Peter Backstrom, the director of the Saab Museum here in Trollhattan, oversaw the engine builds for the three Saab 93A’s competing in the 2011 Mille Miglia. Those engines were built not to be outstandingly fast, but to be very, very reliable (whilst still being quite quick for such a small engine).
That strategy has worked for the second consecutive year, with all three cars in the 2011 Mille Miglia finishing the event in fine style.
Brescia, Italy: The 2011 Mille Miglia contest ended on a high Saturday night, as all three competing Saab 93s safely returned to the enthusiastic crowds in Brescia. The number 332 car, piloted by Spyker Cars Chairman Hans Hugenholtz and his wife Laurence, was the first Saab car to finish the third and final leg of the 2011 event. Earlier on Saturday, the classic Saabs had departed from the Castel Sant’Angelo in Rome, after which they made their way back to Brescia over a course that brought them past Viterbo, Siena, Florence and other highlights of the Italian landscape.
Here are some more photos from the final day. Click to enlarge. We’ll get more information and stories from the guys as they come back into Trollhattan and regain their senses after a hectic week’s driving.
Congratulations to all three teams on the successful completion of the event. I can’t wait to see the full set of photos and video.
News from the Mille Miglia has been difficult to come by as we only have a very small team in Italy for the event and they’re almost all involved in either competition or support. It doesn’t help that I’ve been flying between Australia and Sweden for the last few days. We will get a more complete story in the coming hours, however.
Until then, here are some photos from Day 2 of this beautiful event through the Itlian countryside.
Click to enlarge.
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We’re also thankful to the Saabway Club, from Italy, who had members present to shoot a fantastic video of all three Saabs at the beginning of the event….
I don’t have any details or stories to share, but it certainly looks like the team at Mille Miglia is having a good time. The cars and the scenery both look breathtaking.
The following photos just arrived in my inbox, directly from Italy…..
Peter Backstrom (left) and Mats Fagerhag talk to the crowd. Mats is driving the Saab 93A that Peter helped to prepare for the event.
Mats Fagerhag looking cool in the Italian sunshine….
The Saab 93A being driven by Hans Hugenholz along with a Saab 9-3 Independence Edition Convertible…..
The Mille Miglia entry from Behermans in Belgium, with the Saab Museum entry in the background…..
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Remember to keep checking in with SofieFromSaab on Twitter. She’s posting live occasional updates along with images from the 2011 Mille Miglia.
We’ll have full coverage of the event after it’s completion on the weekend.
Let’s be honest. It’s a tough week to be writing about enjoyable links. But there are some good stories out there, so let’s take a look at them before I head off to the airport to return back to Saab HQ in Trollhattan.
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Mille Miglia is on right now and there are three Saab 93A’s entered in the event. You can view photos and commentary about the restoration of one of those cars right here at Inside Saab.
We’ll have a full review of the event when it’s over and done, but if you want some real-time updates on what’s happening there, the best place to go is SofieFromSaab’s Twitter page.
Sofie works for Saab in Belgium and she’s there covering the Mille car that’s been prepared and entered in the event by Behermans, the Belgian Saab importer.
From Sofie’s account, here’s Saab’s Technical Director, Mats Fagerhag, taking the Saab 93A prepared by the Saab Museum in Trollhattan (see link above) back to the Mille Miglia museum as part of the event.
Tim’s first day on the job took him to the Saab 9-4x press drive in Washington DC and while he was there, Autoblog conducted a brief interview with him for an article that now appears on their website.
It makes for some good, insightful reading and I’m very encouraged by Mr Colbeck’s background and knowledge not only of Saab, but of Saab’s market as well.
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A few articles from today’s issue of Saabs United:
I really enjoyed this opinion piece written by Lars Carlstrom, originally published in Swedish newspaper SvD and translated at SU. Carlstrom is the Swedish representative for Vladimir Antonov, who seeks to invest in Saab Automobile.
Zeewolde, The Netherlands, 12 May 2011 – Spyker Cars N.V. (Spyker) announces today that Hawtai Motor Group Company Limited (Hawtai) and Spyker terminated the agreement by and between Hawtai, Spyker and Saab Automobile AB (Saab Automobile) with respect to funding and strategic partnership. However, discussions are ongoing.
As a result of this termination, Saab Automobile may enter into a strategic partnership with Hawtai or another Chinese party on manufacturing, technology and distribution in China. As indicated in the press release of 3 May 2011, the transaction with Hawtai was subject to definitive transaction documentation and certain conditions, which included the consent of different stakeholders. Since it became clear that Hawtai was not able to obtain all the necessary consents, the parties were forced to terminate the agreement with Saab Automobile and Spyker with immediate effect. The parties will continue their discussions about a possible cooperation, however now on a non-exclusive basis.
Spyker and Saab Automobile continue to work on securing short and medium term funding. To that end Spyker and Saab Automobile are negotiating equity and debt financing and/or technology licensing with various (strategic) Chinese partners.
BAIC indicated that it does not have any problems with Saab’s ongoing discussions with other Chinese partners.
Discussions continue with the European Investment Bank (EIB) on completion of the current EUR 29 million drawdown under the EIB loan facility, on obtaining EIB consent for the sale of Saab property released under the collateral of the Swedish National Debt Office (NDO) and on various conditions proposed by the EIB. As soon as the EIB drawdown or other equivalent funding is confirmed, Saab Automobile plans to restart production depending on the outcome of discussions with its suppliers on terms to resume supplies of materials and services to Saab Automobile.
A few people have asked me what it’s like to move from Australia to Sweden to do this job for Saab Automobile. The obvious answer for a Saab nut like me is that it’s a dream come true! The more considered answer, however, is that there’s a lot of things to adjust to and a lot of local ‘stuff’ to get your head around.
For example, what do you do when you get on a bus for the first time only to find out they don’t sell tickets on the bus? Get off and walk?
We’ve been waiting for the Saab 9-4x road test to come in and now, Winding Road has come to the party with the type of review we always thought the 9-4x would be capable of achieving.
I’ve been writing about Saab for around six years now and one of the common complaints I’ve had about automotive journalists is that they don’t “get it” when it comes to Saab. Too many write from a cookie-cutter viewpoint, a perspective that is commonplace, but one that Saab just doesn’t fit.
Winding Road doesn’t just “get it” in this review, they take steps to show you why they “get it” and how you can “get it” too.
The entire first half of the review deals with Saab’s brand positioning. Why are Saabs different? What sort of customer do they attract and how can they be so bold as to position themselves against Audi, Mercedes and BMW?
We are different here at Saab. It’s true. A Saab fits you like no other car IF you’re of a particular mindset. It’s like you’ve found an automotive soulmate and can take a rest from the posturing and just relax, enjoy your natural excitement and the fact that yes, you do have some sort of symbiotic relationship with a car. It’s a little strange, but true.
Anyway, Winding Road spend some time on Saab’s attributes and the way they compare to other brands in Saab’s market segment. It really does go some way to explaining the Saab appeal to readers who might not already understand it.
If you really look at the chart and think about it, Saab stands out from BMW, Mercedes, Volvo and Lexus pretty well. Saab stands out against these brands because of what a Saab isn’t. A Saab isn’t a BMW, Mercedes or Lexus with their social-climber attributes and it isn’t a boring luxury car, like a Volvo, Mercedes or Lexus. Those at least are the views of the Saab buyer.
After examining the Saab ethos, Winding Road take a good look over the Saab 9-4x – and the good news for Saab fans continues.
If I had a single fear about reading Saab 9-4x reviews, it was that the review would include a whole bunch of comparative references to the Cadillac SRX (both vehicles were developed at the same time, with Saab’s Peter Dörrich as head of the project). Not so. In fact, the 9-4x shines purely because its own attributes.
Here are some excerpts:
We don’t know if Saab will be able to impress people in the showroom, but the 9-4X, at least in the Aero trim we drove, is certainly good enough to pull it off on the right test drive….
….and….
…..For those paying attention, the driving dynamics of the 9-4X are positively brilliant. The 9-4X has a smoothness and stability going down the road that buyers will find hard to beat. The genius here is that Saab does smoothness not by giving the driver a flaccid, mushy chassis, but by using a very stiff body structure and a carefully designed suspension…..
This is one that I really like….
….The brakes a firm, with a pedal feel that should be studied by some sports car makers.
…not enough people appreciate the importance of a sorted braking system. Kudos.
I could include so much more of this review from Winding Road, but they’d end up suing me for breach of copyright.
The Saab 9-3 Griffin is the latest iteration of the Saab 9-3 range and offers fantastic performance and value.
The Griffin range has four models – SportSedan, SportCombi, Convertible and 9-3x – and most body styles are available in both FWD and XWD. There’s also a huge engine range, including BioPower, low-emissions TTiD and Turbo4 models (depending on market).
New to the Saab 9-3 Griffin is the 2.0 Turbo4 from the Saab 9-5, a direct injection turbocharged engine that brings great responsiveness and sparkling performance with up to 220hp. Of course, there is also Saab’s low-emissions TTiD range of engines, offering 130, 160 or 180hp, with all three variants emitting less than 120g of CO2 per km (manual), attracting great tax benefits in certain European markets.
The car has also received a fresher look, inside and out, with new front bumper design, headlamps, new badging all round, as well as new leather and trim options inside.
Check out the Saab 9-3 Griffin at Saab.com or check your local national Saab website for market-specific information.
Saab are hosting automotive journalists from around the world this week, for a test drive of the all new Saab 9-4x. I brought you a few images from the first day of the event, yesterday. Today, we’ll take a look at how things are going, as well as giving you a peek behind the curtain as to what actually goes on at these events. Do automotive journalists really have the best jobs in the world?
First, the update.
I’ve been in touch with Mikael Jacobsson, who is the Product Manager for the Saab 9-4x. He summed up the event in one word – SUCCESS!
The event itself has gone wonderfully well, but better than that, the reception given to the car from the automotive press has been uniformly positive.
The scenic Swedish-like route we are driving is fantastic, but more importantly the journalists have been extremely positive about the car. The design, handling, comfort, versatility, features and technologies – the entire car has been getting superlatives. This is something we’ve thought ourselves for a while, but now we can start to share it. The media the first to drive the 9-4x. Our dealers and customers will follow soon. Can’t wait to hear their feedback.
Here are some images from day 2 of the test drive event. Click to enlarge.
PhoeniX is at the event and everyone wants to stand near it, even Victor Muller, the Chairman of Saab Automobile……
Product Manager Mikael Jacobsson gives the media a few lessons (on XWD technology, perhaps?)…..
The new head of Saab Cars North America, Tim Colbeck, addresses the cameras alongside PhoeniX…..
The Saab 9-4x shows some light and shade. This is the first time I’ve seen a darker color in Aero trim, which looks fantastic.
Peter Dorrich, the father of the Saab 9-4x and sister vehicle from Cadillac, addresses some questions from the motoring media.
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So……
What exactly goes on that these events? Do automotive journalists have it as good as everyone thinks?
Here’s the program for the Saab 9-4x test drive event. 25 US media persons went through this program today and a dozen or so from Europe will do the same tomorrow.
Attendees arrive the night before their scheduled drive day and share a dinner with the Saab team.
The next morning, there’s breakfast, followed by a brief product presentation, before attendees go to the House of Sweden in Washington, to collect their cars.
The morning drive session starts at 0830 and continues through to 1330, with a stop halfway at Swedenburg Estate winery for a driver change (and hopefully not too much sampling of the estate’s product by the next driver)
Lunch is at 1330 at Magnolia on the Mills
The afternoon drive begins, concluding at 1600 at the Ritz Hotel (the start point)
Then they wind up, clean the cars and do it all again….
So, do you think automotive journalists have the best job in the world?
This is definitely nice, and it’d be great to be driving the Saab 9-4x in the countryside. Unfortunately, however, for every Saab 9-4x they get to drive, they also have to drive a bunch of small, generic city cars or bland family sedans.
I’m not suggesting you feel sorry for them, not by any means. It’s just a matter of perspective. Hopefully Saab are giving them all some pretty nice perspective right now.
