Monday Snippets
It’s a public holiday here today - Happy Birthday, Lizzie! - and my beloved Carlton Football Club had a Lazarus-like victory yesterday. Add to that the fact that our 9000 is back after some minor crash repairs and the 900 seems to be running fine again after some more AMM problems (thanks DB) and that all makes for a happy hiatus-blogger!
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I saw this picture last week and wondered if this was, indeed a Viggen. It’s a pretty crummy photo and the report didn’t specify the model. The wheels were a bit of a giveaway, though. There’s a new report this week, however, that does list it as a Viggen, albeit a non-existent 1997 model.
I was pretty embarrassed when I crashed my Viggen last year, rendering it inoperable, but at least I was on a track doing what the car was made to do. I had the solace of knowing that there had been many people do what I’d done beforehand, and there would be many after who would do the same.
This guy doesn’t have that thought. Ain’t many that lose a Viggen (or any other collectable car) in this manner:
Mark Pearce, 50, had parked his Saab 9-3 Viggen convertible (on a beach) outside Esk View House, which he is renovating.
But the tide came in earlier than he expected, and he was unable to get to the vehicle in time.
Poor baby. I hope it’s fixable, but it’d be a lot of work.
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I also got some worrying images in last week, but didn’t publish them due to the nature of the week with the site slowdown, etc. The images were sent by Sewell Saab in Plano, Texas, where they’ve successfully put together a number of special pink edition cars over the years.
Their latest “victim” - a 2008 Saab 9-3 Convertible.
Mike B from the Lone Star Saab Club has let me know that the car is currently up for sale on Ebay. If you’re after the perfect Swedish compliment to the Paris Hilton in your life, then fire away.
Of course, if you have a Paris Hilton in your life, you may also need this.
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Today, I agreed on a purchase price for this.
It’s going to be a track and fun car, so that I don’t put the 900 at risk. It comes standard with close to 140hp, though I’ve plans for the basic stage 1 mods that will lift it to just over 150hp for very little money. It weighs in at around 1,000kg so it should be fun to whip around.
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Hiatus, vacation, break, calling it quits etc etc. Swade, I think you’re confusing your readers with posting new material. What’s the deal? Are you back or slowly kicking the blogging habit??
There is no kicking the blogging habit - an addiction much stronger than nicotine.
The person responsible for that pink Saab should be horse whipped!
And unlike cigarettes there is no patch or gum for blogging.
i’m definitely not complaining, but i thought TS was going into hibernation? new contect so soon is messing with my emotions!
I’m not complaining! And the idiot’s guide was hilarious! Happy to see he’s still blogging:-)
Kroum summed it up nicely.
I’ll probably be posting a few times a week. Even if I posted once a day it’d be an 80% reduction in my posting rate, which I’d consider a holiday.
Here’s something for ya - between “The End” and “An End, Of Sorts”, several new Saab sites came online and one existing one was trying to establish its credentials as a news site.
No place for old Saab men, you could say.
Oops!
Swade, are you going to be double posting all of my stories?
It’s last week’s story linked there, Kaylan, as well as this weeks. This has been on my radar since last Friday but I had other more pressing things going on at that time.
Just kidding. Im glad to see the guy did in fact eventually get the car out of the water. Although if I was him I dont think I would pose for a photo with my ruined car!
Agreed.
It’s just confusing, that’s all that I am saying… Of course we want you to continue. It starts with posting a few times a week, then once a day and you’ll be back to your old habits in no time…
Quote from your farewell post:
The site will still remain visible as an ongoing archive but there will be no new entries to it after Friday. Between now and then I’ll slot in the odd bit of news if it’s of significant interest, but mostly I’ll be preparing a series of open letters that will be primarily to GM, but will also clear the air on a few other sites and people as well.
Yeah, I know. I think I didn’t understand the full ramifications of that decision at the time. Both in terms of what it might mean for the future of the site (I now think a six month ‘blank’ would be disastrous), as well as my personal daily habits. I find it really hard to turn off completely, especially from something I’ve built from the ground up. I am slowing down though.
Anyone buying a cheap blue Viggen convertible had better be extra careful!
I don’t see the attraction for the Alfa 33. But, most don’t see my attraction for the 900, so what the heck.
Do me a favor and get some good polish — those euro red cars fade in about 20 minutes in my part of the world or yours. I could see some variation in the color in that picture.
Swade:
you just can’t give it up, can ya? But like you said, one post per day is a serious reduction.
In other news: Viggen for sale, blue, never seen snow, great beach car, call for best offer.
Also for sale: Have an upset stomach? Then my 9-3 convertible “Pepto-Bismol” (active ingredient Bismuth Salicylate) is for you.
Swade you can’t leave see, who else do we send the pink Saab pictures too,
Surely an Australian would say: ” Look, mate, you said your were pissing off but your still here. We’ve made arrangemenys mate. But as you are still here, thanks, just make sure you don’t over do it too often and dump on us regularly. Enjoy your holiday mate. Look, its nothing personal mate, but for ….sake have a rest and then come back to us.”
Stevo, you just can’t give it up can you!
Regards
Lance Whingeing- Pom
It’s great to hear that trollhattan saab will continue, albeit at a reduced rate of stories per day.
Towards the “end” i found the number of stories per day almost overwhelming. If i was busy for a few days it was almost impossible to catch up with everything when i finally logged on. I hope you can find the happy medium with your rate of posting.
And those new sites that tried to set up during your hiatus? There is no way they could ever compare to this one.
I agree with cdp88. There were just too many stories for me toward the “end”. Even visiting this site every day, some days the amount of content was overwhelming.
Who’s making fun of my new Saab site?
What cdp88 said. Even 1 story per day is plenty food for thought & provides a much-needed fix for the Saab nuts on this planet! No pressure, though, Swade. It’s important to all of us that you get your health in order so you can keep this blog up for another 50 years!
Hay Swade: It nice to see post’s and all the regular’s. Thanks for the reduction and not
“The End…” LET’S ALL APPRECIATE WHAT WE HAVE WHILE WE HAVE IT. ALL GOOD THINGS DO COME TO AN END AT ONE TIME OR ANOTHER.
Thanks…
“…one existing one was trying to establish its credentials as a news site.” << Too funny.
It takes more than tooting your own horn to establish your street creds around these parts. Nice try though. Judging by the comments, still, no one is biting.
I too have seen the odd news item but TS is where news should be read.
Like real estate agent Faye Rispoli who now arranges her meetings and appointments by locale to offset rising fuel costs.
She was quoted by bizjournals.com that filling her Saab at $60 a throw almost gives her palpitations.
Somehow it makes it sound like her Saab is drinking her out of house and home but I’m sure there a millions of SUV owners out there that are spending far more filling their oversized tanks and only getting half the mileage.
And people still wonder why we drive 4 bangers?
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On another note though.
Internet websites can be compared to disposable goods and people in general are fickle.
I for one am very happy that TS has not ended completely .
It would of meant 3 years of unfathomable hard work gone.
As Swade has already mentioned some sites jumped at a chance to try and take things over on their own site. After a months of lying dormant TS would probably not recover should Swade want to turn up the heat later on.
Swade keep it coming but pace yourself mate.
I just recently found your blog and love reading it!
I was wondering if anybody can answer my question,
I have a 2003 9-5 linear sedan and was eyeing Hirsch’s Aero body kit (along with other Hirsch items), my dealer told me that American Saabs and European Saabs are different and the parts may not be compatible. Is this true?
If that pink 9-3 weren’t a Saab, it’d be worthless.
John - Your dealer’s sort of right, but not really. Specifications on US and Euro Saabs are slightly different, but that’s not why you can’t get Hirsch in the US.
The reason you can’t get Hirsch in the US is that SaabUSA haven’t agreed to promote and distribute Hirsch’s products. They don’t see that there’s an economic case for offering their customers an official, in-house tuning option that’s covered by a factory warranty. And yet they still regard themselves as premium.
Unfortunately, Hirsch are bound by their agreements with Saab, which say that they can’t trade in a country unless Saab in that country (i.e. SaabUSA in this instance) agree to back the product and promote it - which they haven’t done in the US, or in Australia. That means you can’t even go to Hirsch directly as a customer and order something. As soon as they know you’re from the US, they can’t deal with you.
If you’d like that to change, you need to let Saab USA know. It’ll only be one voice, but hopefully there might be enough voices that do the same.
I’ve been on their case about it for a few years now, to no effect.
but I’ve found a website that carries Hirsch products that will (and has in the past) shipped products to the states that’s based in UK.
heard of partsforsaabs.com?
I’ve tried contacting them about the issue, but no response. thanks for replying so quickly!
Swade, going for the sexy Italian eh? Really nice if you get a reliable one.
Has anyone on this site had experience with the recent model Alfas? Are they any more reliable than those of years past? I love the styling on the 159 but afraid she might be a little too high maintenance.
John,
Yeah, eith PFS or Elkparts will ship them, and that’s OK if the item is easy enough to fit yourself. Check with your technician if they can assist if the item’s more complex.
Also, if your car still has a factory warranty, you may want to make yourself aware of how that might be affected.
Craig - I’m expecting the 33 to be pretty reliable. It’s the last of the 33s and like most last generation cars, the bugs are ironed out. They had heard about rust-proofing by then, too, which is handy
I heard there was a little bit of trouble with the Selespeeds when they first came out in the 156, but I think they got that pretty well sorted and that with the 159 replacing the 156, it should all be pretty bullet proof by now.
Thanks Swade!
unfortunately or fortunately, i don’t have to worry about any kind of warranty.
P.S. you can’t stop updating this site! All the other people I talk to ask me “why the hell would you want to upgrade your Saab?!”
some new info on the 9-5 at saab central. is there any more info out there?
Hi Swade,
Glad to see you still doing some blogging while on hiatus. I was getting worried as to who I’d send PINK Saab pix to…
Your new Alfa project should give you some respite & needed diversion, good luck & have fun.