I still remember driving with my friends JT and Ken from Troy, NY to Burlington, VT and home to Massachusetts in the winter in JT’s old Saab 99 with marginal breaks, marginal heat, marginal floorboards but a great little engine. So today I saw some news that made me feel nostalgic and sad. This morning CNNMoney brings us world of the impending death of a classic auto maker. According to the article, the final potential deal to sell the automaker to Spyker Cars.

According to the head of GM Europe:

“Despite the best efforts of all involved, it has become very clear that the due diligence required to complete this complex transaction could not be executed in a reasonable time. In order to maintain operations, Saab needed a quick resolution,” said GM Europe President Nick Reilly. “We regret that we were not able to complete this transaction with Spyker Cars.”

This has been a notoriously tough year for the auto industry, with US manufacturers bleeding money and Japanese makers doing little better (in fact, Ford actually outpaced Toyota). We’ve seen the demise of Saturn, once hailed as the future of the US auto industry; and now the two major Swedish cars – Saab and Volvo – are being scrapped for parts.

What are your memories of Saab … or Volvo … or even Saturn?

Source: CNNMoney

Image courtesy of SaabUnited