Monthly Archives: September 2008

Images from Top Gear Australia

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As a post-script to my quick review of Top Gear Australia’s first episode last night, Trent W has been kind enough to shoot through a handful of images from the show.

I wrote about the soft-roader story and how Charlie Cox got the Toyota Rav4 airborne when he failed to stop at the finish line of the dune race.

Here it is:

Here’s Australian actor Vince Colosimo with a picture of his first Saab, a 900 Aero. Apparently he still drives Saabs today, currently pushing a 9-5 Aero around.

And finally, a still from when they tried to lure a Great White in to eat a Mini Moke.

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The show copped a fair bit of flak on some fronts today, with people criticising the rapport between the presenters and some of the story scripts.

Me? I think it was a great first effort. Being in front of a camera doesn’t come naturally to everyone and I thought the guys did well. It can only get better.

The good news is that the show rated really, really well. So much so that they’re already pencilling in a second series.

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The Skoda Sonett?!

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My thanks to T-shirt guru, Ivan, for passing this one along.

It seems a certain Eastern European car company might have been pinching their designs, or at least their design inspirations, from someone else back in the 1960s.

This is a Skoda 1100GT from 1970.

The brief story is as follows:

Saab opened a dealership at 1962 in Czechslovakia. They sold some 96s and two Sonett II, one for a race driver, another for the AZPN (Automobilove Závodny Narodni Podnik) at 1968. They bought it in order to copy it, so Skoda released the 1100 GT the next year.

It’s powered by a 1.1 litre four-cylinder engine providing 75 HP and capable of reaching a 175 km/h maximum speed.

And we have film!!

The car was used in a Czech horror flick back in the early 1980s. It’s a movie about vampire cars that drink human blood for fuel (Ivan’s note: very environmentally friendly!). The movie was called Upír z Feratu.

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Saab dreams

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It’s March 30th, 2010. Exactly 18 months from today.

Whilst the rest of the world is still recovering from President Palin’s invasion of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver*, LL Bean carparks across America resonate to the sound of twin exhausts as SaabUSA conduct demonstration days there (but only on rainy days) at the behest of their new CEO, a previously underacknowledged blogger.

OK, that’s not a likely scenario. The Canadians will hold the Alaskerican advance at Whistler. But I’ll be 40 years old that day and I’d like to envision something.

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September 2008 may well be remembered as Black September or something similarly bleak. The credit crunch that blew out to a crisis bigger than the GDP of most countries. The vote that squashed the potential solution. GM might do better if they try and ride a unicorn to the end of a rainbow in order to access some cash.

And September car sales? They’ll probably make August look like a picnic. In August, US Saab sales fell 50% compared to the prior year. In July it was 37% and in June it was 57%. For the whole year so far, Saab sales are down by 33%.

In the last few years, the management at Saab USA have canned two premium elements of Saab’s existence in the US: the European Delivery Program as well as the Aero Academy driving school.

They persist with outdated and boneheaded options packages that deny the consumer a chance to get what they really want at a reasonable price.

The brand’s image is defined more by the lack of advertising than by any messages contained within the meagre number of ads that are actually aired.

Dealerships are closing at a rate that’s unheard of and those that remain will mostly be combined Cadillac-Saab showrooms that’ll bring little marketing benefit to either brand.

For 2009, they’re releasing a 2.0T XWD model without the e-LSD option that would make it truly remarkable and in these lease-averse times, they’re pricing their cars well and truly out of the reach of their natural market, happy to appear desperate when Edmunds once again reports (in any given month) that Saab spent more on incentives than any other car maker.

And for some strange reason I can live with all this. I’ll give you two reasons:

1) My confidence that the management there will have moved on to other things by March 30, 2010**, and

2) As always, it’s the product, stupid!

One can dream……

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It’s March 30th, 2010.

I’m recently home after travelling to Vancouver to watch the Winter Olympics, which went off without a hitch and were thoroughly entertaining. Long live elite sport! The trials of driving around Vancouver back in 2008 were a thing of the past with all the infrastructure work that so pained our travels a few years ago proving to be totally worthwhile.

It’s my 40th birthday and as I rise and go about my normal daily routine, I get an email from Alex in New England telling me he’s booked his European Delivery trip to pick up his new Saab 9-5. The car’s now built in Germany but they ship it to Trollhattan for delivery in order to maintain that authentic feeling. Alex is still a little undecided on whether to make a side trip to Hirsch in Switzerland. Their work is now permitted for fitment to US vehicles, but it’s still fairly expensive. Darn US dollar.

Alex is still very excited, though, and for good reason. The new Saab 9-5 that debuted just a year earlier at the Geneva Motor Show has been voted International Car of the Year. I drove it at the product launch in Sweden 8 months ago, just after the Saab Festival, and it really was a stunner.

I smile as I gaze over my monitor and look at the photo of a Cadillac sign being removed from a car dealership in Leipzig. Someone happened to be nearby when it happened and they snapped the photo for me, knowing how much it would mean to me to see the wreath and crest experiment in Europe finally cease.

That decision meant that funds were freed up to fast track the development of the Saab 9-1 compact car, a production version of which should be showing in Paris in six months time, with another 12 months before it goes on sale. The new GM CEO, Carl-Peter Forster, confirmed the model just days ago.

And that’s the real reason I’m smiling.

Life begins at 40, apparently. Well, not quite. We’ve still got a reasonable mortgage to pay off, but by the time the 9-1 comes around we should be well positioned to purchase our first ever brand new car and the 9-1 is the one that I want.

As I mentioned, the new 9-5 is an absolute stunner, but it’s too expensive for me and I’m more partial to smaller cars, anyway. The 9-5 has been an outstanding success, though. I got word just a few weeks ago that it’s now outselling the 9-3 in Germany, which is now on track to become Saab’s second largest market on the strength of some price re-positioning with the 9-3 and the sheer brilliance of the 9-5.

The 9-4x is selling in solid numbers there and in all other markets where it’s offered. It turned out to be a fair entry into the crossover market, but the rush away from larger vehicles in the US as frugality came to the fore back in 2009 really dented it’s chances of making a major impression. Hopefully it’ll do better there next year when the diesel model comes out and they replace that straight six base engine with a DI turbocharged four.

Yes, the US is still Saab’s largest market. When Steve Shannon moved on to another role back at Buick last May, some new blood came in and reassessed things. Progress has still been slow there due to the recession continuing, but things are looking up. Whilst the Aero Academy never returned, other measures have been taken to rebuild the premium nature of the brand in the US.

It all started when they gutted the Customer Service division previously controlled at a central GM office somewhere in Michigan. That office repeatedly proved beyond doubt that they were idiots in search of a village and the new crew, trained exclusively by Saab staff so as to deliver a consistent message and actually care for the customer, has done wonders at a grass roots level to begin the job of restoring faith amongst the brand community. Saab’s own internet forums (yes, they finally embraced the internet) are abuzz with positive experience stories.

Since then, they’ve tossed the Born from Jets slogan and McCann Erickson have produced some great advertising, which has actually been seen by consumers as Saab finally took a decision to show their wares in major markets.

The final piece of the puzzle will be the new Saab 9-3, which will be built in Trollhattan from later this year. 2008 buyers weren’t that happy when Saab dropped the price of the 9-3 late in 2009, but everyone else acknowledged that this was a necessary step. The new 9-3 will be slightly smaller than the outgoing model, and will once again cement the 9-3 as Saab’s undisputed volume seller.

Ah well, that’s my morning email out of the way. Time to head into Trollhattan Saab HQ for another day at the office. One of my contacts at Saab Oz messaged me twice last night about the big Australian 9-5 launch I’m attending tomorrow. Apparently Mr Ian Thorpe is demanding only blue M&M’s in his dressing room to remind him of his swimming days.

Moody biatch!

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* this isn’t a political blog, but I couldn’t resist at least one reference. It’ll stop now.

** I have nothing against the current management of SaabUSA personally. They’re all great guys. But I can’t identify a single positive thing that’s come out of those offices in the last 18 months.

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Saab Nordic Adventure

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Maybe you think that Saab in Motion website in the UK isn’t worth visiting? They’re giving away prizes there and one of them might just resemble this trip.

Our unofficial Saab ambassador to the UK, Robin M, recently travelled to Sweden with his wife Kerry for a Nordic adventure, courtesy of Saab. His trip was a reward for his efforts to get as many people as possible to test drive a 9-3 TTiD during a eight-week stint earlier this year.

This is his account.

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by Robin Morley
4th – 9th September 2008

Kerry and I had a fantastic opportunity given to us earlier in the year. We were entered into a competition by Saab to see how many test drives we could get in eight weeks. We were presented with a brand new Saab 9-3 Aero TTiD and told to do our best. If we came out on top we would win a Saab Nordic Adventure. A few weeks after the Saab went back we had a phone call from David Pugh congratulating us on our hard work.

So it was on the 4th September 2008 that we met up with Katie Easy and Andy from General Motors UK Events at Heathrow Airport who greeted us at the SAS check-in area. We were one of four lucky couples to be going on this fantastic trip.

At just after 2pm Swedish time we landed in Stockholm and were met by a Saab representative who showed us to our coach for sight seeing tour of Stockholm.

After a tour of the city we arrived at the Clarion Hotel Sign where we had a couple of hours to rest or go shopping. Around 7pm we took a short Walk to ‘Isbaren’ which is the Stockholm Absolut Ice Bar. Vodka cocktails are served in glasses made of ice in a room kept at a constant minus five degrees. A nice dinner followed by a short walk back to the hotel for an early night and an early start.

At 7am the next morning we boarded the Express Train to Arlanda Airport which only took 22mins to get us back to the airport

We flew to Östersund airport where we were greeted by our hosts from Saab Trollhattan and three members of the Saab Performance Team.

After a short presentation and safety talk we were all told to pick a Saab Turbo X which had been waiting for us outside on the airfield. We then convoyed to the other side of the airfield where we found a driving course set up for us. Then we all took turns in practicing to drive fast but safely around obstacles and learned how to break on wet surfaces as well as avoiding the moose.

After a dinner break we went back to the same track and then individually had to drive the whole circuit as fast as possible (with no fear of the moose appearing) and avoid hitting the cones. This was a fun competition with prizes for everyone when the times had been worked out.

The cones were then all cleared away so that the Saab Performance Team could put on a show for us. This included all the fast turns and close driving which The Team are famous for. Then Kenneth took one of the cars for a two wheel drive, some times the car was near vertical as he drove around the tarmac. We were then all invited into the 9-3 Aero for a passenger ride as he did hand break turns, 360’s, fast drives in reverse and the odd 780 degree spin.

When all the excitement had calmed down we all got back into our Saab Turbo X and departed for our hotel in Åre. A predetermined route was provided to our Hotel Granen.

The day was completed with a Dinner at Restaurant Dahlboms (Famous Swedish Chef Jonas Dahlbom’s place)

The next day we all went Mountain Biking, some of the group chose a rough ride down the mountain and some of us, including me, went for the more sedate Cross Country downhill route. A quick bite of lunch back at the hotel followed by a trip to the river for some “tame” White Water Rafting. Back to the hotel for a rest.

At 6.30 we all got into taxi’s for a trip to Fäviken which is a famous Swedish hunting lodge, we were given a tour and then, in groups, helped to prepare some of the items for the meal to come. After a fantastic meal we then had the presentation of awards for the previous days driving. Much laughter was heard when they presented Sarah with the sign she had destroyed in the breaking test. A very good night all round.

The Sunday morning saw us check out of the hotel and head for the Åre Chocolate Factory in our Saab 9-3 Turbo X then onto Kretsloppshuset for lunch. Then it was a nice drive to the airport where we had to say good bye to our cars and the Saab Performance team.

Kerry and I would like to thank Cheryl, Katie and Andy from Saab GB for the great hospitality they gave us and Kenneth, Kent and Jean of the Saab Performance Team for the lessons and entertainment.

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There’s 457 photos and 13 videos over at Robin’s Flickr site. Plenty to see.

My thanks to Robin for sending this in. I have very fond memories of my brief time in Sweden and found myself feeling quite envious as I read through it all and viewed the images.

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Top Gear Australia – first episode

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The first episode of Top Gear Australia – the first Top Gear franchise to be produced and filmed outside the UK with a cast not called Clarkson, Hammond and May – has just aired on Australian TV.

And the good news is: There is hope. And Saab had a nice little cameo role, too.

In place of the aforementioned British crew were Charlie Cox, Warren Brown and Steve Pizzati, pictured at left. The scripts were pretty good, as were the filmed episodes. If there was anything lacking, maybe it was a bit of training for the Australian audience. Either Clarkson and Co are much, much funnier, or the Brits cue laughter from the audience much better. The Aussie audience were a pretty quiet bunch, which took a little away from the atmosphere of the in-studio parts of the show.

Outside the studio, we had a mixed bag of stories.

The big story of the night was a two-part film of all three members testing ‘soft roaders’ from the surf to the snow (Toyota Rav4, Subaru Forrester, Nissan X-Trail). They started with a race around some huge sand dunes, which saw the first near-disaster of the show as Charlie Cox ignored the finish line and kept flying – literally – over the top of the dune where they were supposed to stop the clock. His Toyota Rav4 stayed airborne for some time until it landed safely on the steep slope below. It was either totally spontaneous or very, very well acted.

There was also a review of the new Porsche 911, the one with the new twin-clutch gearbox.

They tested a number of vehicles around their test track, including a Hummer stretch limo. And yes, we have an Aussie Stig, which they were tempted to re-name Stiggsy, or Stiggo, but didn’t. The fastest car was the new Nissan GT-R. besting the BMW M3, a big sporty Merc and a Lotus Elise by over two seconds.

There was a pointless and way too short session with the Maybach 57S.

And finally, a great story where Warren Brown tried to see if he could feed a Mini Moke to a great white shark. They fitted the Moke with a safety cage, dropped Warren into it and then lowered the car into the ocean off Port Lincoln in South Australia. Just to make sure the sharks came in to play, they also dumped a bucket of fish guts and blood into the water.

The Moke and Warren both survived, despite the bait attracting some very, very large White Pointers.

So down to the Saab cameo.

The inagural “Star in a bog-standard car” featured an Australian actor named Vince Colosimo. He’s a young Italian guy with a great reputation in Australian TV. His most recent role was a brilliant part in a dramatisation of the Melbourne underworld war, a series called Underbelly.

As they discussed Colosimo’s motoring past, going through the expected list of Holden Commodores, Cox called for a pause when Colosimo stated “then I went through my Saab stage”. Colosimo waxed lyrical about his Saab 900 Aero and how it was the perfect blend of sports car and luxury car. It was the perfect testimony to the greatness of the Saab 900 and I couldn’t help but feel a warm little glow somewhere (or maybe I just wet myself).

Anyway……. The Top Gear mothership has launched its first satellite, and it seems to be flying on its own without too many problems.

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2009 Saab 9-3 Hirsch – German market

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After covering it in another article earlier today, I’ve now received fuller details of the 2009 Saab 9-3 Hirsch model for the German market.

This car gets the full Hirsch treatment and reads like a very desireable model that Saab should be marketing everywhere.

To the enhancements, first:

The base car for the Hirsch Performance model is the 2009 Saab 9-3 with 2.8 V6, XWD (with E-LSD) plus the following Hirsch Performance components:
- Upgrade to 300hp
- Mesh grille
- Front splitter
- Stainless steel dual exhaust
- Rear diffuser
- Bootlid spoiler or roof spoiler (bridge spoiler)
- Lowered Suspension
- 345mm Brake
- 19” wheels (diamond black or satin silver)
- Carbon leather dash board
- Carbon leather interior trim set
- Leather door handles, handbrake handle and smart slot cover
- Aluminium pedals

And here’s an outside picture to get you drooling.

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Hirsch vehicles are not just about the numbers, which are definitely impressive in this instance. They’re about the seamless integration of factory quality parts to create a truly aggressive yet very driveable vehicle. It’s long been an issue on this website that Hirsch isn’t promoted in all Saab markets and this vehicle is further proof that Hirsch are capable of presenting one heck of a great automobile.

I’d urge anyone who hasn’t done so to seek some seat time in a Hirsched Saab. It really is an experience to remember.

To those of you fortunate enough to have access to Hirsch products, I hope you avail yourselves of this opportunity. Some of the aftermarket products out there are pretty good, but I’m yet to drive another vehicle that was as complete a package as Jeff B’s Saab 9-5 Hirsch.

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2009 Saab 9-5 – details for Germany (bonus: 9-3 Hirsch info as well!)

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Hot on the heels of details coming through for the 2009 Saab 9-5 in Sweden, we’ve now received a little information for the German edition in what will be the final year for this generation of the Saab 9-5.

Saab 9-5:

In Germany, the Griffin Edition replaces all other types: Linear, Vector and Aero.

Every 9-5 will have the Aero body trim and you can get any engine option you want. The models wil be named as they are in Sweden: the Linear Griffin and the Vector Griffin.

The Linear is the same as the car in the article for Sweden. The Vector Griffin for Germany also has a Harman Kardon sound system, electric seats and a black polished (piano) trim level for the interior.

Unlike in Sweden, however, Germany will also get the 260hp engine variant as a Griffin Edition.

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Below is a picture, believed to be a 9-5 Griffin edition, recently photographed at Saab in Trollhattan. Another shot of the new Griffin rims follows.

Click.

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See here for full details on the 2009 Saab 9-3 Hirsch model for the German market. With picture!

Saab 9-3:

The 2009 Saab 9-3 is now again available as a Hirsch Performance model in the German market.

The Sedan and SportCombi come standard with XWD and 300 Hp (a 300hp Saab 9-3 available from a dealer – YES!! – SW). The cars have special front flaps, a different Hirsch style grille in the front, the new 19 inch rims, and a special Hirsch diffusor.

Sadly, we don’t have pictures of the grille and the diffusor as yet. The Convertible is also available with the Hirsch package but the torque is reduced from 430 NM to 400 NM.

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Thanks as always, to Djup Strupe.

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More on that STCC Saab 9-3…… and who likes racing?

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I posted on the good news of a Saab 9-3 being entered in the 2009 Swedish Touring Car Championship series last week. I’ve just received an email this morning pointing me towards some new, more detailed images of the vehicle under development.

The images are on a page over at Garaget, which I thought was a little strange, but they’re great images and really inspiring for those of us who like motorsport and love the idea of a Saab being competitive in motorsport again.

I love the big Saab badge on the steering wheel!

And all this brings me to the question – who likes racing, anyway?

I’ve discovered a renewed interest in motorsports in recent times. In fact, one of my prime reasons for buying my Alfa 33 was so that I could participate in some grass roots motorsports next year without stressing out my 900 Turbo (the fact that one of the main motorsports clubs here in Hobart is an Italian car club helped in the Alfa choice).

I reckon motorsports participation is a big brand-builder. It doesn’t help so much with the female demographic, but despite the growth in that particular market place (Toyota wouldn’t be where they are without it), guys still buy cars, too, and motorsports is a great tool for gaining exposure and credibility. It’s the ultimate cradle for engineering development.

I see this move into the Swedish Touring Car Championship is a positive step for the Saab brand. I hope GM Europe allow Saab some latitude in supporting this team (it’s not a factory Saab team) with parts and development.

Take a look at the other pics at the link above, and then feel free to chime in and let me know what you think.

And if you’re interested in grassroots motorsport, check out Racing Ready. It’s run by a regular from here, Dan S, and it’s chronicling his journey from observer to participant in grassroots motorsport. Dan’s looking to get up and running in Autocross around San Antonio, where he lives. I’ve found the site entertaining and useful, especially seeing I’m in a similar boat here.

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Thanks to Dippen for the Garaget link!

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