This post is a bit long, but it involves the crash-worthiness of Saab's as of 1993.
I read an article in an automotive trade magazine called "Automotive Industries" about Brian O'Neill, who is the head of the IIHS (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety). Until the early 1980's, government regulations were the primary way safety features made it into vehicles. For automakers, that spawned a minimalist approach wherein they spent the least amount necessary to meet the minimum standards required by law. By the mid 1980's, safety minded companies like Saab, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz began cashing in on their reputation for crashworthiness. The IIHS wanted to do crash-testing to really see if the European cars were really crash-worthy. They decided to mimick their testing based on a crash test conceived by Mercedes Benz and already under development in Europe. This was the controversial offset 40 mph frontal crash into a deformed barrier. Mercedes research told them this was the kind of crash that most cars actually experienced. It was also viewed as a more real world alternative to flat barrier testing, which was and is the basis of today's Federal New Car Assessment Program standard.
In 1993, the facility was created to perform these crash tests in Virginia, and it put into action its plan to raise the bar on safety.

From the very first crash test program conducted, the results rattled automakers. Even O'Neill expressed surprise at their early findings. They first tested mid-sized cars, like the Ford Taurus. Of these cars, O'Neill says, "we expected the Saab 900 to do very well because of Saab's concern for safety. Well, it did terrible. It collapsed. We thought maybe our speed was too high, but then we did our second test, which was a Subaru Legacy. We didn't expect that car to do well at all and it did fine. At that point we knew we had a great program because we were as knowledgeable as anyone and we guessed completely wrong."

The article goes on to say how all of the domestic manufacturers cried foul because their cars generally did poorly. O'Neill says only one manufacturer actually came by to visit the facility to see how their cars were doing and how. Toyota. He says, "I admire Toyota because it actually sent engineers to us who asked, 'What are you doing and how are you doing it? We want to do well in these tests.' The company bought into these crash tests from the top down and now there isn't a single Toyota that doesn't get a "good" rating from us."

Based on these crash tests alone, I wouldn't buy an Saab 900.

__________________
Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".