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Junkyard Gem: 1988 Saab 900

Saab had a cult following in North America going back to the two-stroke Saab 96, but it wasn't until the 900 made its debut for the 1978 model year that the marque started to be considered a mainstream – if still a bit odd – brand here. Based on the venerable 99 but seeming a lot more modern, the 900 sold well to those who wanted to drive something sensibly Scandinavian but didn't want the stodginess of a Volvo. These cars were especially popular in Colorado, and I found this high-mile-but-solid '88 in a Denver self-service wrecking yard. Nearly made it to 300,000 miles, but it never got the chance. The key is still in the console-mounted ignition switch, and the steel lanyard indicates that this car went to the wrecking yard via an insurance-company or dealership-trade-in auction. Since the car has no major body damage, that means that its final owner traded it in – reluctantly, we hope – on another car, and nobody was willing to bid over scrap value for the elderly Swede at auction. Most such auctions have an arrangement with a local wrecking yard to take all the unsold cars for a set price, and that's what we can assume happened to this car. Chances are that it was still in running condition when it showed up here. You could get a 1988 Saab 900 with a three-speed Borg-Warner automatic transmission, but I can't recall having ever seen one so equipped. Most Saab 900 buyers insisted on manuals. The engine in this car is a slant-four based on the same Triumph engine used in the Triumph TR7. By the 1980s, Saab had made sufficient improvements to the design that it was several orders of magnitude more reliable than its British Leyland ancestors. This one made 110 horses, which did an acceptable job of moving the car's 2,695 pounds. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. This ad sums up the way Saabs were marketed in the United States in 1988. Related Video: Featured Gallery Junked 1988 Saab 900 View 16 Photos Auto News Saab Hatchback

Junkyard Gem: 1971 Saab 96

Americans could buy the very first mass-produced Saab car, the 92, all the way back in 1950. Few did, because a tiny and odd-looking Swedish car with a smoky two-stroke engine buzzing out 25 horsepower didn't seem suitable for highway use, especially when a new Plymouth business coupe sold for $1,371 (about $15,180 today). Then came the 93, notable to Americans mostly for being sold by novelist Kurt Vonnegut's Saab dealership in Massachusetts. The first Saab to win over respectable numbers of American car shoppers was the 96, introduced here for the 1961 model year. North American 96 sales continued through 1973, and I've managed to find one of the later 96s in a junkyard located near Pikes Peak in Colorado. North American sales of the much less oddball 99 began in the 1969 model year, and that car evolved directly into the original 900 that sold very well through the early 1990s. Still, some Americans living in icy regions stayed loyal to the 96, so Saab kept selling 96s here until federal emissions and safety regulations made such sales unprofitable. Meanwhile, Scandinavians could buy new 96s all the way through 1980. My grandfather, a self-taught engineer who set foot outside the city limits of St. Paul, Minn., only to race Corvettes at Elkhart Lake (in summer) and all manner of rust-prone imports on frozen lakes (in winter), had this Saab 96 when I was a kid. The somewhat uneven bodywork near street level is the result of house-paint-over-Bondo corrosion repairs, and I recall going on some terrifying high-speed rides around town with Grandpa, circa 1975, watching the pavement flash by through the holes in the floor as we headed to the VFW for the meat raffle. Hey, the St. Paul VFW had Grain Belt on tap for cheap, a consolation for those who failed to win any meat. After that, a man could take his Saab to an establishment selling authentic St. Paul booya. As I recall, this Saab finally broke in half at an ice race in the late 1970s and got replaced by a slightly less rusty Rabbit. The serious Saab 96 nuts— including my grandfather— preferred the two-stroke three-cylinder engine, due to its chainsaw racket and allegedly superior performance on ice. By 1969, however, a Ford-produced V4 became the only powerplant available in a new 96 on our shores (the V4 had been an option for a couple of years prior to that). Someone grabbed the 65-horsepower V4 before I reached this car.

NEVS announces 200 layoffs as it says Saab restart will 'take time'

For a fleeting moment a few weeks ago, the news from Saab-owner National Electric Vehicle Sweden appeared almost positive. The company had its reorganization plan approved (a day after it was denied), and the automaker was actually showing a real, running vehicle, albeit one with a top speed of 75 miles per hour. But those tiny crumbs of potential goodness have been swept away because NEVS has announced layoffs of as many as 200 factory employees in September "due to lack of work."
Workers probably shouldn't get too eager to return to the factory either, because company's "decision to re-start production will be further delayed" by an unspecified amount of time, NEVS says in a press release. To begin assembling cars again, the company needs to find long-term funding and a new majority owner. Those seem like two very steep hurdles for the embattled automaker to clear.
Despite not producing cars since May, NEVS still claims it's negotiating with a new owner, possibly Mahindra, but according to Reuters, the Swedish company owes about 400 million kronor ($56 million) to creditors. According to its layoff announcement, getting rid of these workers is one step in the business' reorganization plan to be presented on October 8. Scroll down to read its full release.