While the article was a nice read and I do love some older cars from the 80s/90s, those cars are gone. Cars look the way they do now and days because of the increased safety standards and airbags everywhere. I would much rather be driving a car today than from the 80s if I wanted safety.
That being said, there are still plenty of cars that are unique looking now, Miata, Supra, GR86, BRZ, CT5-V, CT4-V, Stinger, Taycan, and plenty more!
I don't get the Saab obsession. I can't speak to anything mechanical about them, but I've seen plenty and they look like many others on the road at that time. Like, what exactly is so aesthetically interesting? a different grille design? You could make the argument about many older cars - like the Nissan Fairlady/Z - but not really the Saab.
Guilty. I've owned three Saabs in my life (1982 99, 1987 900S, 1997 900T). It's a completely irrational aesthetic addiction. I'll admit it. But as an industrial designer, I admire good design, and Saab has that in a way BMW and Mercedes do not, although Volkswagen is of the same ilk.
I'll try to answer specifically. For me it is the body shape of the 99/900. It feels organic and part of the road, the mushroomed shape makes me feel like I'm part of a natural outgrowth of entire automotive ecosystem: map + city + road + car + driver + civil engineering. The interior is also minimal and of the school of Bauhaus or Dieter Rams. The late 900's and 9-3 lost this charm and became more conventional.
There's no logic behind it, it is simply shape and form that appeals to certain people. I know people who are nuts over early BMWs, or 1950's VWs, everyone has their thing.
The late 900 and later models were also after they were bought out by GM/Opel and converted to their common platforms. Which I guess explains becoming un-Saaby.
I don't know what my parents liked about Saab but they swear up and down about Volvos' safety ratings. My dad is a swedish car nut nut and his Saab always seems to be in a state of repair.
Then he had the nerve to criticize for buying a Corolla, after teenage me got sick of dealing with auto shit after going through no less than three old, cheap Volvos that seemed to constantly need work of some kind. (Two of which had a habit of stalling at the most inopportune moments, like driving 60+ MPH on the freeway. It took years to feel safe driving again!)
It's an easy thing to say. I used to ridicule my friends who longed for SAABs. Until a few years later I happened to drive one. Well, that was that. I was hooked.
I don't get it either. But they are unique looking and hatchbacks. You know a SAAB when you see one. Although cars were a lot more unique back in the day.
I drove one, it was fine.. (Un-remarkable, but at the time I had a 1989 GTI, that was pretty fun...)
I remember having trouble removing the key from one (Its next to the shifter... And it needed to be in reverse or something.).
Good features for the price, decent pickup speed, gears are smooth, heated leather seats, interesting features like headlight wipers and night panel. Fun to drive and look great.
They are quirky and aesthetically distinguishing, especially all the orange and green.
Love my '95 Saab 900 SE turbo and will most likely never part with it if I can avoid it.
The quest for better fuel mileages also makes a big difference. Cars looks like jellybeans for aerodynamics. It’s also difficult to get a 6 cylinder engine compared to the past.
> It’s also difficult to get a 6 cylinder engine compared to the past.
Most of the V6's of the past were also garbage, so no loss there.
But there are still quite a few 6 cylinders out there, they just aren't necessarily cheap. Mercedes has a 3.0L V6 they love to stick in all their "midrange" AMGs for example (C43, GLC43, etc..), BMW still likes their I6 in for example the M3, Z4, and Toyota Supra. And of course Porsche still loves that flat 6 in the 911. There's also still a V6 for the Camry and a V6 Camaro among a few others.
What did mostly die is the "V6" as a generic "more power" upgrade for things like the Accord or most other midrange, midsize sedans. But the modern turbo I4s are so much better than those were, so it's not really a loss. And there's plenty of affordable V8s that are just fantastic as well.
The article seemed to be lashing out at "overly" designed card such as most modern Toyotas (and I would lump the Supra in there myself). But there are still plenty of clean, conservative, visually simple cars out there. Sadly they pretty much only come from luxury brands: BMW 2, 3 and 5 series, most Audis, Volvo S60, S90 and their wagon counterparts, several Genesis models, Golf GTI and R, etc.
That being said, there are still plenty of cars that are unique looking now, Miata, Supra, GR86, BRZ, CT5-V, CT4-V, Stinger, Taycan, and plenty more!