Aussies upgrading

November 14th, 2008 · 11 Comments

A little over 12 months ago I flew up to Sydney to buy my 1985 Saab 900 Aero. One night that weekend I met up with a bunch of Sydney Saabers at the Belgian Beer Cafe (BBC) in what has become an occasional ritual for these guys. Their last meetup was a few weeks ago when Lance Cole was en route through Sydney on his way down here.

We get a lot of regular laughs, too, via some very long and convoluted email exchanges. It’s not considered unusual to be away from your inbox for a few days and come back to 50+ emails in a chain that starts with someone asking a question about a particular car and ends with discussion about a lack of effluence, or Richo asking Joe Lobo out on a date.

Back at that initial BBC meeting, Richo was driving his Viggen, JoeLobo was in his pristine 2002 Saab 9-3 Aero, Hawkeye was in a megaclean Saab 9-3S, Brendan B was in his 99 EMS and PT, who didn’t attend, had a Saab NG900.

Another guy who’s a regular in our email exchanges, Turbin, couldn’t attend that night because he lives elsewhere in Australia, but he was driving a 1.8t Saab 9-3 SportCombi at that time.

What a difference a year or so can make:

I’ve added an Alfa to the stable.

Richo still has his Viggen, but it’s for sale as he recently picked up a BMW 3-series in what we’re all hoping will be a brief dalliance with the dark side.

Hawkeye ordered his 2008 Saab 9-3 well before they became available here and was quite possibly the first BioPower owner here in Australia.

Joe Lobo tearfully parted with his 9-3 Aero but consoled himself with the acquisition of a Turbo X

I believe Brendan’s on the lookout for a modern turbocharged Saab as we speak after getting his non-turbo kicks in a Renault Clio Sport for a while.

PT has just finalised his decision between a 9-5 and a 9-3 wagon, settling earlier this week on the 2006 Saab 9-3 SportCombi to replace the 1994 Saab 900 that is his wife’s daily driver and kid-taxi.

And Turbin (who I finally met in person earlier this year) prompted this whole post because he’s just agreed terms on a Titan Grey 2008 Saab 9-3 SportCombi TiD, trading in his old SportCombi and taking advantage of the rather massive Saab loyalty Bonus that’s on offer right now here in Australia.

Apparently it’ll look just like this:

Congratulations, Turbin and PT, on the new acquisitions!!

That first time we all met up at the BBC we spent around 2 hours or more ~~flogging~~ driving each other’s cars around the local streets. It’s was a constant procession of Saabs coming and going.

With all this new blood coming in, I think it’s almost time for me to get up there for another dinner so I can drive all those new cars (well, most of ‘em. Richo might have to bring his old car ).

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Tags: Saabology

11 responses so far ↓

1 eggsngrits // Nov 14, 2008 at 7:52 am

Well done, all (except Richo, of course).

Belgian Beer — can I come???? You wouldn’t let a friend in need of a Rodenbach without his propers, now would you?
2 turbin // Nov 14, 2008 at 8:33 am

+ sunroof.

And Swade, you never made my Saab pride pics enlargable! Boo! I’m sure that hurt my POO prize chances, I wanted that Emma Elk for my new (at the time) son. Luckily he got one from the Saab Performance Team, in person ; P
3 MitchbSC // Nov 14, 2008 at 9:15 am

Just to add to the positive ownership news (with apologies to the Aussies because I’m in the States), my wife picked up a 2008 9-3 2.0T Convertible last weekend on the Red Tag special. She lost her 9-7x Aero to an airbag malfunction in May. She got to driving my 9-5 Aero sedan a couple weeks ago. The GMC Acadia just didn’t have the thrill. I go on a business trip and return to find balance has returned to my driveway.
4 PT // Nov 14, 2008 at 9:44 am

Nice story Mitch. Saabs have always been about balance in my view.

as for the rest of us - perhaps we’re just like a bunch of ten year olds trying the high dive board at the local pool for the first time and group mentality takes over:

You go!
No, you!
No, you go
what the hell, lets all go!

Definitely time for some Belgian beer for you Swade.
5 mike c // Nov 14, 2008 at 12:24 pm

@MitchSC: Will you get the keys from time to time?
6 Hawkeye // Nov 14, 2008 at 12:33 pm

If anybody wants details of our next meeting at the BBC in Sydney, just email Swade!
7 Richo // Nov 14, 2008 at 12:40 pm

Jose, will u go out with me?
8 Brendan // Nov 14, 2008 at 12:55 pm

Swade, why don’t you come back up with Lance?
9 Joe Lobo // Nov 14, 2008 at 12:56 pm

Yeah, that was a great night and a tradition that started from that date onwards. And yes, we were like bloody little infants driving each and everyone’s Saab backwards and forwards. My kids still remember Swade’s infamous slogan to the poor Forester owner that was blocking us from lining up our cars for the shoot out: “Who owns this ugly Subaru brick, get it out of here !!!”. That was just when the 2 owners walked to their car which we all of course prayed it for being “a lovely car”. As for e-mails overload, once I counted 182 going around in circles as we’ve even offended some of our colleagues in Melbourne by being to distractive and obtrusive to their daily work. We look forward to having you back, I will let you take to Turbo X for a short drive. But not Richo, as he never took me out !!!
10 MitchbSC // Nov 14, 2008 at 3:02 pm

@mike c: “Will you get the keys from time to time?”

Since she’s paying for it, all my driving will be under her strict supervision. I drove it for the first time today. She was not all-in for getting it sideways in the rain on wet leaves. I had to ask.

But I think she’s saving that honor for herself later. She loved the skidpad at the Aero Academy.
11 Joel // Nov 15, 2008 at 4:19 am

Confession time:

I’ve been driving a 1990 Volvo 740 turbo for the past 5.5 months, as a replacement to my deceased 1987 SAAB 9000 turbo. As much fun as RWD in a turbo can be, I really miss SAABs. The car looks great from the outside, boxy and sporty. The interior on the other hand is crap. Not the greatest materials, really no ergonomics at all. A far cry from SAAB interiors. At least the Volvo also has heated seats. I’ll mention that my headliner is also sagging. Must be a faulty Swedish glue used back then

Performance wise, the Volvo feels slower than my previous SAAB, and is certainly MUCH heavier. The gas mileage is pretty poor too. I think I can only get around 20 mpg maximum, and that’s if I baby it.

Winter driving is turning out to be not as fun as I imagined it to be. I though it’d be fun fish-tailing around a lot, but it turns out that most of the time I’m making an effort to keep it straight. Yikes.

So needless to say, I’m getting really anxious to buy a SAAB again. I’d love to have a nice classic 9000 aero, but have also been looking into older 9-5’s and Viggens. Oh how I’d love to have a SAAB again.