by HoTWire
7. January 2008 03:59
It is fairly widely known that the Fiat group co-operated with Saab during the 80's and that resulted in the common platform shared by Saab 9000, Lancia Thema, Fiat Croma and Alfa Romeo 164.
Whilst the 9000 et al are relatively common still a much rarer beast is the Saab 600. This was the first fruit of the co-operation, a re-badged Lancia Delta. Saab wanted a suitable replacement for the outgoing Saab 96 and the Delta model fitted that hole, having four doors and being about the right size, coupled with Saab's love of front wheel drive. The car was only available in Sweden, although a few no doubt made it over to Norway. The car was available with the 1500 engine, in various levels of trim, base, GL and GLS. Early in its life a GLE version was available but didn't sell so well and was later dropped from the line up, the rarest of a rare breed. Sadly none of the later high performance Delta versions were made available as Saabs.
Other than the badges little is changed from the Lancia Delta, it is rumoured that Saab required better rust resistance from Lancia so it would be more suitable for the harsher climate in Sweden in Norway. Sadly Lancia never managed to shake their reputation for rust in the UK and the Delta was the last officially sold Lancia in the UK when they pulled out in 1994.
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