It’s time for another Saab Pride of Ownership entry, this one from Australia’s rather harsh outback.

Simon I lives in Perth on Australia’s west coast, and took a trip north around Christmas. I’ll let him expand on the place and the car.

After you’ve seen it, perhaps you could come up with your own theories as to why the door is open. My guess – it was so hot the car would blow up if they were closed.

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I picked up my 9000CD early in 2007 while my fiance gets about Perth in a classic 900. The 9000 is my 5th Saab having had to offload my classic convertible as the to-do list had grown beyond my budget after being left for the roof to deteriorate while I spent time abroad.

For some time I’d hankered after a 9000, perhaps as my waistline grew I was attracted to the greater interior space…but I prefer to think that it is the dashboard that had always seduced me ever since I peered inside a 9000 in the early 1990’s. After all, as driver you spend most of your time in the cabin so the interior of a car needs to be a pretty special place for me.

The 9000 hasn’t been without its niggles. A one-owner genuine doctor’s car I bought it with some 150,000km on the clock. During the warranty period the heater matrix and radiator needed replacing yet it still looses a small amount of coolant. With a loss rate of perhaps 100mls per 1,000km I’m not panicking and 2 pressure tests over the course of ownership have shown up nothing. Rather I suspect the occasional damp smell when I ran the heater during the winter means the matrix job wasn’t done properly.

Anyway being from the eastern states and having moved recently to Perth my fiance and I didn’t make it back to the family for Xmas this year. Instead we decided to head north, initially to Geraldton for Xmas itself. For those of you who have seen the news in Australia you may have heard someone was tragically killed a beach car park in Gerladton over Xmas. It was a particularly tragic event in a small community and more than just a bit eerie as we were nearly there.

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At the same time as a family man was bashed while packing away items in his car boot after a day at the beach, we were sitting by the tide cooling ourselves after an incredibly hot 41C day about 2 kilometres away. Only an hour or so earlier we’d decided to spend some time on Sunset Beach where the tragedy occurred, but had decided against it as the area, including the car park looked poorly lit. I can’t say we’d have been involved but we certainly would have been there at the same time and we were very shocked to find out what had happened in this very pretty seaside town the next day.

That aside we headed further north for the beach town of Kalbarri, some 700kms north of Perth. Out there the earth turns desert red before you reach the beautiful beaches and cliffs around this growing tourist town. Along the way we’d stopped at a lookout to a gorge carved into the very Australian red rocks. The heat was amazing, while I think the computer needs some recalibration the readout of 46C in the sun seemed about right!

After a few days we slowly headed back to the big smoke that is the now booming city of Perth. We had to make a detour for the bizarre Pinnacles, as photographed. This is a real must for any traveller to Western Australia. These seashell and limestone formations are set in a national park not far from the Indian Ocean. The first Australians to discover the west coast of Australia – the Dutch, believed them to be the ruins of an ancient city.
Entering the national park you go into a mini-desert and follow a 3.5km road where you can stop and walk around. Without knowing I’d send this in I’d said to my fiance – “I have to get some pictures of the Saab just to prove it was here!” The Pinnacles seemed like the most weird location for any car, let alone a Saab usually more used to its natural environment such as the snow!

I can attest that the 9000 performed faultlessly over the week, enduring some crude roads and searing heat. While the a/c struggled at times usually we were pretty comfortable, my only complaint perhaps being my shorts at times sticking to the leather seats!

My 9000 was one of the only European cars on the road throughout the week, and one of only 3 Saabs I could spot – the others being a late ‘90’s convertible and a 9-5. In The Pinnacles National Park it was not only the only European car while we were there, but quite possibly the only Saab for the whole week!