Monthly Archives: December 2006

9 Saaby things I want for 2007

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No new year’s resolutions here, just 9 things I want to see for myself, for Trollhattan Saab and for Saab as a whole.

1) Fix my front shocks

It’s nearly been a month since I last drove my Viggen properly owing to stuffed front shocks. Having things go wrong just before Christmas is the worst. I’m getting withdrawals walking past that car every day. Driving it around the block once a week just doesn’t do it for me.

2) 10 movies

I’m setting a goal of getting at least 10 movies done this year. Most likely they’ll be driving reviews of various Saabs, either new or classic. The ultimate goal is a compilation DVD that I’ll be able to offer mega-cheap for car clubs or any other interested parties.

3) More news – direct

One of the real joys for me this year has been the emerging opportunities to cover Saab events first hand. In 2006 we managed to get photos direct from Detroit, New York and LA Auto Shows as well as the Saab Museum and some Euro events like the Ice Experience and the Pilots Wanted promotions. I managed to personally get a ticket to Sydney for the Aero-X adventure there and will also cover the diesel and BioPower launches personally in the next month. Added to that we’ll likely have an official presence at a Saab USA 60th Anniversary event and I’ll be attending the Saab Owner’s Convention in August.

Everything you get here at Trollhattan Saab will be as fresh and timely as I can possibly make it.

4) A killer 9-3 refresh

We’ll likely see some new 9-3 action starting around midyear at the Saab Festival in Sweden. The 9-3 is the backbone of the company and whilst this isn’t a totally new car, it’s going to be significantly altered from the current 9-3SS – and it’s prudent to say you don’t mess with your bread and butter in a negative way.

The potential here is enormous and hopefully it’ll result in…..

5) Increased sales in Germany

Germany could almost be considered a greenfield market for Saab again, so low are the current sales there. It started the year as Saab’s fourth biggest market but was recently overtaken by Spain. Given its vast automotive history, wealth and appreciation for good engineering, this is definitely a market Saab should be doing better in.

6) Some sneaky-peeks at the 9-4x

The 9-4x is the most likely newcomer after the refreshed 9-3 and hopefully we’ll all get a look that’s more elaborate that a brief slide on an audiovisual presentation.

Who knows? There may even be a prototype at Frankfurt – one can dream at least

7) Something more on the Hybrid

A hybrid Convertible would be such a statement for Saab, especially in the vital US market. Saab got a good run out of the BioPower Hybrid back in March/April, but it was overshadowed somewhat by the scorching-hot Aero-X.

It would be a tremendous step forward to hear that the technology behind the concept car was close to marketable – especially if it retained it’s original plug-in capability.

8) A pair of great enthusiast’s events

I’d dearly love to go to the Saab Festival in Sweden, however time and funding are against me. The great consolation in all that is I’m a 99% certain starter for the Saab Owner’s Convention in Michigan in August 2007. My main goal is to get the chance to sit down and have a chat, however brief, with Mr Saab.

Whichever event you get to, I hope it’s a great one.

9) The product. Always the product.

The one thing that’s more important than anything else, is the product – your Saab. Whatever model you’ve got, whatever you buy through the year, I hope you have a great time driving what I truly believe is one of the great all-round practical and performance cars there is.

And Saab – build them the best you can and sell plenty!

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Best wishes to all for a great 2007.

New Saab for ’07

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Here’s a chance for a US visitor to bag yourself a bargain, classic 2-stroker.

Frank A emailed me a link to this sale on Ebay. It’s a classic Saab 96 with only 29,600 miles on the clock. It needs a little work but for a car of this vintage it appears to be in pretty good shape.

Best of all it’s a NO RESERVE auction, currently sitting at US$565 and ending on January 6.

Anyone looking for a project to have ready by SOC in August – here’s your chance!

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Go Vote (again!)

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DEC 31st 8.30am UPDATE

It seems people got busy whilst I was sleeping, with the Saab C900 Convertible now up to 590 votes. With 20% of the vote and the nearest competitor with only 12% I’m going to stick a fork in it and call it ‘done’.

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There’s several things to come out of this:

1) The Saab 900 Convertible’s a classic car and a worthy winner in it’s 20th anniversary year.

2) The Saab online community can muster up a heck of a lot of interest when it all gets together on something like this. I’ve had it as the top story here all weekend. Ryan and Ted posted notices on Saab Central and other UK boards and my dog even posted one on Saabnet! From all these sources the people have gathered and had their say.

3) One lucky Convertible owner’s going to start 2007 off with a smile – and more power to him.

Thanks to everyone who’s voted, posted notices around and kept watch over this poll. Once again we’ve managed to put a Saab front-and-centre on one of the biggest automotive sites on the web, and that can never be a bad thing.

And of course, if you haven’t voted yet – click here to go show your support.

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YET STILL ANOTHER UPDATE (10 minutes later again)

The C900 convertible has hit the lead!!

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They say in tennis that you haven’t really broken serve until you’ve held your own straight after. In other words, getting in front is only part of the battle won. If you haven’t voted yet then head on over to Autoblog and vote now to keep the Saab in front (even though the Jag, the Jensen and the Lotus are all pretty cool)

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YET ANOTHER UPDATE (10 minutes later) – only FIVE votes behind now….

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ANOTHER UPDATE – only 14 votes behind first place!!

If you haven’t already – then go and vote. Let’s tear the roof off the sucker.

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UDPATE for the Europeans coming online in the next few hours…

The Saab Convertible was languishing earlier, but is now challenging for outright second place. The image immediately below shows the current situation as I write this, and the image at the bottom shows how things were around 8 hours prior.

If you haven’t voted yet, then click here to go to the poll, have your say, and get a 1980s classic Saab over the line!

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You may remember the Autoblog Reader’s Ride of the Week competition a few months ago. With your help, we managed to get a Saab 900 Convertible confirmed as the RR of the Week.

Well, it’s now RR of the YEAR time and given that it was a weekly winner, the C900 Convertible is up for the annual competition too.

As you can see in the current standing (below), the Saabs got some ground to make up. So head on over to Autoblog and place your vote!

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Saab rally heritage video

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This is great.

It’s a BBC report on Saab’s rally heritage. It looks like a mid-90′s piece but includes plenty of historical footage of old 2-strokers getting thrown around, as well as short interview with Mr Saab AND footage of him throwing it around, mid-90′s style.

It’s just over 5 minutes long and highly recommended.

When a Saabo is not enough

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Ummmm,

I’m really not sure what to make of this. On one level, it seems to be quite possibly the silliest vehicle I’ve ever seen, yet on the other there’s something about it that makes you want to take it home and call it your own.

Imagine your Saabo caravan just isn’t big enough for those quiet getaways anymore. It’s not too hard to picture, the Saabo’s a pretty small conveyance after all.

Enter the Biltjanst Husbilen (I think that’s what it’s called – forgive me if not).

Which way’s forwards?
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No, it’s not a Saab strictly speaking, but underneath that interesting exterior beats the heart of a Saab 95. The whole concept began in the early 1960s using a Saab 92 as a base. This prototype never passed its inspections, however.

The next prototype was more like the one we see here. Built on the 95, it had a body over two meters wide being lugged around by a little three cylinder two-stroke engine! The grille was composed with halves from a Volvo Amazon and a middle section from Saab.

Note the early Saab centre grille
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The result was thought to be so good that in September 1965, Biltjänst as the company was called (and still is called) begun to speculate in terms of series production.

Unfortunately (I think) this didn’t happen, despite Saab following the project with some interest.

The driver’s seat…..and the mechanic’s access.
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Note the old-school gauges.
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The van lost its two-stroke engine in the early 1970′s, being replaces with a Saab V4. There’s been several other restoration items over the years as well in order to keep things weatherproof and working OK.

The original article, which I’ve tried to translate and summarise (quite inadequately) seems to indicate a top speed of around 100-110 km/h. I’m not sure I’d like to see it at anything over 60 though. Especially in a corner.

The write was taken for a ride in the van and I’d imagine this would sum up the reaction wherever he went:


Through the the broad batch square, an entire round is visible half open mouths.

My expression exactly!

Original OEM mudflaps.
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My thanks to Hans for sending me the original link. A great discovery!

9000 Limo for sale

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How about this? A Saab 9000 stretch limo for sale in the UK.

Yours for only GBP5,000!

It’s fully equipped in the front, although there’s no word in the ad about the level of luxury in the back. I’m sure SaabKen could be a potential buyer for this, though he’d be torn about whether to ride in the back or chauffeur SaabKen Jr and Mrs SK around for the little tacker’s playdates.

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Friday Snippets

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The Koni stories from comments are quite interesting, as well as one anonymous testimonial received directly via email. When you read Saab forums and peruse the various aftermarket outlets it seems like there’s a huge groundswell of favourable opinion for Koni. After looking into it some more, I’m not sure that it’s justified when it comes to fitting them to Aero or Viggen specced Saabs.

Interesting stuff indeed.

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It’s when I see stuff like this from GM that I get worried for Saab’s future. This is from a story about the rebuilding of Buick from GM’s Fastlane blog:


The Enclave is Buick’s first luxury crossover and it is the perfect vehicle for the times. It has all the versatility, functionality, and roominess of a sport utility and the ride dynamics of a high-end luxury car. Then we add what I call the ‘Buickness’.

I don’t know about you, but I want a Saab. Not a Generic Motors sedan or hatch (oh please, a hatch) where they’ve added what they call “the Saabness”.

Doesn’t someone proof read GM’s blog postings before they put this stuff to print? With all the recent hoo-haa about badge engineering, lack of identity and having too many brands, it’s kack-handed phrases like this that send shivers down the spine.

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the Alcokey’s receiving some wide-ranging press given that it’s a slower time of year for news. It’s been popping up all over the place in my RSS reader. Good to see.

…but can it take your picture?

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Team Sanddodgers are now on their way on their charitable journey to Banjul in a Saab 99 Turbo. They have a brief video on site as well as some diary entries from the initial leg from Britain to France.

Admission: I’d hoped to cover the lead up their drive a lot more and provide some sponsorship but unfortunately costs here at home got out of control pre-Christmas and I haven’t been able to. Thankfully they’ve already exceeded their 10,000 quid target so well done lads and safe driving!

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If it weren’t about a Saab being used for illegal purposes it’d be amusing. OK, it still can be, as their robbery attempt was foiled by a dog and “some high-tech security devices”. The power of the hyphen comes to the fore:


DETECTIVES have issued descriptions of three men who tried to rob a city centre jeweller and are appealing for a key witness to come forward…..

…..Officers think they went towards Tower Street and fled in a black Saab 95 estate car.

Anyone seeing one of these (see below) re-sprayed in black with four shady types inside – please call the local plod immediately.

Strange choice of getaway car.

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With 2006 coming to a close it’ll be interesting to see Saab’s final sales numbers for the year. There’s been records set in a number of markets and some interesting trends in others.

The 60-years celebrations should kick off in earnest early next year, too. With a refreshed 9-3 coming there’s a heck of a lot to look forward to in 2007.

Saab O The Week – Dec 28

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Here’s the final Saab O The Week for 2007 (ah, an oops on my part. Whilst we Tasmanians do live in the future compared to the rest of you earthlings, it’s not quite that far into the future. This is the last SOTW for 2006).

“Saabaudi” has been a long time visitor to this site and he dropped this photo in my inbox recently. Being a long-term Saab 99 fan I couldn’t resist. Here’s a reminder to those Europeans that are missing their snow right now what late December is supposed to look like.

The photo was taken when cameras used film developed by a chemical process (remember that), back in 1986. It’s Saabaudi’s 99 GLE 2.0 l, Automatic, 118 hp and she accompanied his young family for 8 years.

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