This is supposed to be a writeup of a 2008 Saab 9-3 review out of Hong Kong, but I was so moved by the opening that I just had to reproduce it here.

You can read the full review here, including the actual but about the 2008 car. It’s worthwhile.

But this is just golden. Everyone comes to Saab in different ways. Roger’s story is possibly more exotic than most (it’s certainly more interesting than mine) but in the end we’re all affected the same way.

For many people, Saab means the world’s safest car because it has been presented as such over the years. But to me, it is much more. It was an aircraft company that still makes fighter jets, and its first cars had drag coefficients years ahead of other makers.

In 1991, I went to northern Sweden for the Saab Winter Driving. In temperatures of minus 30C, we raced Saabs on a frozen lake north of the Arctic circle. I won.

And they called out a Saab-powered fighter jet from the nearby airforce base to fly over our chilly group just for fun. Eric Carlsson, the world-famous rally champion, was with us.

Saab, to me, means Talledega, and the world records set for long-distance endurance on the 4.8-kilometer Nascar circuit in the southern United States.

It also means some of the fiercest performance cars we had in Hong Kong in the 1980s. Saab perfected turbo, way ahead of other makers. The carmaker was first to eliminate turbo-lag. Within a few years, it was impossible to detect the turbo cut-in.

And they perfected front-wheel drive, making it so efficient it feels like all-wheel-drive.

Memo to Saab – sometimes the big stuff like Talladega is just a stunt. And sometimes it gives you years of publicity and positive public awareness.

Great stuff, Roger.