ownership Archives - Page 3 of 5

Saabosphere – Saab links we liked this week

I do not know if this is real.

I suspect that it isn’t.

But it’s nice.

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Sometimes ‘the social space’ can be tough to deal with. Consumers have a voice through social media and much of the time, they use it to voice complaints or opinions that companies need to address, either to solve an issue or to correct a misconception. That’s OK, we deal with it.

Occasionally you get a social story that shows the way this new medium can be used for good.

Susan Scrupski runs a website called ITS Insider, where she tracks various IT Services industry issues and trends. She’s a heavy-hitter in this space, too, being named one of Fast Company’s most influential women in technology for 2010, and with thousands of Twitter followers, Facebook friends and Google+ listings.

Roger Beasley Saab in Austin, Texas, probably knew none of this when Susan walked into their dealership last weekend to take a look at a car from Saab’s Pre-Owned program. But when they gave her fantastic service and a finance deal that suited her needs (rather than theirs) they won her praise.

I came across Susan’s story from her Twitter feed. She has over 7,000 followers and many of them will have read about it as well. Susan detailed her experience on her personal blog and you can read the whole story there (and I recommend that you do).

Amazing car buying experience at Roger Beasley Saab this weekend – Taking It Personal.

The lessons:

for customers – it’s OK to use your voice for the power of good.
for dealers – you never know who’s walking into your showroom. Always provide the best service you can for the good of the customer.
for Roger Beasley Saab – Continue to look after Susan, just as she’s looked after you.

Congratulations to Roger Beasley Saab for earning the shout-out and to Susan on the acquisition of the new-to-her Saab 9-5.

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Most of us will have been to car shows in our local areas. Given that this is a Saab website, I imagine most of you would have been to shows where Saabs figure prominently, perhaps alongside many other makes that originate in your country.

When “your country” is Russia, that makes for an exhibition of vehicles that many of us don’t get to see too often.

Yes, there’s a Saab in there, and plenty of other interesting metal as well.

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The Saab 9-4x leading a pack at Spa, in Belgium.

Need I say more?

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We’ll have more on this in coming days, but for now, if you’re in Great Britain, keep an eye out for the Nomad Theatre, popping up in a place near you.

Here’s what it was like last weekend, at Hampton Court Palace.

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From Tobias A, via Twitter:

Wonder if we can expect any news on the current situation from Saab this week? @Inside_saab Keeping my fingers crossed!!!

I’ll tell you all what I told Tobias in response, because I know there are a lot of eyes on the company at the moment.

Officially speaking, we don’t do speculation. We can’t comment on matters that involve potential investors, or matters that are under discussion and incomplete. I try to bring some commentary and perspective from time to time (which some choose to interpret and dismiss as spin, but which they took as insight back in my SU days).

We will always bring you hard news as soon as it’s appropriate to do so.

Stay tuned. We appreciate your concern and support and despite what some say, our executive team are working their tails off to solve our current issues.

If you want to follow Inside Saab at Twitter, it’s @inside_saab.

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Keeping it in the family – Saab 96

We have the coolest fans in the world. So many good stories to tell.

A few days ago, I was outside getting a breath of fresh air (ahem!) when a beautiful, blue Saab 96 turned up at the front gate. The car stopped and a familiar, smiling face got out to say hello.

I first met Hans Thing at the Saab Festival last year. He was at the festival with his son, Jacob, who had just finished rebuilding a Saab 92 – by himself – finishing the job at the tender age of just 19. It was my favourite story from the festival and if you want to see some impressive work, click that link and check out the images of the rebuild.

Here’s Jacob at the festival last year, with Erik Carlsson and Jacob’s Saab 92.

Hans is Jacob’s father and he called by the Saab factory gate for a visit because his family stopped in Trollhattan for a few days on their way to Finland for the 2011 IntSaab gathering (can’t wait to get there myself!).

I’ve written about their family obsession with restoring and preserving Saabs once before, so it was great for me to see one of their collection first hand. Even better is the story behind it.

This car – a 1970 model Saab 96 – has been in Hans’ life since 1976. That’s a long time but it’s not too unusual. What’s a little different is that the 96 has come in and out of his life several times over those 35 years.

Check out the history:

Purchased in 1976 for 900 Euro. 120,000kms on the clock and lots of rust in the body. Everything that needed it was renewed and the car repainted. Converted to LPG and the sold for 2,500 Euro to a friend when the work was all finished.
11 years and another 300,000kms later, the friend called back – the car needed to be restored once again. Hans bought the car back and it became one of the family’s daily drivers for the next four years.
The car was taken apart (again) during this time. All the rust was removed/replaced and the whole body was hot-galvanised and repainted in Iridium Blue. An update to look like the 1980 model was completed at this time, along with the fitting of a 1700cc engine and some Saab 900 seats to match the paint. This work was completed in 1993.
That same year, the car was sold again, for 5,000 Euro, to a mother so that she could transport her two children. A promise was made that she’d return the car when she no longer had use for it.
Four years and another 100,000kms later -in 1997 – the car returned to Hans’ neighborhood, but not to his garage. It was bought by a young neighbor as his first car.
In 2002 the young neighbor completed his university education and wanted to upgrade to a Saab Turbo. The car finally passed back in to Hans’ ownership.
Since then, the engine has been overhauled and uprated to 1850cc, with Bosch K-Jetronic, a bigger cooling system and fuel tank. The body and paint have remained untouched since 1991 and are still in absolutely fantastic condition, as you can see in the photo.

If you read this story about their family Saabs, you’ll see that this car now has a healthy 800,000kms+ on the odometer.

Hans’ family – including his octogenarian parents – has a full fleet of high-milers and they’re all exceptionally well cared for. Both his son and daughter have restored their own cars over the years. In fact, his young granddaughter is now the fourth generation of the family to ride in the same car – her mother’s Saab 900.

I was so taken with his car that I offered to continue the story by purchasing Hans’ Saab 96, but he declined. Seems like it’s staying in the family for good, now.

A great story. One of very many out there in Saab-land.

Ryan and Caroline's cross-country Saab 900 Convertible adventure – done!

We’ve been following Ryan and Caroline F across the United States for the last week. They made a dream purchase last weekend in California – a 1994 Saab 900 Convertible, the last of the line. The purchase presented a small challenge in that they live in Boston, in the north-east, whereas the car was down in the south-west.

Road trip!

Prior to this entry, we’ve seen them make the purchase and plan the trip, pick up the car in LA, and from there they headed east through California, Nevada, Utah and Colorado.

They’re home in Boston now, and this is the final instalment from their trip. Thanks Ryan!

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Hi Swade,

What a trip…this has been something that we’ve only dreamed of in the past and it’s been an amazing adventure to say the least.

After the last national park stop, we began the drive through Kansas. The route turned from winding scenic mountain roads to the straight and flat variety. Here, there was less of the spectacular scenery (when compared to the first half of the trip, at least) and the star of the journey was the car. With the speed limit recently bumped up to 75 mph on Interstate 70 in Kansas, we got a chance to really open it up. Even with all the gear on board, the car seemed to love the open highway cruising speeds. Here, it was more about the journey than the destinations.

The stops in Great Bend, Kansas, St. Louis, Columbus, and Niagara Falls were all in hotels rather than camping (it was time for hot showers and real beds). In St. Louis, we learned that not all valet parking attendants know how to drive a stick, as we were picking up the car and the attendant’s way of parking it in front of us was by letting it stall out in first gear.

The highlight of this segment of the trip was a stop for lunch with fellow Saabers outside of Cleveland. We met up with Bam, who has a Turbo X and a modified Viggen (who thinks she also needs a SPG next?!) and were also joined by Ted Y. (Saabyurk from the comments section), who has a 9-3ss and four 96s at home.

We were moved by the fact that after reading about the trip on Inside Saab, Ted came out of his way to meet up with us, if only for 10 minutes, to say hello, wish us well on our journey, and to give us a present for the new-to-us car: a set of Saab Valve Stem Caps! This was an incredibly kind gesture and we thank him for that – the caps are on the car and look great! We wish him all the best and look forward to seeing his 96s in the future.

We got home yesterday and unloaded the car, and fully realized just how much gear we had accumulated in there. Full suitcases with clothes. Sleeping bags and tent/camping gear. Food, water, spare fluids for the car. Tools. A tonneau cover sitting on the back seat. Backpacks, camera gear, and more.

After unpacking, we took some time to relax and then met up with some friends for an informal welcome back/Saab meetup across the street from Charles River Saab. Here, we met up with Coggs in his Sonett, Luke D. Lewis in his OG 9-3, Abigail and Peter Coyle in one of their 9000 Aeros, Seth Wonkka (from CRS) and his girlfriend Karen in Seth’s new to him 900s (can’t wait to see what he does with this one…), Michi + Jaime Oe-Medieros, with daughter Sofia in their 9-3ss. And sure enough, another Saaber, Charlie B., saw the Saabs gathered together and decided to come say “hi” and join us for a bit. It was a warm welcome home, and we had a great time chatting about past trips, the open road, and in general, poking fun of Luke as he proceeded to jack up his car in the parking lot to ensure that his muffler wasn’t falling off again.

Aside from the passenger side window switch going out (which we attribute to me poking around at the switches, as it worked at the beginning of the trip) we didn’t have a single mechanical issue. No dead batteries, no overheating, no transmission issues, no fuel pumps dying….nothing. While I wouldn’t say that I was expecting anything to happen, when driving an old car, you absolutely have to be prepared for different scenarios of what could go wrong (it doesn’t hurt to lower expectations and over-deliver).

But when you go through 3,600 miles across the US, through some of the hottest temperatures this summer, with lots of steep elevation changes, and a few of the roughest roads out there…you can’t help but say “what a car!” You look back at the photos of the car in front of the Grand Canyon, Great Sand Dunes and the other amazing backdrops …. and you realize, this car took us there. And ALL of our gear. In comfort, with AC, stereo…… oh and it’s a convertible!?

The icing on the cake was that after crunching the numbers and pricing out how much it would have been to rent a convertible on a one way trip across the country, it was cheaper to buy the c900 – and at the end of the trip, you get to keep the car!

These pictures speak a thousand words. Here is a car, manufactured by Saab 17 years ago, from a 25+ year old design put in production and first sold in the year I was born. The conclusion of my trip today is a testament to the brand and the factory workers, and it goes without saying that we look forward to seeing what comes next from Trollhattan.

It’s been a once in a lifetime experience…thanks for coming along with us on this trip! We looking forward to continuing to meet other Saabers and we hope that others make use of the opportunities to get out and find their own road.

And some more pics……

Saab 900 Convertible stopping for a refreshment break in Kansas:

At lunch with some Cleveland Saabers:

Ryan and Ted Y:

Which one’s more spectacular? The Convertible or Niagara Falls? Fair question….

All the gear carried across the country, in a convertible, with no problems. Outstanding!

Another shot of the welcome party…..

And a special bonus, for those who think there are no Saab 9-5’s out in the wild. Spotted and photographed by Caroline.

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Silly stories in Saabs

If you’ve read the book “The Spirit of Saab” then you’ve probably read a few of the funny stories about things that happened here in Trollhattan over the years. Those stories are often accompanied by innovative solutions that the Swedes concocted to work around some funny situations they found themselves in.

Yesterday, around a table in the lunchroom here at Saab, one of my colleagues – who shall remain nameless – shared a funny story of his own from his early days working here. No innovative solution here, just a decent laugh that I’m sure he won’t mind me sharing here.

This fellow had just got his first drive in a company vehicle and decided that the car needed a wash. It was a Saab 900, though I’m unsure of the exact year model. Anyway, Mr Newbie brings the car along to an automated car wash (automatic car wash stories never turn out well, do they?). He enters the washing tunnel and the machine proceeded to do its thing with the big brushes whirling around the car at high speed.

Whilst the big brushes did their thing, Mr Newbie decided to listen to the radio. Of course, Saab 900s of that era had an automatic antenna that would be raised by an electric motor whenever the radio was switched on.

I think you can imagine the rest.

Some horrible noises were heard as the brushes dislocated the antenna and then tried to relocate it several times in various places around the car’s bodywork, leaving a number of scratches as a reminder. To add insult to injury, a reasonable quantity of water proceeded to make its way into the hole when the antenna had previously been located.

The conversation didn’t get as far as covering whether he invented a suitably creative explanation. We were too busy laughing 🙂

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So….. what about you? Any silly or embarrassing stories to tell about (mis)adventures you’ve had in your Saabs?

Comments are open.

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Ryan and Caroline's cross-US journey in a Saab 900 Convertible continues…

Last week I shared a fantastic story from a couple of Saab fans, Ryan and Caroline F. Right now, they’re driving across the United States from LA to their home in Boston, in their new-to-them 1994 Saab 900 Convertible. I guess you could say they’re ticking off two dreams in the one trip: ownership of a classic Saab convertible and driving it from sea to shining sea.

I got an update from Ryan last night. They had a great time picking up the car in LA. Going on a trip like this in a car you’re unfamiliar with is a little daunting, so they had Walter Wong from Right Solution Inc – the most prominent independent Saab technician in California – go over the car with a fine-toothed comb.

Ryan in Right Solution’s racing Saab 9000 – the Saabrero. That’s Walter Wong on the right – a great guy who I had the pleasure of meeting back in 2008.

Here is Ryan’s update on the first half of the journey, and there’s a wonderful collection of photos below……

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I couldn’t imagine a better car in which to see these amazing views through the country. We’ve gone through a lot of miles, through open or winding roads, and the entire way this car puts a smile on your face. Having the top down just makes you feel so connected with the landscape and lets you soak in the views surrounding you. The car’s been running smooth all the way and having the ability to put the top down also makes unloading/loading at camp sites even easier!

We certainly got a lot of looks in traffic on the way out of LA, and I’m sure the Massachusetts license plates also drummed up some curiosity as we saw people peering over as they passed by.

Our first stop was in Zion National Park and we ended up in a campsite immediately next to a 9-3 Sportcombi. Caroline and I ran into one of the campers from the group and then met the other two shortly afterwards. Christine, Katie and Lindsay are three friends who are driving around the country for a month! Their chariot is a Saab 9-3 Sportcombi (a parental loaner) outfitted with a Thule roof box for extra carrying capacity. It sounded like they’re having quite the trip and have been making a large loop around the country’s National Parks and are now making their way back to New Jersey. And, of course, they’re enjoying the Saab! They were also quite the troopers to wake up at the crack of dawn for the photo op before we both went our separate ways.

We’re looking forward to hitting the road again tomorrow: off to St. Louis, Columbus and Niagara Falls over the next few days before finally arriving back in Boston on Saturday. We look forward to seeing other Saabs on the road- we’ve seen a lot of friendly waves from other Saabers along the way – keep an eye out for the Massachusetts license plates headed east! We already have a lunch stop planned to meet a fellow Turbo X owner around the Cleveland area on the 22nd 🙂

Thanks to all in the community for all the kind words in the comments. We couldn’t have shared this trip without the resources made available by Swade and the encouragement of the rest of the Saab community, so the least I can do in return is provide these pretty pictures, right?

Click the photos to enlarge…..

Our Saab friends at Zion National Park (Christine, Katie and Lindsay)

Leaving Zion National Park

By the Grand Canyon

Caroline + Saab at the Grand Canyon

Ryan + Saab at the Grand Canyon

Before entering Monument Valley

After a storm in Monument Valley (the first time on the trip with the top up, we stopped after the storm to put it back down and saw that behind us)

View from on top of Mesa Verde

Leaving Mesa Verde

Entering the Great Sand Dunes

After setting up the tent at the Great Sand Dunes, tallest sand dunes in North America

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A very personal "Best of the Road" journey

This is the sort of stuff that makes all the hours of writing worthwhile for a Saabnut like me. Today, I’m employed by Saab to write about their affairs and help connect with you, their customers. For six years, however, I did it in my own free time and it’s meeting people like Ryan and getting to share their stories that makes it all so fascinating and worthwhile.

This is the passion that inspires the Saab community, whether it be long-term owners or new Saabers alike.

Ryan credits me with some of the inspiration for his purchase, which is very kind of him. It’s people like Ryan and his wife, Caroline, however, who inspire me. Whether you’re purchasing your dream convertible from yesteryear or a brand new 9-4x or 9-5, your stories are always worth the telling.

I’d like to thank Ryan for sharing his story. This was received by email yesterday (Thursday)……

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Hi Swade,

We (my wife Caroline and myself) are really enjoying reading Inside Saab! Great work and what a dream come true to land a job with Saab!

As I’m sitting on a plane en route to LA from Boston, I just wanted to share with you the reason I’m on this flight in the first place (your work with TrollhattanSaab and SaabsUnited…and now Inside Saab are all major contributing factors for this little vacation).

Over the winter in Boston, as we started to wish for warmer days we decided to begin a search for a classic 900 convertible. After seeing pictures upon pictures online during the snow days, I started talking about the idea to Pierre, Peter Maitland and Seth at Charles River Saab. Their advice was to expand the search outside of New England, to lands where rust is a lesser known issue. So, after a few months of searching into the spring, Caroline had the suggestion to make a bigger trip out of it- “let’s get something out West and spend a week camping and driving it back to Boston.”

I got to search and used the google chrome/craigslist extension that was featured on SaabsUnited to dig through many cities at once, targeting everywhere west of Colorado. I finally came across a 1994 900 S owned by a lady from Switzerland who lives in the Hollywood area. 133,000 miles, manual transmission, black.

After explaining our idea to her over the phone, she thought it sounded like an exciting trip and we began working out the details of getting this done. First thing on the list was to have a Saab mechanic look at the car – enter Walter Wong & Drew Price over at Right Solution in LA. The shop went through the car and give me their inspection report over the phone. Everything checked out, and next thing I knew I was sending the Massachusetts license plates out to LA to finish the transfer of ownership and prepare for a trip back!

Walter has been working on the car over the past few weeks to prep it for the long journey through the desert, from brake pads to thermostats/cooling fan switches. Talk about dedication here- I received a call from Walter around 10pm Boston time (7pm LA time) on the Friday before July 4th weekend. Walter was just calling to chat about a few options/recommendation for the alternator work and to talk me through what he was doing that day. I don’t know anyone else who would have stayed a minute after 5pm to continue work on a holiday weekend. Needless to say, we’re excited to meet him in person today.

Our route takes us from LA into Costa Mesa, on to Zion Nation Park via Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Mesa Verde, Durango, the Great Sand Dunes, Kansas, St. Louis, Columbus, Niagara Falls, and finally home to Boston. After we had planned our trip, we were excited to see the coverage of the Rand McNally Best of the Road journey – perhaps we might run into them in LA today!

We plan to take plenty of photos, and will upload a few onto facebook/google+ along the way.

Here’s a rough map of our route:

We’re looking forward to having this back in Boston and at the upcoming Swedish Car Day, among other events. Coggs gave me a “Black Saabs Rule, So Long Jackass” – Jerry Seinfeld sticker to end up somewhere on/in the car.

Keep up the great work on Inside Saab and beyond, we’ll keep Saabin on and I can’t wait to purchase our next Saab (hopefully a brand new one this time, in any color as long as it’s black, to match the 9000, the TurboX and now the c900 cv).

Thanks,

Ryan

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And here’s a first image, received today, of Ryan and Caroline with their new 900 Convertible. We’ll catch up with them a bit more and track some of their journey from LA back home to Boston.

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Saabosphere – links we linked this week

Forgive me, but I’ll start with a bit of reading I didn’t like. Analysts. I’m so over reading thoughts from analysts.

Auto industry analysts in Sweden said car company Saab looked to be on its last legs.

Actually, it’s analysts from all over the place, not just in Sweden.

No analyst wants to be on the wrong side of an issue and everyone wants to get their name (or their firm’s name) in the paper so they look like “the man”. Right now the issue is the state of Saab and we have a massive target on our backs.

Here’s the thing, though. The same people were making the same predictions about us back in late 2009, when GM said they would close our doors. We’re still here, and if the people who work at Saab have anything to do with the decision, then we’ll still be here in five, ten, twenty years and more from now.

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In contrast to all the doomsayers out there, BNET has an article that looks at the various rays of hope emerging in the last weeks.

Good to see someone bucking the trend and seeing the threads that are tying things together here in Trollhattan.

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In a similar vein, TTELA journalist Valdemar Lönnroth took a look at the five reasons, both positive and negative, why Saab will survive or perish in the near term. (in Swedish)

TTELA is always recommended reading for issues to do with Saab. They’re local, well connected and quite objective when it comes to Saab coverage. And Valdemar….. we’ll be OK.

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It was nice to see our recent news about the Top Safety Pick award for the Saab 9-4x making the rounds. This, from Motor Trend.

The IIHS tested the Saab 9-4x for frontal offset, side impact, and rear crash performance; the 9-4x earned “Good” ratings in all tests, the Institute’s highest mark. The IIHS also gave the 9-4x a “Good” rating for rollover protection and roof strength. The 9-4x also comes standard with Electronic Stability Control (ESP), which is a requirement for all Top Safety Picks.

In the words of the hokey-pokey: That what it’s all about.

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Speaking of the Saab 9-4x, enthusiast website Saabs United got photos of what could well be the first Saab 9-4x delivery over the weekend.

The car was a fully loaded black Aero, purchased from Saab of North Olmstead, in Ohio.

I had a Premium [model] on order, but the dealer (Saab in North Olmsted Ohio) received their first one yesterday – a black Aero, fully loaded. I put my butt into the seat, looked around and bought it on the spot before even driving it.

If other dealers would like to dispute this “first” claim, please get in touch and send along your photographic proof 🙂

There are photos of the car at the Saabs United link, above. It looks fantastic, and I’d like to pass on my congratulations and appreciation to the new owner.

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German website Saabblog.net takes an enjoyable look into the crystal ball to see what will be happening at Saab in 2017.

Great vision! I’m not sure about how much of that can/will get done, but there’s a good deal of stuff there that’s well reasoned and do-able. And what excited me even more was the fact that this came out of Germany, where we need to build a bigger presence. It’s always great to see some more German Saab fans getting engaged in things.

We wait and see.

And thanks to my mate RedJ for the tip.

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And finally, my feeds have been blowing up this week over stories from Fashion Week and the designer, Elie Saab. Apparently he’s released a new fragrance as well as a whole bunch of new clothing (which everyone seems to rave about).

A few years ago, a friend of mine from England (and Saab 99 and 900 book author) named Lance Cole wrote a spendid piece on the (original) Saab Smell.

It’s highly recommended reading (link to a copied version on SaabScene as my old website, Trollhattan Saab, seems to be having a hard time at the moment).

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Question: High Mileage Saabs

Do you have a high mileage Saab?

The highest known mileage on a Saab was recorded by a guy named Peter Gilbert, from Wisconsin in the US. Peter’s 1989 Saab 900 SPG ticked over 1 million miles at the Saab Owners Convention held in the US back in 2006 with then-SaabUSA President Jay Spenchian in attendance. That car is now in the Wisconsin Automotive Museum.

People still talk of Saabs with 200,000 miles or more as being “just run in”. My current 900 really is just a baby with only 176,000kms on the clock. I think the highest mileage I’ve ever seen on one of my own cars was around 300,000kms+ on a 99Turbo. Obviously neither of those are candidates to get close to Peter’s record.

So how many high-milers are still out there?

Comments are open. Remember to note whether your figure is miles or kilometers.

Saabosphere – Saab links we liked this week

The Saab-webosphere is ticking over with news about the EIB approving our deal to sell and leaseback property. So why no press release from Saab yet? Well, there’s more than just the EIB involved in the approvals process and we have to wait on all parties before the deal is officially announced. We will do so in due course providing all goes well.

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SaabLog-in has some great Saab-Spyker photos from the Goodwood Festival of Speed. The pics include the first Spyker concept vehicle from 1996 (let’s just say evolution is a wonderful thing IMHO).

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My first Saab experience was with a Saab 9000 from the mid 1980s. I was really pleased when I got in touch again with the owner of that car, an old friend of mine named Nathan. I was even more pleased to find out that he’s still a Saab nut after all these years and I’m going to catch up with him when I’m next in Australia and check out his very hot Saab 9000 Aero.

But back to the mid-1980s…..

If you had a Saab of that vintage then you’re going to enjoy this retrospective on the 1986 Saab 9000 from Hemmings. It’s hard to imagine the 9000 as approaching any sort of vintage status, but I guess it is. Like the best of us 🙂

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If your Saab-ish passions run a little deeper (i.e. older), then this look at a family and their Saab experiences might be more up your alley.

The guy at the center of the story, Tom Shehan, is pretty typical of the average long-term Saab nut. Either that, or he’s the guy that all Saab nuts would like to be: with a 96 in the garage and a Sonett under restoration.

If you read just one story from this Saabosphere post – make it this one.

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Our friends on the Best of the Road tour around the US certainly seem to be visiting some interesting places. Any town with a giant Superman statue is cool place….

The Saabs have been seeing some action, too…..

Make sure you check into the Best of the Road website and check in on where the teams are visiting.

Right now Captain and Clark are (fittingly) in Clarksville TN, Jules and Joan have just visited Santa Claus (the town, not the person), the Wynns have just left Nagodoches, the Fun Finders have been visiting Rand and McNally’s HQ and the McNavigators have been to Marco Island, FL.

Nice work if you can get, eh?

Saabosphere – links we liked this week

There’s an event on Facebook called Save Saab. We didn’t create it, but I’m sure all Saab employees and fans appreciate the fact that it’s there.

The event is tomorrow and the location – the whole world. It’s a non-geographic event. A show of support. Go to the event page and click “I’m attending” to show your support. We really do appreciate all of you.

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Whilst our executive team are working their tails off to ensure the liquidity we need to proceed, there are plenty of pundits lining up to write our obituary. We’re a big, fat, easy target.

With that in mind, it’s been nice to see someone looking at alternative points of view. Matt De Bord at BNET has taken a look at three ways Saab might survive the current situation.

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At what age do you consider it OK for your booster-seat-age child to buckle themselves in?

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If you’ve ever wondered if, or how, your Saab addiction might effect your partner, then this article is for you. It’s a thoroughly enjoyable story of Saab addiction written by Barbara Scully, a Saab-widow from Ireland.

I felt so moved by it that I left a comment in support (of her husband! 🙂 )

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Some reviews that are worth a look……

Car and Driver have done a short review of the 2.0T version of the Saab 9-5 sedan. I found it quite heartening because the 2.0T has been my personal preference when it comes to this car. It was nice to see they also commended the ‘smaller’ 9-5.

…..the 9-5 sedan is by far Saab’s best product in recent memory……
[the 2.0T’s] competent dynamics and roughly 10-grand-cheaper point of entry make it the deal of the lineup.

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The Age newspaper in Australia has reviewed the Saab 9-5 and think it’s a great car, but the situation with the company stops them short of recommending it strongly. (Video)

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The Independent (UK) has published a very good review of the Saab 9-5 SportCombi based on a pre-release drive. It makes for some very good reading…..

Would it make me buy a 9-5 Sportwagon over an obvious German rival? I do believe it would

……And the picture accompanying it is one of the best photos of the Combi I’ve seen.

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I’d like to send a small note of well-wishing to some good friends, Rune and Anna, who got married on the weekend.

You might remember them from the 2,000km trip to northern Sweden that I took a few weeks ago. That trip was to pick up Rune’s car after some accident repairs. Today, the same car played a role in their wedding day.

Congratulations, guys. Wish so much that we could have been there.

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