Brief guide to the SAAB 9000

SAAB management first began thinking about the design for an entirely new car in the 1970s but the same financial constraints that precluded development of a new engine delayed any serious design work. Of course, SAAB were not the only manufacturers concerned about the enormous costs associated with the design and introduction of new models and eventually this resulted in a quadripartite alliance of makers in a venture that became known as the Type 4 project.
Alfa-Romeo, Fiat and Lancia were SAAB’s partners in the Type 4 project and the principal objective was to reduce costs by using a number of common parts. Alfa – Romeo’s 164 was styled by Pininfarina but the Fiat Croma, Lancia Thema and SAAB 9000 were all the work of design studio Giugiaro Italdesign. Differences of opinion between engineers led to friction and ultimately, very few components were interchangeable between models.
When it was first introduced (1986), motoring journals perceived the SAAB 9000 to be an accomplished executive car with spacious accommodation and admirable build quality. Buyers were sufficiently impressed to countenance long waiting lists for the new car but this was entirely understandable, as SAAB philosophy is based on iterative refinement of existi ng designs, rather than copying other makers who see fit to introduce a new model every 4-5 years or so. Indeed, in 1987, one commentator jokingly said that it was very likely that buyers would have to wait patiently until 2001 before SAAB would introduce another new design!

source: http://www.saab9000.com/information/buying/Saab9000Buying.pdf