Why Saab deserves a second chance

THERE is, positioned in the House of Commons alongside some other Prime Ministers, a statue of Magaret Thatcher.

This is unusual for just one historical reason, no matter what you make of The Iron Lady. Say what you like about The Falklands, the miners' strike, the Poll Tax, the right to buy and the fact she wasn't for turning, because you're wrong. What makes her statue unique is that - unlike all of the other PMs staring down on in the successors from their stoney perches - she hasn't died yet.

A bit like Saab, then, which this week was given a shot of adrenalin in the form of an order for 600 cars from a mysterious Chinese company. It's a step in the right direction, but it's still an Elastoplast on the gaping war wound of a company that - as of last weekend - couldn't pay its own workers and had seen two rescue deals fall through. If cars were Members of Parliament - and I know I've already touched on this crucial topic in a previous piece - the stonemasons would be getting busy.

If all this sounds familiar it's because we British have already shown the Swedes how to utterly cock up a car brand through the final fling of Rover in 2005. The crucial difference is that the Rover 45 was a terrible, dated bit of rubbish that wasn't a patch on its predecessors, whereas Saab's latest 9-5 is an impressive executive express that really can hold its own against BMW's 5-Series. I know because I've driven both.

Saab has a long and colourful history of producing some of the quirkiest saloons in the business, and I'd hate it to end at the 9-5. The guys from Gothenburg are the people who brought you the multiple rally-winning 96, the rampant 900 Turbo, the smart and sophisticated 9000 and even the middle class icon that is the 900 Cabriolet. You, the car-buying public, ought to give them a second chance.

There will, in the next few weeks, be a test drive of the 9-5 in The Champion. I just hope it's not too late.