1994-2002 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
for one your talking to the 9-3 board. And face it, after 02, SAAB is not around anymore. GM will have 2 design centers, car and trucks. Might a well call 'em crucks anyway.
The only hope for SAAB is maybe Bob Lutz and that the new car is a flop. SAAB will only be SAAB if SAAB engineers can operate independantly themselves choosing what parts come from the GM bin and let the 'heart' of the machine be SAAB.
I like owning a .3% market share type of car. I enjoy the active driving experience: torque steer, actually feeling bumps in the road, and all. The current 9-3 is one of the few vehicles left that hasn't been numbed to death. I believe it is actually a good thing to know that the car is running over the rumble strips on the side of the road. I believe a sports suspension is safer than a touring suspension(a lesson the Ford Explorer is learning).
GM has done amazing things to disconnect the driver from the vehicle, incl the 9-5 (the main reason I don't want one). This would include the instututionalizm of auto trannies, suspension bushings the size of grapefruits, and huds to tell show speed that is presented 4" lower on the dash. Don't worry, if you believe the 9-5 has heavy involvement, wait for what's next in the American displacement wars, they'll have that puppy coming of the caddy DTS line.
The current 'aging' chassis of the 9-3 is one of the most distinctive on the road today while retaining identity with those who came 30yrs proir to it. My desk is adjact to a major intersection adjoining an afluent area of Redmond, WA. The only vehicles that catch my eye while not paying attention otherwise are 9-3's, 911's, the occasional Ferrari (though the 360 is dull compared to others of the make), and 900's. The rest all blur into used bars of soap.
How freakin' special is a 9-3 going to be when the gomer sitting next to you in a Grand Am has the same running gear and suspension as you, but you chunked down $10 grand more for your platformed brother with a center mount key and a big a** griffen airbrushed on the hood. VW has made platform a way of life putting 9 vehicles on one chassis. Aside from the beetle and tt, the rest are somewhat indistinguishable.
I grew up driving GM vehicles and personally detested driving a chev celebrity while my aunt bought a buick century because it 'rode' better, and the Jones next door got the olds cutlass ceira because it was a technologically advanced car.
So what should we call this new beast? Wait, I got it, the 9-3 Cimarron. Yeah, let's dress up the blue collar s**tbox and call it SAAB.
Later,
tony
posted by 66.114.15...
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