand, which considering the booming Chinese auto industry these days seems like a massively missed opportunity. As a car manufacturer, it’s functionally dead these days. 

Photos Saab 9 3 2008 12
Photo: Saab or GM or NEVS or someone, it’s unclear

I was in third grade when Saab filed for bankruptcy, learning my multiplication tables (nine, 18, 27, 36—still got it, baby) at the time. I didn’t even know what a bank account was, let alone the meaning of bankruptcy. I bet most of you are like, this kid’s that young? Get him out of here, he doesn’t know enough about Model T’s, Dusenbergs, Buick Park Avenues, or whatever old people cars you all drive. 

But I can at least respect my elders. More than most, in fact. And I may be young, but I can still lament the death of Saab as much as any modern enthusiast. It just makes me sad that any memory of this brand, any real nostalgia for it, is starting to vanish. Besides whatever 2000s kids grew up riding in Saabs owned by their parents at the time, any love for this now-very-dead brand is going to come through internet weirdness, and that only goes so far. Saab has now gone from a brand whose possible resurrection was cheered on by various editors of The Autopian once to the modern equivalent of AMC or Scout. That sure stings.

Saab Mixed Wallpapers 2
Photo: Saab

Anyways, as a huge Saab fan, I encourage all of my fellow Gen Z-ers to go out there and find a Saab. Don’t be like my friends! Familiarize yourself with Saab. They are magnificent Swedish works of art and deserve all of the love they can get. Find it and send me a picture with three fun facts. Perhaps you might win a prize.

A prize of recognition, as there is no Saab merch to give out anymore.

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139 thoughts on “People My Age Don’t Know What Saab Is And It Hurts”

  1. We had Saabs in the family and before just now, I couldn’t tell you the last time I actually thought about the brand.
    It’s possibly been years.

  2. Thank you Rob for keeping the love for Saab going. Call ’em weird, say GM ruined them, but they were different but pleasing for many folks. I owned a 900T and a convertible 93 and loved them both. Despite the FWD, both handled quite well, were well balanced, and could get up and go. I miss the 93, the 900T not as much, but loved it when I had it.

  3. While it likely wouldn’t have changed the outcome, I wonder if they’d have lasted a bit more in people’s memories if they had some earlier SUVification of some kind. Obviously we know where their heads were with the SUVs, with the 9-7X and the unreleased Tribeca-based 9-6X.

    But it makes me wonder how with the success of the Cross Country at Volvo and even the Allroad at Audi, Saab never butched up a 9-5 to compete too. At one point the Vectra platform base did offer AWD, so theoretically it would be possible unless it was changed that substantially (welcome for any Saab folks to clarify).

    Sure GM wanted to protect its own brands and their actual SUVs, but considering how that usually was more profitable than the plain wagon, it could have had a better return if they tossed a few dollars Saab’s way to do it.

    1. They did offer a butched up wagon. It was based on the 9-3 though, not the 9-5, and was only offered for 2010 and 2011. It had an inch or so of extra ground clearance, plastic cladding and awd. They only sold 496 of them.

      1. Right – the time it took to make the 9-3X is part of the point. It was more than 10 years after the XC70 came out, and by that point most premium brands had already rolled were deep in the actual crossover game, with the 9-4X around the corner too. A 9-5X in the early 2000s might have been able to ride the wave and be a direct answer to the XC70.

  4. I mean it is not really the kid’s fault that brands fail, people move on. Hopefully better / quirky things move in and fill the empty niche. Besides if I remember correctly the Viggen model was known to torque steer. I would argue the German infused mini especially the convertible took that niche.

    I still have a Commodore file cabinet and I am found outRaspberry pi RP2040 chips that cost a few cents, can emulate “high performance” SCSI protocol. Just cherish the good memories you have and leave others to have their own memories and experiences.

  5. 1st welcome to you dang kid and your music, may you remove yourself from my lawn post-haste.

    Speaking of Saab, last weekend I was at Radwood and there was only 1 Saab there, which made me think, like how many Saabs I’ve seen in the past 10 years, and it’s a fairly low number. In the 90s I feel like I saw them much more frequently, and there was also Seinfeld as others have mentioned.

    So I’m wondering if the quality just wasn’t there for them to last more than 10 years. Comparatively I still see plenty of Chevrolet HHRs, and they stopped making those around the same time, and they weren’t, you know,..good.

    Maybe Saab wasn’t as good as remembered, not that it’s not worth the time to remember them, plenty of bad cars were neat, like the Suzuki X-90, terrible idea, still fun to think of.

    Maybe an idea for a series, how many recently defunct brands does Gen Z know Saturn/Pontiac/Geo/Mercury/Scion/Oldsmobile….

    1. what I’ve seen is the shop/mechanics who could or more accurately would work on them dwindled. I’m in an area of multiple small towns and went from about five places that were good, then three, then one. The later GM models were not so hard, but still, I think that limited, at least in my surroundings, the resale and support.

      1. Ah good point, you can still get HHR parts and service as it’s just Generic Motors parts underneath, Saabs, at least the real Saabs, had weird engine layouts and the mentioned ignition switch deal and such.

    2. I bet Saturn, Pontiac, Mercury, and Scion are both recent and common enough that they might be remembered. Suzuki or Isuzu, probably not.

      It is interesting to hear what people think or associate with brands that they have heard of too. I’ve heard some of my fellow Millennials mention brands that they thought were Chinese and so on sale already here, I think maybe saying Subaru or Hyundai. And I’ve had at least a couple people on seeing a Mitsubishi ask “didn’t they go out of business?” and then I get to wow* them with the knowledge that they actually sell a plug-in hybrid SUV and have for years.

      *some exaggeration may apply

  6. “For years, the brand has been owned by a Chinese group called National Electric Vehicle Sweden, or NEVS…”

    NEVS ended up with the physical assets but not the brand, the rights to which were retained by the non-automotive branch of the original company, currently known as Saab AB. This turned out to be a significant problem for NEVS as they had hoped to use the name for their own cars. Saab AB, on the other hand, seems to be doing just fine:

    https://www.saab.com/

  8. Somebody translate this to “millennial” for me, please. I’m trying to put myself in the author’s shoes and to come up with a car company that was discontinued in my early childhood to see if I remember it.

    Maybe AMC? But it seems Pacers and Gremlins are so much a part of pop culture that they’re harder to forget then Saabs.

    3. Millennial Translation: “This old person’s car brand is like dead and people care too much about it. They should like, buy a Subaru WRX.”

  11. Saabs are weird? What is weird about a three-cylinder, two-cycle engine, and freewheeling?

    If your friend hadn’t heard about Saabs, he probably had not heard about Erik Carlsson, one of the top rally drivers of all times. IIRC, he was called “Carlson on the roof” because his tendency (ability?} to roll his Saabs and keep driving.

  12. Seriously, I think it’s so cool that a young lad such as yourself is even aware of SAAB. The fact that you do only reinforces my belief that you are an excellent addition to the Autopian team! ????

    2. I pasted an “thumbs up” emoji after the word *team* and I am not sure why it turned into questions marks!!! I really was complimenting you Rob. You really are an excellent addition to the Autopian staff.

  13. Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget
    Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget
    Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget
    Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget

    Ha! I did it!! 😉

            2. I had no idea that A Man Called Ove was originally a book. Really loved the movie, looks like I will need to find a copy of the book as well.

  14. Earlier this spring, I saw two Saab 900 wagons, silver and white, parked one after the other on my corner. In 2023!!! I was so floored I took a picture. (I’d share it, but I don’t think that’s possible on this comment board.)

    Oh the days when you could buy a SAAB, let alone a wagon, in America.

    2. Wait, a Saab 900 wagon? From what I recall, there was only like two prototype wagons ever made of the 900. Perhaps you are thinking of one of the later 9-3 or 9-5 estates?

  15. I’m still driving my 20+ year old SAAB 9-5 Aero daily and it drives like a dream after all these years. Its age is starting to show and it’ll be sad when its time finally comes as every retired SAAB puts the brand even further into extinction, but for now I’m keeping the memory alive.

    It’s such a shame about SAAB too, if it’d have survived I think it could’ve worked really well as a premium EV brand.

  16. “And I may be young, but I can still lament the death of Saab as much as any modern enthusiast.”

    I see nothing strange about lamenting a vehicle that died before your time. I am a millennial, but my favorite automotive decades were the ’60s and ’70s. I lament the death of air cooled VWs, although they died (at least in the US) before I was even born.

  17. I was born around the time of the demise of Studebaker, but I know what a Studebaker is. Then again, I’m a car nerd, and I suspect many people my age have no idea what a Studebaker is.

    1. I always loved the way they looked, but couldn’t fit in one if I tried. Had a friend who was choosing between a Sonnet and a 240Z who went with the Z. Hard choice but the Z at least we could get in it.

    1. I’m not sure- I googled popular things of 2003 and that came up. Sounds like some sort of brownie or cake batter mix? Why would it get a star?

  20. I wore an onion on my belt which was the style at the time.

    There used to be a bumble bee on the nickel, five bees to quarter we would say.

  21. Good day Rob, Glad to see your weekend work again.

    My wife thanks you. She is a die-hard Saab sucker. No matter the mechanical follies, her love remains true. I too miss the brand very much and feel the world was a far better place when they were still in. Frankly, GM did them dirty in the end.

  22. Counterargument: Saab was the Weird But Bad to Volvo’s Boxy But Good.

    I often catch myself looking for Saab projects on Craigslist, only to stop and think “wait, why am I looking for a Saab?” And I never quite have a good reason. It’s just easy to fall into the trap of Weird = Good (itself a cousin of the equally nonsensical Rare = Desirable). A strangely-shaped box of befuddling engineering decisions and infuriating maintenance procedures doesn’t really appeal to me anymore.

    But hey, weird is fun! The world is a less interesting place without Saabs in it, so shoutout to the intrepid wrenchers keeping them alive.

    2. I wouldn’t quite say that Saab’s weirdness was bad. Much of their quirky engineering choices had fairly sound reasoning behind them for the times. Their weird shapes often resulted in aerodynamic cars that used less fuel and needed less power to maintain speeds. The longitudinal fwd setups where pretty common for front drivers of the 50’s and 60’s. The center console mounted ignition switch was a safety feature (in crash tests it was shown that people hit their knees on the ignition). The two stroke inline 3s and later turbo models were a good way to increase power without increasing engine size. Most of these things make sense, they just sometimes are a bit if an unconventional way of going about it.

      1. Yes context is very important in anything remotely in the past. I often think safety laws these days and $/ economy of scale have relegated a lot of creative engineering in niche area like autosport or relatively mundane things like hooks / cubby holes etc.

    3. SAAB = A stupid insignificant car company but they knew it, they owned it.

      Volvo = A stupid insignificant car company but they denied it, they refused to own up to it.

  24. Gen-Zer here, taken home from the hospital in my parents’ 900. Shortly after that, the car was killed by a combination of a catastrophic transmission problem and a tree falling on it, but it stayed in the backyard for most of my childhood before some endlessly patient Swedish car aficionado decided it (automatic, non-turbo) would be worth his effort to get it back on the road.

    I miss that Saab, and I miss Saab.

  25. I don’t know what you expected with:

    he doesn’t know enough about Model T’s, Dusenbergs, Buick Park Avenues, or whatever old people cars you all drive.

    but I have a feeling it’s supposed to be a Duesy.
    Yeah, I’ll see myself out on that one.

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