Mark Ward started the Saabrina the Electric Saab blog in June 2005 and I wrote my first post about it in January 2006. We’ve been following Mark’s progress in turning his 1995 Saab 900 into an all-electric vehicle ever since.

I’m sad to report that back in April of this year, there was a fire at Mark’s house. In the garage. It didn’t originate in the Saab, but the Saab was destroyed as a result. You can read the full tragic story here.

Mark had a good experience with his home insurer, but is having a terrible time with the company that insured the Saab. They want to pay a somewhat worthless market value that doesn’t reflect in any way the amount of money that’s been invested in this operational electric vehicle. Mark’s now in what might turn out to be a messy legal dispute.

My advice from all this: First and foremost, make sure you have an agreed value on your vehicle’s insurance policy, especially if it’s unusual or likely to be worth more than what an insurance company might typically value it at.

Secondly, if you do get involved in an insurance dispute, have documents for everything. Dot your i’s and cross your t’s. The main reason I succeeded in my dispute last year was a pretty watertight case on my side and some very sloppy work on the part of my insurer.

——

A quick thought…..

As cupholders are so very important, especially in the US, why not sell the cars with Saab-branded and insulated drink containers that are designed to fit securely in those all-important cupholders?

When a customer comes to take delivery of his/her car, there’s the drink containers already insitu. Make them portable so that they can go inside at the home/office. Make them attractive to look at make them fit snugly and securely in Saab’s standard cupholders.

Don’t tell me that it wouldn’t make a great first impression. I reckon it’d be one of the first talking points when the new owner is asked about the car by a neighbor or colleague.

NB: Saab expressions do have a couple of flasks and mugs for sale, but none appear to be matched to the cupholders, nor to the interior colors of the cars Saab sell.

——

The AutoProphet has the low-down on the latest car-buying scam.

Essential reading for those who might be considering purchasing online (Ebay, Craigslist, etc)

——

Some of the Saab models in Paris looking a little demure and dreamy, unaware that they were being snapped.

From Flickr.

——

And also from Flickr, a beautiful shot of a Saab 9-5 with a little HDR photo finishing for enhancement. What a great car.

——

I’ve never posted images of my first Saab on this website. I don’t have a scanner and I owned this car well before digital was available. It was a Saab 99E from 1972, with a gleaming red paint job and a bordello-style red interior.

I only had it a short time when my ex-wife wrote it off by backing out of a car port with the door open. The door bent right back on itself, doing damage similar to the shot at left.

We condemned the car to the wrecking yard, knowing that even if we had the money to fix it, which we didn’t, the repair cost would probably far outweigh the $1,000 we’d paid for it. As it turns out, we were right.

This car belongs to Craig D, a Saab guy in Sydney, and he notes in comments to the photo that the damage was quoted at around $4300 to fix, which would have been much too much to justify fixing my little 99 all those years ago.

Still, I wish I had that car again. I swear I’d turn my house into a yard for stray Saabs if we had the room (and if my wife would let me).

-