Date: Wed, 2 Jun 1999 07:55:25 -0400 From: "Eric Law" <elawnopsamexxx.com> Subject: Re: Why the "9XX" designation?
Also, I'm a firm beleiver that the magnitude of the model number reflects how good the car is. For a long time, Saab led in the mass market with the 900 (of course Porsche had the 911, 924, 944, etc...). BMW couldn't even come close, with the 320, 533/535, and 733/735 (2002 had been discontinued). Volvo was also behind with the 2xx series, and the 7xx series. Then, Audi countered with the 5000, which was, of course, a nicer car (5000 > 900). Saab, feeling the market pressure, responded with the 9000, which was, and is, better than anything else on the road! ;*) Eric Law Justin VanAbrahams <jvanabranopsamel.net> wrote in message news:3754129d.0nopsam.sac.bfp.net... > > Steinar Moum <Steinar.Moumnopsam.uio.no> wrote in message > news:Steinar.Moum-3105991112000001nopsamsit09.uio.no... > > Does somebody know the reasoning behind the "9" in Saabs models? > > > > It went about like this: > > > > 92, 93, 96, 95, 99, 900, 9000, 9 small5, 9small3 > > > > > Back when Saab first started making automobiles, they designated the 9x > series of model > designations for cars... the first actual prototype being Type 92. They > continued using this > nomenclature up until the 900, when they ran out of 9x numbers and switched > to a vaguely > exponential system, where 900 was the smaller car and 9000 was the bigger > car. When > the 900 and 9000 were nearing the end of their respective runs. Saab knew > that there was > no future in this series, because cars called 90,000 and 900,000 would be > stupid, so they > used some artistic license and switched to an even more vague exponential > system - 9^3 > and 9^5 ... this new series not only allows them 9 different cars before > they have to switch > again, but also gives them the ability to pattern their models aftrer BMW's > successful 3, 5, > and 7 series. > > -Justin > >