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February 18, 2009

Sorry Guys: No More Hummers

or Saturns or Saabs either

Say goodbye to Saturn. And Saab and Hummer, for that matter. Pontiac, too, for all intents and purposes.

Unless buyers (a few million of us -- or maybe just a couple of really adventurous billionaires) step forward, three of General Motors’ eight brands are now destined to join Oldsmobile in the history books. A fourth will be relegated to “niche” status, says GM. The company, until last year the world’s largest automaker, announced plans Tuesday that would drastically scale back its operations in order to stay alive.

Production of Saturn cars would stop in 2011 if the brand hasn’t been sold, GM said. Execs will decide whether to pull the plug on Hummer at the end of March, though rumors of Chinese interest have emerged (and been discounted) several times. The company says Saab will be an “independent business entity as of Jan. 1, 2010.” Take that to mean “dead” unless a reluctant Swedish government can be convinced to step in.

We had a 93 Saturn wagon. It was a very reliable, fuel efficient car. Sure, a chipmunk with emphysema would have provided more power than it's little engine, but so what? It did everything we asked of it...eventually.

Unfortunately the Saturn and I got into a head-on with a garbage truck one morning. The Saturn was totaled, I walked away completely unharmed and the garbage truck got the tiniest piece of red plastic embedded in it's front bumper. I would have gotten another one in a second, but by then GM had already folded Saturn back into their arms and it was now merely a re-branded Opel. Blech.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at February 18, 2009 06:16 AM

Comments

I have always loved Saabs. Sad to see them go. I wonder if their airline manufacturing will be affected.

Posted by: Cullen at February 18, 2009 01:47 PM

I remember the old Mark Lenard-narrated Saab commercials. "People who test-drive a Saab... usually buy a Saab." It was so low-key and kind of self-effacing - we have some neat cars, folks seem to like 'em! - but they'd be doing all these things WITH the Saabs. One spot had four or five huge guys grab a Saab, roll it over onto its roof and back onto its wheels - and then GET IN AND DRIVE IT AWAY.

Then GM gets its mitts on them and it's "Born From Jets" and all this macho ad crapl. Pifflesnot. I'd be sad to see it go, but I'd know the reason. Frickin' GM.

Posted by: nightfly at February 18, 2009 01:58 PM

I had an 86 Saab 900 Turbo. we bought it used in, oh, 1990 or so. It was not in the best of shape, and we had to find some guy named Lars to work on it, but man when that car was working it was great. Plus, with the tear dropped hatch back shape, when I folded the seats down it would haul 3 bales of hay easily, which was kind of neat.

Posted by: Mr. Bingley at February 18, 2009 02:27 PM

All of the American cars I've owned have been pieces of crap -- the best one was the second oldest, a '79 Oldsmobile Cutlass Salon. But it weighed a ton and got maybe ten miles to the gallon. After that all my cars have been Toyotas. The first one was over twelve years old, an '84 Camry. The body rusted out before the engine so much as gave me any trouble. Then I got an Echo. I had it for a couple of years and never changed the oil (because I used to be an idiot about those things) but it never gave me any trouble over it. Now I have a fourteen year old Tercel. It's a tank. You might be able to take it out with a rocket launcher. But I'll bet it will keep going, albeit with a great big smoking hole in the roof. I'm never buying an American car again. By the time they quit putting out shit, I'll be too old to drive.

Posted by: Andrea Harris at February 18, 2009 04:03 PM

I owned either a VW or a Nissan vehicle until I picked up my Ford F150 a few years ago.....used. I'll be driving this beast until I'm too old to climb into it, or the parts are no longer available to fix it (which might sooner than I like to think).

I also see that no one has taken umbrage with your title, Mr. Bingley. Me, I liked it! ;-p

Posted by: JeffS at February 18, 2009 04:42 PM

I haven't had a problem with American-made cars. I drive a Dodge Durango and love the hell out of it. Haven't owned a better vehicle. Before that I had a Ford Windstar. It was good too and we'd still have it had my wife not wrecked it. I had an '78 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme with a 350 and I got 15-18 mpg around town. It was the best GM product I ever owned. I owned a Pontiac Montana and it made me swear that I'd never own another GM product made after 1979. My favorite car was a '65 Ford Custom 500.

All that said, my commuting car is a Toyota.

Posted by: Cullen at February 18, 2009 07:27 PM

Jeff, I notice that everyone was distinctly ignoring the title...

Posted by: Mr. Bingley at February 19, 2009 06:26 AM

I've driven American cars and trucks all of my life. The Chevy truck I'm in now has over 100k miles on it and still drives like new. The one it replaced had 352K miles on it. It was still running. American vehicles maybe deserved a bad rep in the 70s but I think it's largely undeserved now.

Posted by: Rob at February 19, 2009 07:58 AM

What I am ignoring is that you're noticing our ignorance. Or something like that.

Posted by: Cullen at February 19, 2009 08:56 AM

Said title passed here without comment but not without notice.

Posted by: Rob at February 19, 2009 09:24 AM