SAAB 9000 Turbo (1986)
It has been said that Lino like nothing better than a tan-coloured SAAB.
Not any old SAAB though, but one which reflects the true nature of the auto manufacturer prior to the purchase (and starvation) by General Motors.
This last true SAAB, of course, was the 9000, first launched in 1986, in the hatchback form you see here.
The project was a collaboration between SAAB, FIAT (and also its Lancia luxury brand), and Alfa Romeo. The Project, named 'Type 4' or 'Tipo 4' in Italian, provided the basis for the 9000, Croma, Thema and 164 models, respectively.
Alfa Romeo was presently held as a State-owned concern, but was purchased by the FIAT Group leading up the 164's launch.
The SAAB 9000 was probably the most successful of the Type-4 cars, being exported from homeland Sweden around the world, notably to the US, where there was a modest, but dedicated appetite for the quirky Swede.
The SAAB 9000's interior reflected SAAB's research in aeronautical instrumentation and ergonomics. And the car was obviously spacious, being the first car to meet the EPA's 'Large' car classification - a benefit of the front-wheel-drive packaging and large hatchback trunk.
SAAB's 'do things differently' manner also expressed itself in the turbocharged four-cylinder engine fitted to the 'Turbo' version of the car. SAAB would later be the first manufacturer to adopt a turbo-only model range.
The SAAB 9000 was to undergo a number of modifications during the production series. A conventional four door Saloon was added a couple of years after the launch of the hatchback, and the model received detail changes making the nose 'pointier', and the tail fitted with high-mounted, full-width tail lamps and reflectors.
Once GM purchased their shareholding in SAAB, they first replaced the aged 900 model with a GM-Europe Vectra derived model of the same name (soon changed to 9-3), and followed this with a 9000 replacement, in Sedan and Wagon form, named the 9-5.
By this stage, most of the SAAB quirkiness had been watered down, along with the traditional customer base, such that, as part of the GM bankruptcy, SAAB was sold of to boutique Dutch Supercar builder Spyker, foundering, with the assets then sold on to Chinese industrialists. In China, the second generation SAAB 9-3 is sold under the NEVS nameplate.
SAAB 9000 Turbo (1986)
It has been said that Lino like nothing better than a tan-coloured SAAB.
Not any old SAAB though, but one which reflects the true nature of the auto manufacturer prior to the purchase (and starvation) by General Motors.
This last true SAAB, of course, was the 9000, first launched in 1986, in the hatchback form you see here.
The project was a collaboration between SAAB, FIAT (and also its Lancia luxury brand), and Alfa Romeo. The Project, named 'Type 4' or 'Tipo 4' in Italian, provided the basis for the 9000, Croma, Thema and 164 models, respectively.
Alfa Romeo was presently held as a State-owned concern, but was purchased by the FIAT Group leading up the 164's launch.
The SAAB 9000 was probably the most successful of the Type-4 cars, being exported from homeland Sweden around the world, notably to the US, where there was a modest, but dedicated appetite for the quirky Swede.
The SAAB 9000's interior reflected SAAB's research in aeronautical instrumentation and ergonomics. And the car was obviously spacious, being the first car to meet the EPA's 'Large' car classification - a benefit of the front-wheel-drive packaging and large hatchback trunk.
SAAB's 'do things differently' manner also expressed itself in the turbocharged four-cylinder engine fitted to the 'Turbo' version of the car. SAAB would later be the first manufacturer to adopt a turbo-only model range.
The SAAB 9000 was to undergo a number of modifications during the production series. A conventional four door Saloon was added a couple of years after the launch of the hatchback, and the model received detail changes making the nose 'pointier', and the tail fitted with high-mounted, full-width tail lamps and reflectors.
Once GM purchased their shareholding in SAAB, they first replaced the aged 900 model with a GM-Europe Vectra derived model of the same name (soon changed to 9-3), and followed this with a 9000 replacement, in Sedan and Wagon form, named the 9-5.
By this stage, most of the SAAB quirkiness had been watered down, along with the traditional customer base, such that, as part of the GM bankruptcy, SAAB was sold of to boutique Dutch Supercar builder Spyker, foundering, with the assets then sold on to Chinese industrialists. In China, the second generation SAAB 9-3 is sold under the NEVS nameplate.