I really think the mad guys made cars because someone dare it to do it. Like they were doing crazy good jets when someone said: Okay this is a great plane but I bet if you do a car it would be awfull. They did it. After few years they realized it wasnt profitable so they ditched SAAB cars because it was a long running joke.
Can confirm that SAAB cars are great! Mine is coming up on 19 years old, and apart from some superficial issues still works as well as when it rolled out of the shop. SAAB was also very innovative with their cars, taking a lot of inspiration from their jets, which is clearly seen in their design.
Didn’t they also over-engineer their cars, with things like putting limited-slip differentials on ‘normal’ cars? Thought that was one of the reasons they went under.
Fun fact on Range Rovers, at least in the Uk. They’re quite easy to steal, 90 were stolen in one night. As a result the insurance companies are charging crazy prices and thus many people can’t keep the car so the market is blooded and with used ones.
This is then devaluing the cars and so other people are having trouble selling them as they’ll still owe on the finance.
The only problem with them braking is trying to find parts, because they’ve stopped producing them. In terms of having to work on them they’re still generally well designed.
Yeah, I drove a Saab for years, that thing was fantastic. Built like a tank and never had any mechanical issues (despite already being ten years old when we got it).