The Saab-Lancia 600 is a rebadged Lancia Delta, sold by Saab after a deal with Lancia.
The deal was a part of the 1980s co-operation between the Saab and the Italian Fiat Group, which includes Lancia and Alfa Romeo in addition to Fiat. The partnership also resulted in the ‘Type 4’ project, which provided the common platforms for the Saab 9000, the Lancia Thema, the Fiat Croma and the Alfa Romeo 164.
The SAAB-Lancia 600 was developed because Saab did not have the finances to support the production of entirely new models and looked to other companies in order to provide a new model line-up.
The first years it was sold as GLS and the exclusive GLE, but due to poor sales because of the high price tag the GLE-model was later dropped from the lineup. It was offered only with the 1.5-litre engine that had 85 horsepower connected to a manual 5-speed gearbox.
The Saab-Lancia 600 was designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro and, in common with the company’s other models, was a front-wheel drive and a hatchback, with a rallying pedigree. The Lancia Delta earned the European Car of the Year Award in 1980.
The Saab-Lancia 600 was sold only in Sweden, Finland and Norway.
Saab-Lancia 600 was never sold in Finland. Instead of this joint venture Finns found another solution, they manufactured themselves Talbot Horizons to take place of Saab-Lancia 600. However, Lancia Delta was sold in Finland since late 80’s.
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Could you imagine Saab Delta Integrale??