Gripen Snippets
Occasional TS correspondent 1985 Gripen sends me several emails a week with various tips and readings on them and this weekend he’s sent through a bumper crop of links and stories. Not all are Saab related, but all either are, or dwell on the frnges of stuff we talk about here often.
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What do Irvine, California, and Trollhattan, Sweden have in common?
A regular car show every* week!!
Gripen and a few of his friends from SoCal Saab Club took some time this weekend to visit what seems to be a Californian tradition called Coffee and Cars. Every Saturday morning, a bunch of enthusiasts wheel out their prime metal and head out to Irvine, Cali, where they park, chat and generally appreciate what everyone else brought along.
Exotic? How’s this for a simple….
Click through to Gripen’s Flickr account to see many more of the attendees.
* In Trollhattan, there’s a local car show every Wednesday during summer where everyone brngs their cars down to the locks to show off and have a great time. It was a highlight of last year’s trip.
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I’ve covered a little of the 24 Hours of LeMons here previously.
There was a team called Saabs Gone Wild in the last few events and they won a fair bit of respect around the pits for cannibalising their mechanic’s car to keep one of the three team cars running.
The next race is on in May and SGW will be there, but they’ll also have some company.
Former SGW crew member and owner of the cannibalised Saab, Walter Wong, is entering a vehicle as well. I met Walter over dinner back in January during my brief stopover in LA. After dinner, we all went back to Walter’s Saab workshop, which was quite an experience.
Apparently he’s also preparing a Saab for some SCCA runs and inviting sponsorship, which I think I’ll have to contact him about. Stay tuned for more of both the tilt at LeMons and the SCCA.
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Finally, Gripen found one of those articles that pretty much points out why US consumer concerns should never dictate Saab design. Influence, maybe. Dictate? Never….
The article is from Forbes and outlines some consumer preferences in car purchase decisions.
Fuel economy has now made it into the top 10. So what’s number 1?
Safety?
Design?
Accommodation?
Performance?
Na.
Cup Holders.
They don’t rate a mention for me personally, and Gripen hastened to add that his list of priorities is as follows:
- Let’s see my list:
1. Low-end torque (fun to drive)
2. Safe
3. Environmentally-sensitive
4. Utility
5. Innovation
6. Design
7. Styling
8. Decent cupholders
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Cupholders no. 1?
Gimme’ a brake… I’m not sure if cupholders even would have made it into my top 50 list.
But then again, I’m not an American
Bjorn: There was a fun cup holder discussion here on Trollhattan Saab a few weeks ago so the comment may stem from that.
More importantly – the Forbes article points out that heated seats are high on buyers list as well and I have to agree with that. I was in my wife’s vehicle last night and I feel sorry that she does not have this option. Not sorry enough to let her drive my 9-3 this winter, but at least she knows that I care.
The Cleveland auto show is crawling into town next weekend so I plan to purchase a big-gulp and sit in some cars.
And speaking of car shows and cars being for sale – I cannot believe that this vehicle is still for sale. http://saabnashuanorth.com/specials/search-details.aspx?sn=S7042&sid=1
Daring do take of an old LeMans vinning Porsche 917 on the public roads. My definate favorite vehicle. The first owner of my ex-Sonett had 10 of the 917!!!!! His name was Wasek Polak @ Hermosa beach CA!
Well, think about it. You live in your car for half the time you’re outside of your house, of course cupholders and heated seats and the like are important to most drivers.
I don’t really agree with Gripen about the relative unimportance of styling. If styling was unimportant, the Aztek would have sold like crazy. So, here’s my list:
1. Low-end torque (I’m pretty sure we can all agree on that)
2. Practicality
3. Styling
4. Comfort (this includes things like seat design, head/legroom, and those evil cupholders)
5. Safety
Thing is, though, that those are all almost equally important to me, so this isn’t a very helpful list :p
It is truly amazing that I read Grip’s list and reacted, “nobody has really, truly done that”.
Seems that some car maker could do well if they followed that list…
Kind of misleading saying cup holders are number one. The article stated “interior conveniences like heated seats and cup holders”.
That’s “like” heated seats and cup holders. What else was included in “interior conveniences”? Leather seats, satellite radio, Bose (or similar high end) stereo system, power seats, dual climate control?
If the survey mentioned all these things under the category of “interior conveniences”, then yes, that would rate high on my list and I rarely use my cup holder.
Jeff: as you get older comfort moves higher on your list. As you get older you start to realize the comfort of the seats and the place to keep your coffee or soda on longer trips (though I do appreciate that you understand that per your comment).
When you’re young you’re more willing to take an ugly, uncomfortable car (which explains the success of the Subaru WRX STi). I think younger folks are more willing to put up the rough ride from 19″ wheels with run-flat tires and Aero sport suspension on their car than older folks.
Too bad GM decided heated seats would become an at-cost option in Saabs. It used to be standard before GM started the cost-reductions. I’d much rather have them invest the money in heated seats than standard rain-sensing wipers (but there’s no reason to not include BOTH at the price point Saabs sell at), and considering Saab used to advertise the heated seats as a safety feature, are they now saying that they were wrong originally or that you need to pay extra for extra safety?