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Saab

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The first Saab was born of a need for speed very different from the racetrack aspirations of Ferdinand Porsche or Enzo Ferrari. As their slogan, Born From Jets suggests, the first Saab was created by aircraft engineers. Of the 16 engineers who worked to create the original Saab automobile in 1947, only one had a driver’s license. The company had been producing high performance aircraft since 1937, but a burgeoning auto industry led to a luxury car brand that drew on the technological innovation of aviation to produce some of most reliable rides on the road.

In 1990 GM took an interest in the automobile division of the company and purchased a 50% share. The brand had been struggling with overproduction since the 80’s, and hoped the sale would offer some financial stability to the marque. 10 years later GM purchased the remaining shares, assuming full ownership. Of course, GM has had struggles of its own in the past decade, and Saab hasn’t remained unaffected. The brand still fights to keep traction in an aggressive luxury market. The newly designed 9-3 has been reasonably successful, but it remains to be seen just how much longevity GM can get out of its Swedish line.

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Resources

Saab
We’re typically skeptical when it comes to official GM web pages. They’re typically more fluff than fact with a harsh focus on retail. The Saab site still carries the advertising flair, but at least they offer a little bit of history with the sales pitch. Their pictorial timeline is a little weak, but it’s certainly better than nothing.

Saab on Wikipedia
The Saab page on Wikipedia offers a quick and dirty look at the history of the brand and its technological innovations. As with most auto pages on Wikipedia there’s a model list and lucky for us, a historical picture gallery. Don’t miss the nomenclature section. It’s the perfect way to show up fellow Saab enthusiasts with a little extra knowledge.

Saab at Autoblog
This is a great time for auto news, as the major American manufacturers fight tooth and nail to compete with the explosive import houses. In our very own Montague vs. Capulet war of Toyota vs. GM, you can bet Autoblog will keep you on the frontlines of Saab development. The brand is looking to branch into the little premium market, with a concept built to fight the Mini Cooper. Make sure you keep up.

Community Sites

Saab Club of North America
As the site claims, this is a pretty good spot for the beginners among us. The club has a pretty short events list that we hope they’ll expand as the year moves on. They keep up on all the official news from Saab so you don’t have to. The best part of the site is definitely the list of local Saab clubs. Find the club closest to you and get connected.

Saab Central
It’s nice to see smaller manufacturers who have struggled in the past maintain a great fan base. This site is dedicated to anything Saab related, and they have plenty of members to fill out the content. With over 30,000 folks in their forums, we bet you’ll find the news and technical help you’d expect from a great forum. The page also hosts classifieds and their own news features to keep their members happy.

Saab Scene
This forum is dedicated to the technical aspects of owning and maintaining a Saab of any age. The community is more than 10,000 strong, with plenty of real tech-heads to give the best insight on Saab upkeep. The threads are closely moderated, so they’re nicely organized and avoid the spam that plagues some auto forums.

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