2-door/3-door/4-door/5-door saloon/hatchback.

First completely new-generation Saab since late forties, still with front-wheel drive, but larger, faster, with myriad body derivatives/engine sizes/tunes. Style done in-house, but 1.7/1.85-litre engines by Triumph (same basic type as Dolomite, and related to Stag). Four-speed (five-speed, some models, in eighties) transmission under the engine. Great solidity, sure handling, though all cars before the Turbo (see below) were essentially underpowered. Injection versions, with 110bhp, were the most sporting types - called EMS. Directly related to 900 family, which used same cabin aft of the screen, and same basic engine/transmission assembly. Renamed '90' for final three years.