What a delightful find. And it’s not a Chinese copy of a Euro car either.
I too can only wish in my fanciful dreams that Saab might rise like a Phoenix from the Ashes of the appalling American bean counters and banking mess and the complete abandonment by the Swedish Government of its own pre WW2 independence principles in refusing to maintain the glory that was Saab.
You are correct. the virtues and values that were Saab, especially before the Fiat-Lancia badge engineering were exemplary, and a fine foil against the utilitarian blandness and safety of the workaday Volvo.
Now, because of the insane and destructive political correctness that has gripped Sweden in what can only appear to be some sort of subservience to the USA banking and political governance influence, what hope can there be for Saab automobiles…?
The longer things are left lie fallow the more likely Saab will became a mere memory like so many other fine pieces of engineering design and art such as Britain[‘s Riley and Mini – despite ten Mini name now being owned by the Germans, it is no longer the characterful car it was when it was British. It is no more than a trendy little BMW.
Perhaps Saab will become like Riley and so many other works of industrial art; a dinosaur to be kept as an enshrined relic by the Saab motor clubs around the world, but never ever again a proper motor car with such unequalled safety and aesthetic design.
The safety aspect was no exaggerated claim either. A relatively recent BBC Top Gear programme devoted a lot of time examining Saab, including a dramatic and severe crash test measured against a BMW of similar weight and dimension. The BMW was totalled in a high height crane drop onto its roof. In exactly the same drop the Saab retained its essential cabin structural integrity with the likelihood of passenger survival. The BMW’s occupants would have been killed, according to the seasoned presenters.
However, if there were a band of wealthy architects and design engineers out there who might band together to resuscitate Saab, then I would dance naked at their celebration table and be among the first of the new customers….

– Alexxxx