Model Years 1985 to 1998
Saab had been planning a new model as long ago as 1974, but work did not get fully underway until 1979 and the collaboration with Fiat/Lancia in a project to produce a larger car. The project was known as Type Four.
Styled by Italian Giorgetto Giugiaro, the 9000 ultimately ended up significantly different from its sister cars the Fiat Croma and the Lancia Thema. Of the 155 or so part that made up the body just ten or so were interchangeable.
A front-wheel drive with a transversely mounted engine meant that the interior was more spacious than the Saab 900 despite a slightly shorter external length.
The combination of the folding rear seat and the estate/saloon opening rear hatch made for superb load-lugging characteristics. The Saab 9000 was the only imported car, bar the Rolls Royce, to be classifed by the United States authorities as a “large car”.