Saab also made massive strides in terms of safety, and its cars were beautifully engineered. Our favorite feature was the famous Night Panel, which turned down every light on the interior except for the speedometer. It made a huge difference when driving at night, especially if you had astigmatism.
So, what happened to the iconic brand? Well, it all went pear-shaped when General Motors acquired the brand in 2000. GM simply didn’t understand the allure of Saab and forced it to use existing GM platforms to sell cars.
Saab loyalists soon fell out of love with the brand, and in 2010, GM agreed to sell it to Spyker while retaining some oversight. Spyker went to China for funding, but GM said no, and the brand went bankrupt. Quite odd when you think how easily GM jumped in bed with China in recent years.
Looking at what happened to Volvo, we can only imagine where Saab would be right now if a big conglomerate wrote it a blank check.
Thankfully, the old Saab factory will be used to build an electric spiritual successor of sorts, while Saabjorn looks set to keep the older models alive.