GMs lousy management decisions finally kill Saab
Posted by john vanlandingham
John Vanlandingham Elite Moderator Location: Ford Asylum, Sleezattle, WA Join Date: 12/20/2005 Age: Fossilized Posts: 14,152 Rally Car: Saab 96 V4 |
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It's sad, indeed. I'm not a big fan of modern Saab but the SAAB wwas my first rally car. Actually, first two were 96s.
The first one was awesom Short Nose '63 "Sport" (Monte Carlo here). Triple carbs, wood steering wheel and nice gauges. It revved to unheard 7000... and sounded to rev to 17 000  My first rally ended early to a snow bank - deep in. Before we could open the doors spectators were yelling: "Stay in, we help you first!" There were 3 other cars stuffed in but everybody loves Two Strokes in Sweden!
The second, '66 two stroke Long Nose, started w 3-cyl. I got my A lisence w it and wanted more speed so I dropped in 1530cc Gp2 V4 factory mill, maybe 165-175hp, w 2x45DCOEs. It was fast and evil to drive w LSD! They didn't let me run rally without a new, picky State Safety inspection, so I sold the car. I also put 100 000+km on '70s 95 wagon at work in Finland. I learned to turn hard, stick my head out and see how rear wheel was in the air and still! I'd pull the hand brake a little to stop it. A great show in Helsinki traffic, 3-wheeling away... The 96 was the best SAAB ever. R.I.P. - RWD rocks - |
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Brian Driggs Godlike Moderator Location: Glendale Join Date: 06/08/2006 Age: Midlife Crisis Posts: 832 Rally Car: Keyboard. Deal with it. |
GM is so stupid. I'll never buy another GM product.
This whole thing with deals falling apart, it's all because GM is, as JVL so eloquently put it, a turgid, fat, stupid bureaucracy laden company. They are wholly unprepared to hold up their end of any sort of deal, so the buyers, who were willing to consider paying GM's top dollar for damaged goods price, had no choice but to back away. They failed to sell Opel, too, which I think is unfortunate, because it means they got lucky. If they were so ignorant as to cut ties with Opel, which is responsible for pretty much every new model they've got right now (the Insignia is the basis for the Malibu, Regal, Lacrosse, and the stunning, never-gonna-happen-now 9-5), it would have been suicide. The sad fact remains, GM is not an innovative company. They have been bloated, reactive dullards without any real clue to what the market wants for decades. Yet they've moved with a sort of arrogant attitude. "We're the biggest manufacturer in the world, so we know what people will buy." Even when sales consistently prove them wrong, they keep at it. This bailout of GM was a bad idea. We'll never see that money again and all it did was reinforce to them that they can continue on doing what they want to do. They don't have a single innovative product. Everything they make is a feeble attempt to compete in markets already dominated by the Japanese and the Germans. Meanwhile, they continue to wreak havoc on the world. They should all drink a knife. Hate hate hate. EDIT: The loss Pontiac, particularly the G8 and Solstice was sad. The loss of Saturn, with the sharp little Astra (another Opel, natch) and Sky was disappointing. But I weep for the death of SAAB. They might have been in trouble for a long time, but they deserved better.  Brian Driggs | KG7KCA | PHX, AZ | 89 Pajero alterius non sit qui suus esse potest Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/20/2009 11:02AM by DR1665. |
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