Boy, this is a strange one: after thinking the only traces left of the Saab brand were whatever cars show up on Marketplace, lovingly kept alive by the Saab faithful, it turns out there are still a handful of lightly used test mules sitting in the remains of the original Saab factory in Trollhättan. There’s a mixture of traditional gasoline powered offering as well as full EV experimental models, but what’s most important is that they represent some of the most loved Saab designs (and there’s not a single rebadged Trail Blazer in the mix). Check out this collection of surviving test cars listed here on klaravik.se.
When Saab was in its downward spiral, GM was seemingly content to let it go out with a bang. Like many arranged marriages, there was a fair amount of disagreement between Saab’s engineers who wanted to keep spending money on silly things like a console-mounted ignitions switch, while GM wanted to experiment with rebadged products to beef up the lineup without spending a ton of money (I’m looking at you 9-2X and 9-7X, the latter of which was built atop GM’s GMT360 platform, while the former was a lightly disguised Subaru Impreza.)
After GM sent Saab packing, its bankrupt carcass was scooped up by a company called NEVS. This organization was backed by Chinese funding and sought to build an EV brand out of the remnants of the Saab infrastructure. This is why a few of the cars up for grabs are some sort of a hybrid or a pure electrical vehicle. Shown here is a pre-production 9-3 that was to be a fully-autonomous, self-driving vehicle, and the listing mentions it is best suited to be a museum display as certain mechanical pieces are missing and it doesn’t run.
Now, this is the one I expect to fetch a very strong number. It’s a 5-speed manual-equipped Saab 9-3 Aero with just under 12,000 original miles. If you wanted a time warp Saab with the ideal enthusiast-preferred configuration, this is the car, short of a Viggen or manual Aero wagon. Of course, there is the fine print: “The car is deregistered and may not be driven on the roads. It must be collected on a trailer.” So, even though it looks like a blast to drive, I doubt you’ll be able to put it back on the road. Still, this is literally the last of any remaining Saab vehicles at the factory, so book yourself a trip to Trollhättan ASAP. Thanks to Barn Finds reader Russell Glantz for the tip.
Unexpected auction to be sure. These cars are going to need a lot of TLC to be roadworthy after sitting for 15 years.
There was a step between GM and NEVS though missed in the description, GM sold Saab to Spyker and that took a couple of years to go down the tubes and the remains sold to NEVS in 2011. It’s a long and somewhat convoluted story which can be found via an online search for those wanting the gory details.
for collectors thats never an issue. And for a little investment the will have unique runners. Alas, I;m too old for that level of work anymore.
I miss Saab…
We all do…..
Shame they went out of car production; They were great riding cars, great in snow, the two we had were so reliable, no major breakdowns. Gramps had one of the old ones with a free fly wheel lever, and you put the oil in the gas like a lawnboy. Those were the days. Kept the mosquitoes at bay ha!
Had 6 in the household fleet over a span of 30 years… although the last one was a 9-7x which was just a Saab badged Trailblazer… but I needed something that would tow a boat and still wanted a Saab…
Saab story as usual
So, I was there for most of the last gasp GM fumbling. I was secretary of the Saab Club of North America for many years. We sat there in Vermont in 2005 when their then-PR guy told us about the upcoming TrollBlazer, saying that “market research” done by GM told them that most Saab people needed and wanted an SUV. The 75 or so of us listening to him laughed….we had the 9-5 wagon, there were still plenty of 9000s around, and if you’ve ever owned a Classic 900, a NewGeneration 900, or a real 9-3 ……the ones that were built between 1999 and 2002 (2003 for the ‘vert) then you know that they can haul most of the contents of your house in the back, especially with the rear seats folded down. We didn’t no need stinking SUVs. But, they saddled Saab with the TrollBlazer and the Saabaru and were astounded when they didn’t sell.
When this iteration of the 9-3 came out, I drove every version made for sale in America and promptly developed a healthy dislike of the vehicle. It was cramped, the front seats were uncomfortable, the car had no trunk space, and, worst of all, it had no soul. No soul and no personality. It was just a car. Nothing different from the Malibu, with which it shared a platform, nothing different than a re-badged Opel. GM actually had the temerity to stick a Cadillac nose on some of them and call it a BLS, which was sold only in Europe. The cars were built to a price, and it showed. GM themselves advised that the “new”9-3 was aimed at the 60% of Americans that had never driven a Saab. They forgot about the 40% of us who were loyal Saabistas that were keeping the division afloat.
The real reason that GM sold what was left of Saab to Spyker was that legions of Saab people staged Save Saab rallies all-over the world. GM, ever mindful that they might pixx off legions of loyal Saabistas the world over, gave in and finally sold some of Saab to Spyker. But, they held onto a lot of important drivetrain technology under the guise that it was proprietary intellectual property. Without engines and gearboxes, Spyker was hamstrung……they couldn’t afford to develop drivetrains from scratch, and the rest is sad history.
I know a lot of fellow Barn Finds folks are loyal GM folks, but after watching what GM did to Saab, if Mary Barra herself pulled up in the highest zoot Caddy now on the market and handed me the keys and promised me a lifetime supply of gas for the thing, I would politely hand the keys back to her and tell her to drive her car down the road and into the Contoocook River.
12 Saabs in the barn, the garage and the backyard. Some run, some don’t, but you’ll have to pry the keys out of my fist before you’ll see me let any of them go………
We bought our used 96 from the local Chevy dealer across the river from you in Littleton NH in 1971 or 72, had been owned by a local chicken farmer. We needed to RTFM to find reverse but we may have been the first to exploit the GM/Saab connection. It was everything our freinds’ VWs, etc. was not, including a heater the size of the engine.After a move to CT the trans bearings decided that friction was a new test but the then-local dealer in New Britain had a trans expert on staff still in 1972 and replacement front fenders were still available too. Now, if only a clean strong V4 95 would show up….
Funny, one of my best buds was a die hard Saab owner for many years (he could never wrap his head around the new 900, let alone the 9-3 and what followed) and hailed from Contoocook originally. Must be something good in the water!
GM’s acquisition and handling of Saab was like buying a cow a stereo – they did not understand what they had or how to handle it so they nudged at it half heartedly, left it in the corner, and went about chewing their cud. Saab was wonderful because it was different, and they tried to make it mainstream and in the process lost what it was that made a Saab a Saab. And it’s a tragic loss.
Bimmer—–
I’m considerably further south of Littleton, but this area has been blessed with great Saab techs….my fleet goes to Milford Autoworks, about a half hour south of here. They resurrected the Viggen last year and the year before that, they put the ’02 9-3 back together after she had been roundly abused by her former owner. Currently, they are trying to figure out why the 2000 Cross Country takes seven turns of the key to start.
There are 95s and 96s out there…. getting harder to find, but if you know where to look, you can locate them…………
Ha… I believe Milford Autoworks is the old Saabworks… years ago, when I had too much on my plate I would bring my Saabs to them… I remember them saving my 9000 when the transmission started giving me trouble…
Luckless….you are correct. They still go by Saabworks for those of us that still have Saabs……
Milford Autoworks / Saab Works is about 15 minutes from me in the next town. A solid reputation for good work in the area.
We bought my son a 900 from a neighbor when she got to frail to drive it. He had it for 4 years and loved it. No one else at school had one and the key in the console was always a big hit. He swerved to miss a deer one night and the card rolled over 3 times down a hill before coming to a stop against a tree. He got out of the car and walked to a nearby house to call us. Not a scratch on him.
Saabs ruled when they were truly Saabs. GM bought brands that died, Ford bought brands that survived. You decide who did the better job.
I have 3: a ‘67 96, 2 x ‘68 V4 Deluxes (one a parts car). Daily drivers.
And I know where a great ‘69 96 Deluxe and ‘92 900 Turbo convertible are waiting for the right buyer.
Sorry to hear about Saab. Being an “old” rally guy. They have a spot on my memory shelf. Had a ’99 Turbo (don’t remember the year) for a company car. We had some Goodyear stores and the back seat was always folded up for tire transport. You could really pack the tires into that cavernous hole in the back. Mary Barra got you too! She killed GMC commercial. Luckily for me it had just started when I retired. Under her mismanagement GM has given the commercial vehicles business to Ford. Sad to see. She continually gives into the Chevy cry babies dealer block. She might use a different bathroom than the previous management at GM. But she got the job because she’s till is one of the short sited good old boys.
Wayne–
The first and only year for the 99 Turbo was 1978. I have one sitting next to the garage. Emmy is rusty, but she runs. When I find the cash, we’ll do some body work and get her back on the road.
Gary–
The difference between GM and Ford is that GM tried to turn Saab into something that it wasn’t and Ford let Volvo and the other entities that they bought be them. GM just couldn’t stand to let Saab be that quirky Swedish make….they tried to turn it into a Swedish Buick. In doing so, they destroyed what made a Saab a Saab and then tried to back away from the damage that they did.
I will never forgive GM for what they did to a once proud, innovative company. They should have been allowed to go bankrupt in 2008. I understand that my opinion will not go over well with everyone, but I unfortunately had a ringside seat to the madness.
While it’s easy to blame GM for Saabs demise… as they certainly fumbled it while they had control… the unfortunate truth is that by the early 1990s it was becoming impossible for a car company such as Saab to remain viable. The economy and market of the automotive industry had changed considerably over the years and the ability to keep a relatively low volume manufacturer, that produced cars affordable by the masses, became unworkable. Development costs just had become too high. Even with what many fans consider the last “real” Saab – the 9000 – was only possible because the chassis development costs were spread across several companies that included Lancia, Fiat and Alfa Romeo, who each sold their own version of this “type four” platform. The bottom line, by the turn of the century the ability for Saab to continue – at least as the company we certain buyers had come to know and love – was over…
Interesting find
I’ve heard the argument GM was fighting a losing battle with Saab–niche market, development costs, etc. Okay, maybe, but Ford helped Volvo survive. Jaguar is still here. Aston Martin and some might include Mazda as a recipient of Ford assistance.
I will always believe GM never understood what Saab was and who was buying them and why. If you don’t grok the brand, you can’t save it.
Gary—
You are right on the money. When GM first purchased the original 50% stake in the company, they asked the new head of the Saab division what SAAB stood for. He had no idea. The GM people never asked Saab people what they thought, what they wanted or how they felt about a particular move or idea. They just kept stumbling on, shooting themselves in the foot until it was over. I remember the head of the division coming to the Owners Convention in 2003. I don’t remember her name, just that she pulled up in a huge Cadillac. GM had just announced that Oldsmobile would be going away the following year….she walked around for a little while and acted bored. You could tell that someone higher up had told her to come and make nice with us…..it was just so forced. It left a bad taste in my mouth and I know it was insulting to a lot of other people. Erik Carlson was in attendance, and she never bothered to visit with him. No class. That’s stayed with me ever since, and that’s part of the reason that I can never forgive what GM did to Saab……
That sounds like Mary Barra. She doesn’t care about anyone. EVEN the ones selling GM product. She bends to the Chevy dealer whims and complaints. I consider her a non-person. She is nothing more than a female figurehead for GM. She has never had an original thought. Nor has she even shown any backbone on any level.
Wayne—-
This was pre-Barra. I remember that she was in charge of Oldsmobile and before that, she worked for Sunbeam, the appliance manufacturer. She was so plastic, if she stood next to an open flame, she would have melted…..
If Mazda was “zoom zoom”, Saab should have been “zag zig”.