LA Snippets
I’m paying $13 a day for the internet connection here in Detroit (grrrrr) so I may as well make use of it…..I thought I’d post a few more images from the day and night in LA.
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As I mentioned, I was fortunate enough to go for a ride with Bob Sinclair in his Ferrari 308. We headed up the road from his place to a little spot called Cold Springs. There’s a little tavern there, that used to be a stagecoach stopover back in the old days. Back then it was a full day’s ride by stage from Santa Barbara.
We did it in about 10 minutes in the stallion 
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As much as Bob’s a car guy, he’s even more of a motorbike guy. he has a restored Husqvarna bike in his living room and a bunch of bikes in the garage downstairs (incl another Husky, IIRC).
This is his most recent purchase, an Aprilia he bought in September last year.
He bought it in the east and his initial plan was to go take a look and then freight it back, but he ended up riding it back across the US instead
A sea-to-shining-sea road trip on bike by a guy in his mid-70’s - cool.
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After dinner that night, we all headed out to Walter Wong’s Saab garage.
Walter runs an independent Saab workshop in LA called Right Solution, Inc. Though if you want to find him on the web, look under Saabtech and you’ll be covered.
If you’re in LA and looking for a Saab mechanic, then Walter’s your guy. Need a loaner car while your pride and joy is in getting fixed? Walter’s got around 20 of ‘em!! He’s got a full range of vehicles there from a Saab 99 EMS up to a 9-3SE and what the customer wants as a loaner, they usually get.
You can even loan a famous Saab! This is the actual convertible used in the movie, Sideways.
The film people actually came to Walter to look for the car. They wanted a red convertible with a dark interior, rather than the lighter biscuit leather interior. As this was hard to find, they eventually took a silver-on-black convertible and painted it red. You can still see the silver paint in various places now, e.g. in the engine bay.
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In addition to all of Walter’s cars, we had the former Yankton Saab 9-3 that I showed last night turn up (full details here - thanks to dip), as well as a pretty highly tuned Saab 900 as well.
It was late at night and the 900 was black, so the photos turned out terrible, except for this one. No, it’s not scratched up like crazy.
When Kevin Yankton was making his carbon fibre parts (the 9-3 is FULL of them) he made just 4 carbon fibre hoods for the C900.
This is one of ‘em!
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It’s totally mad !Why do they absolutely want a red convertible with a black interior ??
What does it change to the pitch?
Where is the interest and suprem necessity of changing the color of a car for a movie ?
It’s crazy
Interesting. I was just looking at a poster for Sideways at work and wondering what happened to the car.
Doesn’t the car get run into a tree at the end? What’s the front look like?
Another point.
Swade, if you can contact higher level Saab people please ask them whether the company yet intend to bring a Saab 1 model or if this car segment will be the privilege of Opel/Vauxhall for ever.
i wonder if the one that smashes into the tree is a double.
i hate when expensive hotels “nickel and dime” for internet access. unabashed greed.
I liked Sideways a lot, but that scene near the end was so painful. You know the one I’m talking about. Poor Saab
Golfhunter - It has a lot to do with lighting, but it also might have had to do with the personality of the character.
Golfhunter: we were wondering too why the film crew would insist on a dark interior for the car, but Swade was speculating perhaps it had to do with lighting for the film. Maybe they like that contrast between the interior and the actors or something. I can’t believe they sprayed the whole thing. I mean, they taped-off the top of the windshield but you can see a bit of over spray on it up close. They even sprayed red right over the wheel flares.
Mag-X: I had the same question. Walter told me that the car they ran into the tree is not the same car as if you look closely you’ll see the one they ran into the tree has badging on the back whereas the “hero” car they used through most of the filming (this one) was de-badged. They did pop the hood on this car but left it down to give a skewed look in one scene though. Walter kept pointing out dents on the car that you can see in the film. He also told us that when he was driving the car after the filming was finished he got a ticket for not having license plate lights. This is because during some filming the crew removed the trunk lid entirely to install a camera mount and destroyed the cable connection to the license plate light lights which are located in the trunk lid. Walter had to rig a new wiring setup.
saab9x: I too hate paying for internet access at “full service” hotels. You’d think it’d be included in high-price hotels, but I tend to find the smaller Holiday Inn Express type hotels are far more likely to provide free internet access. They do seem to nickel and dime you at more expensive hotels. And they know most guests are business travelers so the extra $13 a night is a dependable income.
Interesting coincidence - more red convertible 900 pics were posted yesterday on Jalopnik (and it appears to have a dark interior too)
Thanx Jeff and Grippen for your point of view .
But I’m still thinking that it is too much .
I hope that Mr Sinclair likes his convertible in red . I’m not sure I would have accepted that deal
Golfhunter: ?
I think you’re getting confused. The convertible we’re talking about is owned by Walter Wong, who owns a Saab independent shop in L.A. The convertible was sprayed red for use in the film Sideways where it had a prominent role. Am I missing something?
Oh no it seems that s I mess something LOL !