Ah the YK2 Jetbike, classic indeed.
Yes SAAB is now owned by GM, like german Opel, English Vauxhaull and australian Holden have been for decades and the new SAAB's are based on the Opel Vectra middleclass platform that btw will be the base for some new Saturn models too I heard. The SAAB 9-2X is absolutely awfull, it's a direct offense to both SAAB and Subaru that are or were both unique and good carbrands. The Grippen has a massive engine but no LSD or TCS and that is based on the old Opel Vectra platform but is much heavier than the Opel and has a simple suspension so it's got bad handling which is a very very big shame
At least SAAB still makes their own engines, except the diesel and the basis for the V6 that now however is turbocharged and heavily modified. The 2.3 SAAB 4-cylinder Turbo has earth-shattering torque that can rival a diesel-engine but of course that's a bad thing for starting efficiently from a sideroad in a unregulated intersection if the suspension isn't capable of handling the torque, that's why I'd like a AWD Sedan like a Subaru for instance (and the boxer-sound of a Subaru is so wonderfully rolling) I wouldn't want wings on it though, no need for streetdriving.
I'd most likely want a late-90s Ford Mondeo sedan, the base/cousin of the US Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique, the mk1 Mondeo actually existed in a AWD version btw.
One classic is the Chrysler Ghia Gas Turbine Coupe. 120 hp but equivalent to a 200hp piston engine they claimed. 4000 lbs but could do 0-60 mph in 10 seconds in a normal start, but a test-driver said it could do sprint in 5 seconds if you revved the turbine up first. 120hp propelling 4000 lbs from 0-60 seconds in 5 seconds!? That's really extreme.
Volvo actually developed gasturbine-engines for cars up in the 80s and their "mk1" engine tested in a production Volvo could in the early 80s rival diesel-engine economy and they were working on a "mk2" that could do better. They also made the ECC in the 90s that was a gasturbine-electric hybrid which sounds pretty cool and very fuel-efficient.
Another pilot-aspect is fly-by-wire and that's now being made into cars, in ways I don't think they should, not only the throttle which is one thing but also brakes and to some extent also steering. I thought it was illegal not to have a mechanical link for the brakes and steering until recently but Daimler and BMW are probably heavyweights, and with all that stuff on board so are they on the road. Btw while you might have heard about the MB brakes then maybe the steering needs some details, BMW has developed a system to work with ESP so it can steer the wheels 10 degrees from the steeringwheel's indication to keep the car stable and that probably can't be done with a fixed link I think. Can someone remember the fly-by-wire problems resulting in some wild flying and then crashing of both a F-22 and a SAAB JAS-39? I don't want to get near those cars, but especially the BMW's are so ugly in my eyes that that won't be a problem.
Frank
