I got a bunch of messages from people last week, letting me know that my old 1985 Saab 900 16V Turbo had come on the market again.
Was I tempted? Well, it’d be nice but I have zero space and zero funds at the moment. And a few projects on the horizon. If it was Bill and my old white 99Turbo, then maybe (hint, hint 😉 ). But otherwise, no.
This was the car I bought to replace my Viggen back in 2007. It’s believed to be one of the press cars that Saab bought in to Australia to publicise the new 16V engine. The cars were meant to be returned to Sweden once their press duties were over but…… well…… let’s just say that inventory control in the mid-80’s wasn’t quite what it is today.
I sold the car after 18 months or so to a guy from Saudi Arabia who was studying at the University of Tasmania. Ahmed proceeded to blow the engine but had it replaced and then wound the boost back. It’s been going steadily ever since and friends of mine who live near the university have reported seeing it on the odd occasion. I saw it on the road, myself, a few months ago. It was looking good and still sounded amazing thanks to its 3-inch exhaust 🙂
I got a message from Ahmed a few months ago and he indicated he might be selling it soon. My guess is he’s finished his degree and heading back to Saudi with his wife and kid(s).
The new owner – a guy named Lee – also got to know the car around the University. I got an email from him a couple of days ago. He’s been seeing the car around the uni for the last 5 years or so and always admired it. He had a chance to purchase it earlier this year and passed it up. When it came on to the market again last week, he swooped. He got a good price, too.
There’s work to be done. It seems Ahmed’s kids might have made hard work of the interior. Lee’s looking for a replacement. Given its age there’ll be some mechanical bits to sort out, too.
But it’s an original flat-nose 16V Turbo 900 with body kit and they’re few and far between nowadays.
Lee’s got himself a cracker of a classic Saab. I’m rapt for him, and pleased he’s been in touch. It’s nice to know that your previous cars fall into good hands and there’s even a chance we’ll catch up and go for a run.
That’ll be fun.
[hr]
The seller even used a few of my old photos to advertise the car. Nice to re-live some memories.
NEVS/Saab have done it – the first vehicles are rolling off the production line and NEVS even announced today that they’re embarking on a web-based sales model in order to sell some cars in Sweden!
All of that’s good news, but I’ve still got some questions, few of which seem to have been answered today. Some thoughts, too.
Congratulations to the folks at NEVS/Saab in Trollhattan on the ceremonial start to their vehicle production endeavours. Plenty of questions and curiosities remain, but for the moment, things are on the move in Trollhattan and that’s good for the company, the employees and the town.
This presser was released hours ago and anyone who cares will have already read it, but I’ll put it up here for posterity. My 2 cents will be coming shortly….
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Production of Saab 9-3 Aero Sedan has started in Trollhättan
National Electric Vehicle Sweden AB has started production of the Saab 9-3 Aero Sedan with a petrol engine. Sales are initially focused in China with a small number of vehicles being sold directly from Nevs to Swedish customers via the Nevs’ website
National Electric Vehicle Sweden AB has started production of the Saab 9-3 Aero Sedan with a petrol engine. Sales are initially focused in China with a small number of vehicles being sold directly from Nevs to Swedish customers via the Nevs’ website.
The car that is produced is a high-spec Saab 9-3 Aero Sedan with a 220 hp 2.0-liter turbo, a previously recognized high-performance engine of the Saab cars.
“I am very proud of the dedication and the focus that Nevs management and employees have demonstrated over the year that has passed since we became owners of the plant in Trollhättan, and who have made this possible. Swedish expertise along with Japanese technology around batteries and new lightweight materials and our Chinese group’s focus on green technology is our strength for the future”, said Kai Johan Jiang, Nevs founder and main owner.
“It is truly a complex mission to start a car production process which has been still for two and a half years. It is very pleasing that we have embarked on a journey where we want to and will make a difference with our partners and customers. Our electric car will be launched next year, and already today we can offer Saab cars with continued high, proven performance and quality”, said Nevs’ President Mattias Bergman.
Nevs’ customers will be offered a first class and engaging customer experience. They will also be offered the opportunity to come to the heart of the Saab car brand in Trollhättan to take delivery of their vehicles. While doing so, they will be invited to visit our highly efficient factory with experienced and competent workers and the Saab Car Museum where they can get a flavor of our brand and vehicles.
To ensure a solid ownership experience we intend to offer service and parts distribution in partnership with Orio AB (formerly known as Saab Automobile Parts AB).
In less than a year, the purchasing organization has built partnerships with the suppliers to the Saab 9-3. Nevs now has partnerships with all around 400 suppliers needed for the Sedan model. All in all the Nevs’ start of production engage around 2,400 companies globally through the suppliers.
“It’s been an intense year committed to ensuring Nevs’ start of production. I see our established partnerships as a trustful beginning of the long term and strategic relationships we want to build together with our subcontractors”, said Nevs’ Purchasing Director Per Svantesson .
To ensure our high quality and the supply chain functions, the production rate will be very modest, about ten cars a week initially, and then gradually the pace will be increased to meet customers’ demand.
The electric car based on the Saab 9-3 will be launched in spring 2014, with China as the first market. Nevs’ partner and part owner Qingdao has initially placed an order for a pilot fleet of 200 electric cars with delivery starting in spring 2014.
Sales in Sweden, via Nevs’ website, will start on Tuesday, December 10. The price is 279 000 SEK with manual transmission and 289 000 with automatic transmission. Additional specifications purchase and delivery conditions are presented when the sale starts.
Over time we will develop our customer base to expand into more markets where we see potential for growth and profitability.
Nevs’ vision is to shape mobility for a more sustainable future. Our aim is to be a front runner in the automotive industry, with focus on electric vehicles, where China is our initial main market. The pace of change towards cars powered by fossil free fuels will increase and China currently has the most ambitious efforts for electrification of the vehicle fleet.
I’ve been meaning to write this for three or four days but never got around to it. Today’s news that NEVS have tied up the last of their suppliers makes it more poignant than ever, though, so here we go.
What I’d like to do is tie last week’s Saab news in with and earlier report as well as some whispers that have come through from Trollhattan.
Now, I should mention at the outset that this is not your normal Djup Strupery. In fact, it’s not Djup Strupery at all. The bits and pieces that I’ve heard are from people in the area and not directly involved with Saab/NEVS. It’s stuff they’ve heard around town, quite possibly from contacts who are involved with Saab/NEVS but that’s not known to me. Therefore, I don’t know the original sources but I do know the people who have mentioned it to me and they’re people that I trust.
I hope that all makes sense. Bottom line: the minor bits I’ll add to the narrative here are unconfirmed but fit the story quite well.
To our contextual sources for this story, then, the patches that will make up this Sino-Scandinavian quilt.
First, there’s my post from last week, suggesting that NEVS are about to run vehicles down the production line that will be test vehicles at first, before any vehicles are made for sale.
Second, there’s an article from Autocar, written by Hilton Holloway, that also talks about Saab’s manufacturing plans. The article was written way back in September, but rings true. Holloway, by the way, has a mind like a steel trap and is very good at what he does. You can take note of anything he writes because he is very well connected. My thanks to Terry9000K for linking to it in comments.
Finally, there are the few very small whispers I’ve heard here and there since writing my last Saab article.
Let’s start with the first section of Holloway’s report in Autocar, which is the relevant part of his report for the purposes of this story.
The first new Saabs have been built since the Trollhättan production line ground to a halt in June 2011.
Two 9-3 saloons left the line around 15 months after the assets of Saab and the Swedish Trollhättan factory were acquired by the newly created – and Chinese-backed – National Electric Vehicle Sweden.
Although this 9-3 pre-production car is powered by the same 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engines used in the pre-collapse series production cars, this is just a stop-gap operation.
Let’s stop there, briefly.
Yes, the 9-3s have 2-litre turbo petrol engines in them. In fact, from what I hear, at least the first couple of thousand new 9-3s will have turbocharged 2.litre engines as used in the Saab 9-3 before bankruptcy.
From what I’ve heard, NEVS bought around 2,000 of these engines from the bankruptcy estate so they’re what’s going in the car to start with.
The ramp-up to production is going to be pretty slow so those engines should last a little while. There shouldn’t be any real hassles with GM, either, as it’s old technology bought from the Saab estate, not sourced from GM.
Of course, NEVS are going to have to insert an engine of their own sooner or later. Nobody knows where that’s going to come from but I’ve seen the same hopeful comments saying “BMW”. I have two words – not likely. The 1.6 engines that Saab were going to buy from BMW were super expensive. They would have been suitable for a new, premium release like the Phoenix Saab 9-3 that Saab were going to build, but they’re far too costly for a re-hashed Epsilon-based Saab 9-3 that’s going to be very close to being a teenager before it’s even built.
Back to Holloway….
According to senior sources at Trollhättan, NEVS will build a batch of petrol-powered 9-3s in order to de-bug the production and build process, before the company switches to building the promised all-electric version of the 9-3. The initial 9-3 production run has been pre-sold to three Chinese government agencies.
So those cars are the ones I was talking about last week – test vehicles to establish the production line and test the car.
The news that the old 2.0 litre engine is being used means a bit less testing is required, but any new parts will still need proving IMHO (well, let’s just say you wouldn’t want to buy them unproven, would you?)
The bit about selling these early cars to the Chinese gels with what I’ve heard, too. I don’t know how accurate it is, but one friend in Trolltown has actually mentioned that they’re intended for use as Taxis in China.
So what do I think this all means?
It’s good news that NEVS have their suppliers sorted. In fact, that’s probably the most prominent news here because nothing happens if you haven’t got reliable parts supply in place.
NEVS will start regular small scale production later this month. The first vehicles should be test vehicles both to validate the factory and the cars themselves.
The first vehicles to be built for sale will, in all likelihood, be shipped to China where they’ve been bought by the government to be used for purposes less noble than a keen Saab fan would like to see.
There’s still no word on what engine a more consumer-oriented Saab 9-3 from NEVS will be built with and that’s an important part of the puzzle. There’s no word on where it will be sold, or when. Holloway’s article seems to indicate that NEVS will get an electric 9-3 out (based on the old platform, I assume) by the end of 2014. My guess is that that might be the first car with the Saab name on it that someone might be able to buy outside of China.
But that’s just a guess.
Again, I make no claims of accuracy in all this. I’m just tying up some loose ends in a bid to temper people’s expectations. I don’t think you’ll be able to buy a new Saab 9-3 Aero any time soon, people.
I’d still like to hear more of what they’re doing, though. If the story’s worth telling, then tell it.
I’m in two minds about whether to write this post. On one hand, it can be regarded as bad form to analyse the contents of a website that you have had some sort of relationship with, however distant that relationship is now. On the other hand, experience tells me that I might have something to contribute on matters raised in a recent SU article and the ensuing comments section – and that it’s something worth talking about.
The article starts off with some thoughts about the vehicle purchased by Saabs United fans (me included) and stored at the Saab Museum. That’s interesting but it’s not why this article was written.
The key to this post is in this quote:
We’ve been asked many times what will happen to DJA880 now that the last Saab is no longer the last Saab. In fact, 30 new cars have been built since NEVS start up the production line again, and within a couple of weeks a new significant car will be rolling off the production line in Trollhättan.
NEVS have built 30 cars on the production line at Stallbacka but for some reason a car built in the next few weeks is going to be significant.
I’ll give you two options:
They’re going to start building NEVS’s face-lifted Saab 9-3 to sell.
They’re going to start building NEVS’s face-lifted Saab 9-3 for the first time.
The difference is subtle, I’ll grant you, but it’s there.
I don’t think it’ll be the first option (cars to sell) for reasons I’ll get to in a moment.
I think that if you tie in the rare bits of Saab news from the last few months, the more-than-reasonable conclusion to be drawn is that NEVS have finally got a full compliment of parts suppliers on board and will finally run a Saab 9-3 down the production line that is “GM-free”.
If that’s the case, then this will be the first production session that tests the fitment and operation of the new parts. This exercise will go a long way in answering whether the production line will work in a reliable fashion with these new parts. Additionally, it will quite possibly mark the moment where vehicles are made for extensive field testing as a complete unit.
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I should mention at this point that I have absolutely no first-hand insight as to what’s going on in Trollhattan. I don’t have any active sources there and what you see above is primarily me interpreting what’s been written on SU (by Tim, who very definitely does have active sources in Trollhattan) and seasoning my interpretation with my limited experience writing about and eventually working at Saab (brief as that assignment was).
Back to the post…..
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So why do I think it’s important to interpret this development in this particular way? Why do I think it’s test vehicles rather than production vehicles for sale?
The one thing I’ve banged on about with regard to Saab this year is that making a vehicle with a whole bunch of new parts will not be a walk in the park. NEVS have talked as recently as a few months ago about the fact that they were still working on getting all parts suppliers on board. Those parts need to be tested and that’s a time consuming business.
If NEVS are as business-minded and prudent as everyone says they are then they’ll need to know beyond doubt that those parts are safe and that they will not cause a whole bunch of warranty problems six months after vehicles go on sale. There hasn’t been time to do that yet, not when you’re talking about a bunch of new parts suppliers.
From comments to the SU post, some people are interpreting the ‘significant car’ news to be the start of production-for-sale. Here’s one:
So the face lifted 9-3 will be out in two weeks, that is cool.
Well, no. I don’t think it will.
And if it is, then I don’t think it’s a face-lifted 9-3 that any sane person would want to buy.
Here’s a video I made for Inside Saab, which shows durability testing of the rear tailgate for the Saab 9-5 SportCombi.
Now, bear in mind that that’s the level of quality testing that people would expect for the whole car. That sort of testing takes a while.
But the 9-3 isn’t a new car, you say?
No, it’s not a new car. But it’s using a whole bunch of new parts and those parts have to be tested to make sure that they’re up to the job. Do you really want to put your family into a car that’s had only some of its parts tested properly in a previous incarnation of the vehicle?
I’ve written on this site before that I’d be very surprised if NEVS have a car that’s ready for sale, and sales channels that are ready for public exposure, by the final quarter of 2014. I’ll stick to that.
This need for testing is the primary reason for my conservatism and, to be honest, I’d be a little bit scared for Saab if the car came out any sooner without some sort of detailed explanatory story as to what they’ve done in terms of quality assurance, crash testing, etc.
If this is indeed the first test-run of a car built wholly with NEVS-sourced parts then that’s fantastic news and a significant moment in the development cycle. Let the testing begin!
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Issue #2 – Are NEVS doing the PR job they should be?
This is the other major topic that was discussed in comments at SU and as my name was invoked in the conversation, I think it’s OK to mention it and give my perspective here.
A commenter named Angelo is prone to complaining ad nauseum about NEVS’s lack of public relations activities. I’m inclined to agree with him for the most part, even if he’d drive me batty as an editor with his repetitiveness if I was still looking after the site. As he was doing his thing on this post, Tim replied with…
I will never do anything to damage Saab, which has been a key rule of SU since Swade started the website. I will continue to abide by that rule!
Well….. actually…….no. Yes and no, to be fair.
I never went out of my way to ‘damage’ Saab, it’s true. But my first concern was always my readership and I didn’t mind if Saab had a few uncomfortable moments as a result. I think that if you’re running an independent website, that’s a pretty important thing to keep in mind.
For example, I can remember being the recipient of some rather stern words from a member of Saab’s PR department when I first visited Trollhattan in 2007. At issue were pictures of the face-lifted Saab 9-3 that was officially unveiled just a few days later at the Saab Festival. I’d received some advance pictures that were not authorised, which showed a test vehicle parked at an old industrial site in the area. I published them on Trollhattan Saab. It caused some people serious discomfort that the car had been seen so plainly, so far in advance of its unveiling.
I didn’t like to strain relations with the company but the website was only of value if it gave readers something extra on top of what the company could give them. The value I created by doing spyshots and other Djup Strupe material is what built the readership and – here’s the key – made the website valuable for the company.
Trollhattan Saab and Saabs United were valuable to Saab because the sites did things that Saab itself couldn’t do in the PR climate of the time. I may have trodden on a few toes at times (hence JAJ’s description of me as “that guy”) but TS and SU built up enthusiasm for the brand because the sites were a) honest, and b) gave an insight that the company either couldn’t, or wouldn’t give.
So what of NEVS’s PR efforts?
They say they’ll talk when the time is right. Personally speaking, I think the time has been well past ‘right’ for a while now.
They don’t have to be out there every day with every little thing that’s going on at the factory, but they could definitely have started the build-up to recreating the Saab story with their particular slant on it. This pre-supposes that NEVS are interested in trading on Saab’s past, of course, but if they’re not interested in tying the company’s future to its past in some fashion, then why negotiate the use of the Saab name?
We had an ‘Inside Saab’ concept in Saab’s marketing department with a whole bunch of films to share and other themes to spin off when the time was right. We only got to release a handful of those films before we had to hold off because production wasn’t re-starting.
I think the ‘Inside Saab’ theme would be perfect to tell to the story of Saab’s re-birth.
You don’t have to be flashy. You don’t have to over-promise. You don’t even have to interact much at this stage. Just tell the story and let people get a feel for the development cadence and what’s going on, what they can expect from Saab.
Right now, those that still care are operating in a vacuum; expecting the world and getting very little in return.
NEVS don’t have to do much, but they should be doing something.
I missed this story when I was on holiday but thanks to Victor himself dropping in on our comments section yesterday, I had reason to go searching for the story.
Bottom line: On October 1st, Spyker appealed the judge’s dismissal of their case.
Source: Law 360. Click that link to read the story in full.
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Dutch carmaker Spyker NV urged the Sixth Circuit on Tuesday to revive its $3 billion lawsuit alleging General Motors Co. pushed Saab Automobile AB into bankruptcy by interfering with Spyker’s bid to sell the Swedish automaker to Chinese investors, claiming a district court judge erred in tossing the suit.
Spyker and Saab’s suit alleged that GM public announcements scuttled the deal on the eve of its signing, but a district court tossed the lone claim of tortious interference with economic expectancy, ruling that they had no anticipated business relationship because the unsigned framework agreement merely outlined a further set of agreements that still needed to be arranged and approved in short order.
In a brief filed with the Sixth Circuit, Spyker and Saab claimed the lower court committed “three critical errors” in dismissing their suit, the first being the conclusion that the failed deal left the automakers without a valid expectation of a business deal.
“Far from wishful thinking, Saab stood to gain an immediate cash investment of €10 million on signing the framework agreement,” according to the brief.
Spyker and Saab claimed the lower court erred further by incorrectly interpreting GM’s rights under existing contracts and then using that misreading to find that GM had not acted maliciously in speaking out against the deal.
“Consequently, this court should reverse the judgment of the district court and remand the case for further proceedings,” the brief said.
Spyker filed the suit in August 2012, claiming that Saab was forced into liquidation in Swedish court in December 2011 after GM doomed a proposed 2 million sale of Saab to Chinese automaker Zhejiang Youngman Lotus Automobile Co. by making public statements in December 2011 that it would cut off crucial technology licensing deals if Spyker went ahead with a the proposed deal.
The Dutch company contended that GM’s alleged tortuous interference cost it at least $3 billion.
GM moved to dismiss the suit, asserting that its own deal with Spyker put limits on the future use of GM technology in Saab cars and gave the U.S. automaker consent rights regarding any future sale of the Swedish company.
And if you want more background on the case from a SWadeology point of view, click here. The official Spyker release about the case when it was first launched is here.
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I have to say I don’t feel optimistic about Spyker’s chances with this case. That’s not because I don’t believe in it, because I do. I’d love to see GM held accountable for its lack of stewardship of Saab and the disadvantaged position they placed the company in. I simply think it’s going to be hard to convince a judge in GM’s own backyard that they should be held accountable. I’d love to believe that Lady Justice is blind, but I don’t.
I do wish Spyker and Saab well with this suit, though. GM could have taken measures to protect their interests and still allowed Saab a future until such a time as Saab’s cars became GM-free. They killed it because they could.
Road and Track magazine has spoken with Jason Castriota and got just a little detail and a few images of some of the cars that were envisioned for Saab’s future.
They were not certainties, by any means. Saab didn’t have the money to develop this full portfolio. The company would have needed investment partners to do so. But these three images, not all of them new, show some of the potential that was waiting to be harnessed within the company.
Saab 9-3
This has been shown before but it’s worth seeing again.
It’s always interesting to see how a car’s design stands the test of time. A design’s acceptance seems to evolve as people get to see it more. The Dame Edna 9-5 is a great example of this. I was in two minds about this design when I first saw it but it looks fantastic in this rendering. I’m still a little unconvinced about the back end, but I know from experience that it would look better in the metal than it does in pictures.
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Saab 9-1
The small car segment was one that that Victor desperately wanted to be in. He had his own design based on Saab’s traditional teardrop shape, but the 9-1 below is much closer to what we would have seen if this segment were ever tackled by Saab.
I’m not convinced by the lights, but the overall proportions look good to me.
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Saab Sonett
This would have been my personal holy grail and the closest direct descendent from the original PhoeniX concept. It’s interesting to note that Jason was aiming at a 400hp top specification, which is a little out of whack with the Sonett’s origins (small engine, light weight) but would have made for a hell of an interesting drive.
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Saab’s demise still burns. There’s no point stewing over it but I do.
When I was working for Saab, I wrote (in one evening) a six-part series covering all the things that I thought Saab had going for it as a company. The one thing I didn’t write about was in-house cash, of course, because Saab didn’t really have any. But we did have a hell of a lot going for us and it’s a damn shame we never got to see it all happen.
The obstacles that got in Saab’s way – some institutional and some of Saab’s own making – denied all of us what I think would have been a very enjoyable automotive future.
Here are some of my best reads from the last few days of online automotive reading (and something from the fringe).
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Jalopnik good
I don’t know if you’d call this list definitive, but it’s entertaining. Jalopnik compiled a list of the Ten Best Automotive Ads and there are a couple of Swedes amongst them – one each from Volvo and Saab. I’m not sure they picked the right Volvo ad (I prefer the one with the Lamborghini) but the Saab one was a favourite.
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Not a real ad
Spotted, photographed and caption-added by my mate Turbin a few days ago.
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Jalopnik Bad
Jalopnik’s still on my RSS feed because once or twice a week you still get a story that’s worth reading (see the ads story, above). That’s maybe two read-worthy stories out of the 300-or-so they publish every week. Jalopnik’s entry rate is frenetic nowadays, which would be great if they had useful content. But Jalopnik’s style has regressed in the last 18 months and they’re publishing a heck of a lot of trash now.
I think it was around 1995 that it dawned on me how much I hate commercial FM radio. All those slick, contrived phrases delivered by silky, confected voices. It was evident even back then that they were in a race to the bottom in terms of delivering radio content that appealed to the lowest common denominator; something that’s only got worse with the passage of time and the emergence of the 24-hour media cycle. But the worst bit was the delivery method – slick, contrived humour that sounded slimy and eventually, got annoying.
Jalopnik is the automotive equivalent of commercial FM radio.
There will be crashes and auctions. Weird fashion. Weird people. Unicorn cars. And some guy dressed head-to-toe in Ferrari attire even though he just owns a 308. We will love that guy.
“Even though he just owns a 308”
There are brands that I don’t have an interest in ever owning, but I’ve got plenty of respect for those that do. Yes, a guy willing to have his wallet hoovered and dress head-to-toe in Rosso will be eye-catching and maybe even snigger-worthy, but base that on his fashion sense, not because you think he drives a ‘lesser Ferrari’.
Any Ferrari, the 308 included (the 308 especially, if you ask me), is worthy of a car guy’s respect. For most that eventually do it, owning a Ferrari – any Ferrari – is a long-held dream. I don’t know about the situation in the USA (Jalopnik’s home ground) but here in Australia, the commitment one makes when buying even the most affordable Ferrari – which right now is the Mondial – is a massive one.
First, you have to save money like a madman and fork out more than many brand-new midsize cars just to reach that most accessible level of Ferrari ownership. The sheer fact that a 308 or a Mondial can be bought by the committed at a remotely ‘accessible’ price is something to be enjoyed while the situation exists. It’s not something to be sniggered at.
Then you’ve got to maintain it, which is not a simple or cheap affair.
What really irks me is those who sit on the sidelines with their wannabe cheersquads and take the piss out of those who commit their hobby time and hobby resources to really achieving what is for them, a dream. Sure, they’re not conquering cancer or teaching under-privileged kids how to read or anything – how many car guys or girls do? – but they’re pursuing for them what is quite likely the appreciation of a level of creativity, passion and craftsmanship that’s becoming less accessible as time goes on. Cars like these are, for many, a mechanical expression of human automotive passion.
To those who commit to caring for one of these cars, I doff my hat.
And yes, this is a little bit personal. Aside from the fashion sense, I am that guy (I’ll admit I’ve barely got any fashion sense, but enough to avoid ever spending much at a Ferrari store). I’d love to have a Ferrari one day, whether it be a Mondial or a 308/328. And incidentally, the only example of a 308 I’ve ever ridden in was owned and driven by former Saab USA chief Bob Sinclair. He’s a bloke I’d be happy to emulate.
They didn’t go onto the manicured lawns and photograph the cars all perfectly parked. They waited outside and photographed the cars doing what they were made to do – they got the cars driving.
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Tesla goes 5-star+
I’ve thrown a few bricks at Tesla in the last 18 months or so – pun intended – but credit where credit’s due.
The Tesla Model S just got 5-stars in it’s crash test and if the scale went higher than five stars, there’s a good chance they might have reached higher, too. It’s being touted as quite possibly the best crash-test result ever achieved under the NHTSA regime in the United States.
A Tesla Model S isn’t for everyone, but for those who get one, it’s good to know they’re about as safe as a car can be right now.
Congratulations to Tesla.
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Political Spin
And finally, for those who have made it this far……
We’re in election mode in Australia right now. Politicians are everywhere and we’re all sick to death of them. This, however, is a pleasure. And with 214,000 views on Youtube in 24 hours, you’d call it a success, too.
A cameraman for our national broadcaster also happens to be the bass player in a band. He used his Canberra-based job and connections to talk a bunch of our federal politicians in to appearing in his band’s film clip. The song is about the 24-hour nature of the political news cycle that he works in, so the pollies’ appearances were probably as cathartic as they were relevant.
The clip features the current Prime Minister (behind the newspaper) as well as the current opposition leader who’s after his job (spinning the bike wheel). There’s a bunch of other prominent Australian politicians and press reporters, too, one of whom is ironing his underpants.
Can’t imagine Obama, Cameron or Putin doing a clip like this. Well, maybe Putin.
The automotive internet’s a funny place sometimes (this site included). One site says something and everyone seems to jump on board, regurgitating the information with their own small changes/additions with few people pausing to ask “Is this really possible?”
Saab is gearing up to start production of the 9-3 again in September, two years after the last example rolled off the assembly line at the company’s Trollhättan factory, Aftonbladet reports
New Saabs? Next month!!! Sounds great!
Then there’s the next sentence, which seems to completely contradict the first one, (though it didn’t stop the ‘production’ headline).
Saab’s new owner, National Electric Vehicle Sweden AB (NEVS), a Chinese-Japanese consortium created solely to buy Saab, says that the model’s parts supply is the bottleneck in the production process, understandable since many of Saab’s suppliers closed after it stopped production two years ago.
Thankfully, Just-Auto took a look at the claims with a more experienced eye and actually contacted NEVS to ask relevant questions (what a novel approach!). The answer they got put some meat on the bones of the second Autoblog quote, a gargantuan hurdle that Autoblog (and others) didn’t even seem to recognise:
National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS) is declining to confirm reports it will start production next month of the Saab 9-3 at its Trollhattan plant.
Speculation has mounted manufacture would begin imminently at the site around one hour north of Gothenburg, but NEVS is pouring cold water on the suggestion.
“We have not started production yet – we have not contracted all suppliers we need for parts,” a NEVS spokesman told just-auto from Sweden.
“Before we have 100% of all parts, we are not able to start. We have the vast majority, but not all yet. We have access to the plant of course and we produce spare parts for Saab Parts, but we have not started our own production yet.”
It’s no surprised that Saab enthusiasts are quite keen to see any news of a re-start of production. I’m sure the news floating around of an imminent re-start got some people excited.
I’d urge patience.
Here’s how things work in the car business, generally speaking. You have the following options:
A quality car that’s been thoroughly tested for consumer use.
A car featuring a new engine and a host of new parts.
A car that’s released to market relatively quickly.
Your job is to pick which two you’d like, because you can only have two out of those three.
#2 is compulsory when it comes to NEVS’s plans to reproduce the old Saab 9-3 in non-electric form. It has to be one of your two choices because GM aren’t going to deal with NEVS to supply either engines or parts. That means NEVS has to find a new engine to go into the car (preferably turbocharged) and they have to find companies that’ll produce parts that GM used to supply.
Given that a new engine and a whole bunch of new parts have to go into the car, your choice is whether you test it thoroughly before release, or you release it quickly without proper testing (at least 12 months worth). Choose the latter if you’ve got a lot of money you don’t mind losing.
Now, if NEVS are saying (as per the Just Auto quote) that they still haven’t even got the full compliment of parts suppliers sorted yet, then Saab fans are in for a considerable wait.
If that statement’s a real reflection of where NEVS are at then I’d be surprised – cautiously but pleasantly surprised – if NEVS make a production car to be offered for sale to the public before this time next year.
NEVS have good resources at their disposal in terms of finance and facilities. They’re slowly going build up the workforce they need to make use of those facilities. But as I’ve said a million times before, there are no fingersnap solutions in the car business. Things take time. If NEVS have to put a new outsourced engine and a whole bunch of new parts into their re-birthed Saab 9-3, that’s going to take a bucketload of testing and development before it can be sold to the public. Technology has sped that process up, but it still takes time.
NEVS can do this, but Saab fans are going to have to be patient.
I’ve been asked about the Saab 9000 Aero we bought a few weeks ago. How’s it going? What’s it like? Can we see pictures?
The answer is ……. well……. complicated.
First, let me get the negatives out of the way. They are significant, annoying and even a little embarrassing. This is not the post I wanted to write about this car, but I’m going to write it as both a reminder and as a warning.
Negative #1 – The engine.
There’s no elegantly loquacious way of saying this, so I’ll just say it: Our car doesn’t have an Aero engine.
An automatic Saab 9000 Aero should have a B234L engine and ours has a B234E engine. The engine was changed at some stage and an Ecopower engine was installed. No, I didn’t know this until I had the car inspected for registration and yes, I’m quite pissed off about it. Combine this key incident with all the smaller incidents noted below and it’s fair to say that I’m a little less happy than I should be with what is actually quite an enjoyable car. Right now, it’s tainted.
Right: Something here is not as it should be.
Didn’t I notice this as I drove it home from Sydney? No.
The car does have a new turbo, a TD04, which spools up quicker. Combined with a manual boost control valve, the car does deliver better performance than a regular Ecopower 9000 (we also own a 1994 Saab 9000 CS with the standard Ecopower setup). It’s not as smooth running as I imagined an Aero should be. Not by a long shot. But I didn’t twig to the engine being a transplant.
This is not as bad as it could be, however, and that’s because our car has an automatic transmission. If we’d bought a manual 9000 Aero, I wouldn’t be writing this publicly. I’d be getting legal advice. As it is, I’ve already invested so much in the car that I’ll say my piece here and do the remedial work at as little cost as possible.
The difference between the B234L that our car should have and the B234E that we’ve got is minimal and restricted primarily to software. I can make the changes very economically and I’ve already had a chat with my mates at Maptun about doing that. It’ll be quite cheap and very, very effective. We plan to keep this car for a long time so re-sale’s not the issue but when that time comes, our car will have Aero+ performance, despite not having a genuine Aero engine.
On a matter of principle, however, I maintain my anger. I was a very up-front buyer in this transaction and I acted in good faith every step of the way. I checked out and trusted the reputation of the seller and acted in such a way that respected that reputation. I feel severely let down by the seller in that regard and have written to him with this engine issue and others (yes, there were other issues) squarely in the gun. No response so far, but we’ll see if that changes.
Learn from my mistake – even if the transaction is for a low value, as this one was, if it’s a specific model car and the type of equipment is important, take time to make sure everything is as it should be. Even if you know/trust the seller or if people you know/trust have a relationship with that seller, make sure you’re getting what you think you’re getting.
Right: The new turbo, a savings grace. The tell-tale engine number is just out of shot.
Our car will turn out OK. Better than OK. But the experience has left a slightly bitter taste so far, which is unfortunate.
Note: I’m quite sure that the seller is a decent bloke and that what we’re looking at – at least in some small part – is an oversight of disclosure rather than an attempt at genuine hoodwinkery. That’s why I’m not naming names here. I’m quite sure that the engine was replaced for no reason other than it was necessary to do so. Why would you with a B234L?
What I’m angry about is the lack of disclosure, oversight or not. An engine is at the heart of a car’s character and despite the similarities between my engine and the original engine, a buyer deserves the decency of being told what they’re getting, especially when it’s one enthusiast to another, even if they don’t know each other personally.
I’ll say it again – please learn from this and make sure you’re getting what you think you’re getting. This is an embarrassing and annoying development for me, but I’ll make it right and if someone learns from it, that’s a good outcome from a bad situation.
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Negative #2 – The Value Maxim.
I have had a theory about used cars for a long time now. I wrote about just a few weeks ago when talking about the Lancia Fulvia. The theory goes like this:
Any given model of vehicle in good condition is worth X dollars. If you buy it for X-minus-Y dollars then you’ll usually spend Y dollars (at least) getting it up to your desired condition.
Such is the case with our 9000 Aero. I thought I could beat my own theory, but I was wrong. A good 9000 Aero in Australia is worth around $7,000 and we got this car for $3,300. But even before I picked it up in Sydney I had to get Steve at Saab Salvage to do around $1,200 worth of work to it. (Note: unlike the engine situation, I checked all this out before completing the transaction and authorised the repairs).
There were various bits not working or simply not present. Things like the electric motor on the driver’s seat, which is essential as both Mrs Swade and I will drive this car regularly and I’m around 8 inches taller than she is.
The washer bottle needed replacing. The central locking wasn’t working on one of the doors. There was a small plug leak off the distributor. One sun visor was hanging down. The A/C compressor needed replacing. The list went on…..
There are still a few items from the list that are yet to be done. The steering rack, which works perfectly but has a small leak, will need attention eventually. The front bumper also needs a little bit of cosmetic work (plastic welding and paint) but I’ll live with those for a little while.
We could have got another 6 months out of the tyres, but I figured it would be better to replace them while I was in spending mode. And I desperately wanted a functional, modern stereo, so that went in a few weekends ago.
Bottom line, we got the basics of a good car at a very good price but there’s been a lot of small things and a few bigger things to address. We’ll probably go just over X dollars by the time it’s all fixed up, but we’ll have a very well sorted Saab 9000 Aero by then – the perfect car to do our East Coast of Australia drive later in the year.
The lesson learned – Swade’s Used Car Theory ™ holds up once again. Genuine bargains are rare and any car worth having will cost you X dollars to acquire and fix.
To the good bits, then…..
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Even decidedly mid-level modern cars have passed the best 1990’s cars in terms of performance and efficiency. They did that some time ago. The progress has been amazing. You can get a Hyundai at bargain price that’ll run rings around some of our favourite cars from 20 years ago in terms of technology, mechanical flexibility, comfort, safety and competence.
The thing I’m coming to love about the 9000 Aero, however, is that you get what is still genuine performance along with quintessential Saab styling and functionality. And despite what I wrote in preceding paragraphs of this article, you can get all that authenticity for a wonderfully affordable price.
We’ve got two front airbags (that we hope to never use), ABS, an electric sunroof, cruise control, power steering, power seats with memory, incredibly good looking seats, incredibly comfortable seats, faux woodgrain, all the radio stations in Hobart (not to be sniggered at given the radios on our recent cars), iPod/iPhone control, Bluetooth, digital climate control, massive storage space in the rear, Super Aero wheels, PLENTY of usable power and all of that wrapped in a wonderful looking, still-contemporary body.
In short, we want for nothing.
We’re very experienced with the 9000 as a model. We’ve had a 9000 of one variety or another for the last five or six years. The reason I’m so happy to buy another one is because they’ve been very reliable, they eat up highway miles like a cookie monster and they’re big enough to carry as many artist’s frames as Mrs Swade needs.
This particular 9000 is our first Aero, a model I’ve wanted to own for a long time now. I can still remember a story on Saab a few years ago wherein former Saab Designer, Bjorn Envall, said that the Saab 9000 Aero was probably the best Saab the company ever made – “the rest was compromise” (his words, not mine). That’s always going to be a subjective notion, but the 9000 has been our favoured family Saab for a long time now and as much as I like the 9-3 and 9-5 (which I like a LOT, especially in wagon form), I’ve never felt compelled to go more modern than the 9000 for our own needs.
The main differences between the Aero and our previous CS that I appreciate most are the engine (yes, even this engine) and the interior.
We’ve only had it a few weeks, but I drove it more than 1,000kms to get it home. It was a highway star, as expected, and it has proved itself very tractable around town, as well. The power isn’t huge off the line, but then that’s not the point with the 9000 (or any Saab, to be honest). The TD04 turbo is doing its job nicely and as with all 9000 Aeros, the power to accelerate when in motion is dramatic and intoxicating. It’ll only improve when I bring that engine up to spec.
I don’t want to sound superficial, but the good feelings you get as soon as you open the doors and look at those Aero seats are more than enough to justify the purchase. The car makes you feel like a king even before you sit in it. As an aside, the seats aren’t the most comfortable seats ever, but they’re very, very good.
I’ve always been a fan of the 9000’s interior layout and in the higher specification that comes with the Aero, with automatic climate control and woodgrain, it’s even better than what we were used to with our plain-Jane CS. Our steering wheel has a bit of pitting around the leather rim so I’d love to replace that with a 1/2 leather, 1/2 wood wheel from the Anniversary model. They’re getting hard to find, but it’s on my list.
The bottom line…..
Despite my experiences immediately after buying this car, our 9000 Aero has now got everything I wanted in a 9000 in terms of looks and equipment. I’ll sort out the engine and performance side very soon and I’m quite confident that this car will be providing very pleasurable family motoring long after my negative feelings have subsided.
That’s the good thing about a car like this. The character, comfort and competence built into it from the factory lasts for the life of the car. Memories and feelings, depending on the individual, are temporary.
I’ve learned my lessons. I’ll move on and enjoy.
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Apologies for not having better photos. I’ve just got the car Tassie registered and will get some better shots soon. Promise.
