The other day I just seemed to see Saab after Saab after Saab. For what was a relatively niche brand there seems to be so many still on the road.
In my normal commute home the other day (c.11 miles - mainly A roads), plus a stop at Sainsburys (one parked beside me and one behind) and M&S (two more) I saw what must have been at least 10 if not more - Mainly 93's of course.
Made me wonder if they are especially revered or just long-lived?
I have had a few Volvo's and never ended up with a Saab on any shortlist, but if I think of the 2005 Volvo S60 saloon I had (one of my favorite cars), I can't remember when I last saw one. Even old Volvo estates seem rare in comparison..
Maybe it's a regional thing, or I had an especially unusual day?
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Some sort of get together in the area?
Living near the A5 and Silverstone we get a lot of club runs around here on decent weekends.
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>Living near the A5 and Silverstone we get a lot of club runs around here on decent weekends.
I remember coming back down the M1 from my folks' place in Yorkshire and hearing a traffic report of a pileup near Luton so diverted onto A43 to pick up the M40 and A34.
It took us hours to get to the M40 because it was the Mini's 50th Anniversary bash at Silverstone and I got there just as everyone was leaving the circuit. Better than sitting on the M1 though.
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I had a 9-5 which although it was based on the Vectra it was a far better car. I recall Clarkson saying it had many changes that Saab chose to make without necessarily getting GM approval. Whatever the truth had the misfortune to have a Vectra about the same time and it was the worst company car I ever had. I still remember cataloguing the twenty-odd faults it had in the 3 years I had it.
Anyway back to the Saab it was a very good car. The paint was like baked enamel. The seats were superb and the turbo gave it a lively performance. I liked too the night dashboard that was part of the largely imaginary aircraft heritage.
It wasn’t faultless. It needed new rear shockers when it developed an unnerving floaty ride. And once going along at 70mph a headlight popped onto the bonnet dangling from its power lead.
It’s still one of my favourite cars despite this.
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One of 'er indoors friends has a 2003 9.3 cabrio in what appears good nick. A car that, looks and desirability wise, seems to have matured very nicely indeed, and I quite covet it.
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>> One of 'er indoors friends has a 2003 9.3 cabrio in what appears good nick.
>> A car that, looks and desirability wise, seems to have matured very nicely indeed, and
>> I quite covet it.
Yeah, that’ll be the age related drop in testosterone levels. Don’t worry about it, apparently it affects a few older guys.
;-)
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>> Yeah, that’ll be the age related drop in testosterone levels. Don’t worry about it, apparently
>> it affects a few older guys.
>> ;-)
I’m sure ( now I’ve a new hip) I could easily get in and out of my Mk1 Elise ( R575 GYG). Should I ever go down the convertible route that would be on my list.
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>>
>> Yeah, that’ll be the age related drop in testosterone levels. Don’t worry about it, apparently
>> it affects a few older guys.
>> ;-)
Says the man who likes his wife's Fiat in fake cowboy boots
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Yeah, y’see, when you combine American styling with Italian heritage you get, for example, Robert DeNiro or Al Pacino vibes. Whereas, an old Swedish convertible is more redolent of a slightly tired ABBA tribute band member trying desperately to recapture lost youth.
Don’t you think?
;-)
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>> Yeah, y’see, when you combine American styling with Italian heritage you get, for example, Robert
>> DeNiro or Al Pacino vibes.
You mean no manners, uncouth, unreliable and not good looking? Yes I guess you are right.
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Way more fun at parties though.
;-)
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>> I recall Clarkson saying it had many changes that Saab chose to make without necessarily getting GM approval.
You're correct. SAAB continued to over-engineer everything when GM took them under their wing, ignoring whatever GM told them to do.
youtu.be/-iBgVUDUdqE?si=Lu8HRKfz88pIlGl6
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Quite a rare sight here in Sweden, despite respectable sales volumes. They liked to rust, so have long since dissolved.
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A former neighbour 's family ran a very profitable 2nd hand car business for some 30+ years.
My neighbour's nephew inherited the business but wanted out of the cheap 2nd hand game and built a brand new showroom for SAAB cars -lots running around my area shortly after opening.
However, the SAAB magic faded quite quickly and he closed after say 7/8 years.
Still a few SAABs running around here mostly a bit tatty - a very smart light blue convertible in the summer months. It was bashed along the length of the passenger side about 2 years ago, but the next time I saw it it was pristine once more - it will be 20+ years old.
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>> My neighbour's nephew inherited the business but wanted out of the cheap 2nd hand game
>> and built a brand new showroom for SAAB cars -lots running around my area shortly
>> after opening.
Probably not a 'thing' any more but there used to be a few places like that. Mostly rural(ish) with a one or two dealer town. Here in Northampton we had Moto Baldet who sold Citroens - Northampton was BX/ZX central when we moved here.
Faringdon in Oxfordshire was similar with Peugeot from the 104 up....
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SAAB - Saab - Bromptonaut
