"Amoore100" (amoore100)
10/05/2015 at 20:38 • Filed to: Ridiculous Rebadges, Lancia Delta, Saab 600
1
14|
"Amoore100" (amoore100)
10/05/2015 at 20:38 • Filed to: Ridiculous Rebadges, Lancia Delta, Saab 600 | 1
| 14 |
Welcome to Ridiculous Rebadges, a series of articles in which I go through and examine the details and circumstances surrounding some of the more infamous and some of the more esoteric vehicular rebadges throughout automotive history.
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
Saab and Lancia were two automakers that had very much alike. Both were kind of quirky and non-mainstream. Both had storied rallying histories. Both enjoyed forcing induction into a small four cylinder engine. Despite all of these similarities, however, there were several key differences between the two brands as well. Lancias liked to rust; Saabs, not so much. Saabs were Swedish and therefore viewed as more sensible whereas Lancia’s Italian heritage characterized it as feisty and exciting. That is why in the 1980s when Saab and Lancia attempted to join together in a joint venture, the result was the hopeless Saab 600. Arguably not a joint venture at all, the 600 was a base Lancia Delta with a hopelessly slow 1.4L I4 and a water soluble body. It went on to sell only in Scandinavia and Finland, and not in great numbers due to a reputation tarnished by the infamous Italian build quality. As a result, few if any 600s remain today. However, the connection between the Swedes and the Italians later resulted in the Type 4 Platform venture which was a sales success with the Saab 9000, Lancia Thema, Fiat Croma, and Alfa Romeo 164. Today these funky Italio-Swedish relations stand to remind us of two amazing car companies, both killed prematurely by American brands. Rest in Peace, Saab and Lancia.
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
First Generation Lancia Delta
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
[First two images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons]
[Third image courtesy of taringa.net]
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
Saab Lancia 600
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
[All images courtesy of SaabsUnited.com]
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
Sources:
[ !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ]
[ !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ]
pjhusa
> Amoore100
10/05/2015 at 20:41 |
|
* forgotten (sic) :)
|
Amoore100
> pjhusa
10/05/2015 at 20:45 |
|
LOL thanks...I was trying to rush a bit since I’ve got a school function in fifteen minutes but I guess this proves that it’s always good to slow down sometimes and make sure you don’t make stupid mistakes...
deprecated account
> Amoore100
10/05/2015 at 20:58 |
|
hahahaha “water-soluble body” i’m dying
|
Amoore100
> deprecated account
10/05/2015 at 21:01 |
|
Hah, I got that from another article about an old Alfa and it’s become my new favorite descriptor for Italian cars...
MM54
> Amoore100
10/05/2015 at 21:26 |
|
I did not know that they had a lower case delta on the Delta to denote it as such. This increases my need for one exponentially.
|
deprecated account
> Amoore100
10/05/2015 at 21:26 |
|
Like a an ‘90s Merc’s biodegradable wiring harnesses... lol!
Your boy, BJR
> Amoore100
10/05/2015 at 21:54 |
|
“Killed by American brands”
GM didn't kill Saab, Saab killed themselves. They just happened to be receiving funding from GM at the time.
|
Amoore100
> MM54
10/05/2015 at 22:47 |
|
That is a nice touch...
|
Amoore100
> Your boy, BJR
10/05/2015 at 22:49 |
|
Eh, GM helped by diluting the brand and driving away the faithful, while Saab was too stubborn in changing their ways for the mass market...what they should have done was met in the middle, but obviously that didn’t happen...
|
Your boy, BJR
> Amoore100
10/05/2015 at 22:56 |
|
GM’s Saabs are cool though! A more luxurious WRX and TBSS. But then Saab was all like:
So GM got all “fuck it, do what you want”, then within 5 years Saab was dead.
|
Amoore100
> Your boy, BJR
10/05/2015 at 23:03 |
|
Eh, I didn’t like the 92X or the Trollblazer as Saabs although arguably they were great in terms of GM cars of the time. I actually prefer the Vectra and Insignia based 9-3 and 9-5s because, as Clarkson put it, they changed everything from the wheelbase to the satnav system...
|
Your boy, BJR
> Amoore100
10/06/2015 at 00:06 |
|
Having owned both gen 900s and car sitting a Viggen for a year, AND being a former Saab tech....
.....ugh. Fuck Saab.
|
Amoore100
> Your boy, BJR
10/06/2015 at 00:27 |
|
Oh, that’s right...you have first hand experience...are they nightmares to work on? Or is it just the Saab experience overall...
|
Your boy, BJR
> Amoore100
10/06/2015 at 07:12 |
|
It's the everything.