Category Archives: Saab Videos

XWD Saab gets a little jumpy….

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Holy cow!!

There’s nothing to type here as I’m still in shock. Any information on who these absolute legends are would be most welcome.

I tip my hat to their dedication.

Thanks Eduard and Greg Abbott for the link.

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And here’s a freeze-frame of the jump. Any guesses as to how high?

That really is somewhat amazing. Thankfully there’s no visible details on the tags so as long as you keep white-T-shirt guy out of the dealership your warranty should be OK :-)

Again, just fantastic entertainment (though I’m glad it’s not my car!)

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New Saab Ad online

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My Youtube subscription updater shot me an email overnight to tell me that Monkeyknifefight13 put a new video online.

That’s always an exciting thing because Monkeyknifefight13 works for McCann Erickson, Saab’s advertising agency. His latest video is the new Saab ad for the US market, an ad for XWD called Read The Road.

Embedded video isn’t working too well on this site at the moment, so I can’t post the video here in the article.

You can watch it in the sidebar on the right, or click here to watch it at Youtube.

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Video: Saab Rider

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Here’s a cool little clip. Hopefully it might turn into a cool little series of clips.

It’s supposed to be a Saab spin on Knight Rider and whilst I’m not sure how well it succeeds at that (then again, would you want to? Not even Knight Rider succeeds at Knight Rider in 2008), it’s very well made and is a lot of fun to watch. The big drawcard for me is that it gives you a fantastic look at one of the Saabiest Saabs in history – a Saab 99 GL.

It was a special treat for me personally, too, as the car had the same white exterior and green interior color combination as my old Saab 99 Turbo.

Thanks to Peter for the link, and whoever you are, please feel free to give us more.

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I’m having some trouble hosting video here at the moment, so you have two options:

1) watch it in small screen using the video embedded in the right sidebar —–>

OR

2) Click here to watch it on YouTube

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New Saab Performance Team video

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I got an email overnight from the guys at GM’s hipster site, igotshotgun.com. They’ve recently done a piece on the Saab Performance Team, showing that Swedes in sunnies can be hip, too.

It’s short, sweet and full of smoke.

Enjoy.

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And if you’re feeling like a little more SPT, here’s the video I shot in Sweden last year at Kinnekulle Raceway. It’s even got me playing bass guitar in the soundtrack!

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Turbo X: the drive that stole the show

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Last weekend I attended a drive day sponsored by Saab Australia at the GM Holden proving grounds at Lang Lang, in south eastern Victoria.

Because Saab Australia only has one Turbo X to act as a photographic model AND press car, they didn’t want us car club hoons driving it at high speeds on a dirt track. To make sure we got something memorable out of it, though, they brought in Peter Johansson to take us for a spin.

During the week, Peter is the lead engineer working for GM on XWD applications for front-wheel drive vehicles. He’s third-gen Saab, his grandfather working on tooling for the very first Saabs and his dad working for them as an engineer as well. Peter and his Dad came up with some early AWD technology, which they sold to a company called Haldex in Sweden. See where this is going?

On the weekends, Peter drives rally cars. The AWD technology that he and his dad developed was primarily a response to his own needs in rallying. Not only can he build this stuff, he can really use it too.

There were four events on the program. I’ll get to the other three in another post, but this was the final event that our group took part in – Peter Johansson taking us for a hot lap on the GM proving ground dirt track in the Saab Turbo X.

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Peter got to speeds of up to around 170 km/h on the back section of the track and if you’ve never been that quick on dirt, let me tell you it’s quite an experience!

The car was an auto, much to Peter’s disappointment, but he still gave it a pretty good run.

This really was the highlight of the day. The car’s incredibly solid and to see it in the hands of an expert was quite a revelation. We did two laps of filming at the end of the day and the brake rotors were glowing at the end of them!

I hope you enjoyed the video. There’s plenty more to come from the weekend.

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A Saab marketing lesson from the past

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Thanks to Andy, the resident TS vocalist, I came across this very even-handed review of Saab 9000 Turbo from 1991. It was done by MotorWeek, a program produced by Maryland Public Television here in the US. For those of you not from the States, Maryland is a relatively small but densely populated state just north of the capitol, Washington, D.C. Additionally, here in the US, generally only one station on television in any given area is “public”, that is, government-supported and commercial-free.

I’ve always loved MotorWeek for their reviews of vehicles. They are long on objectivity and content, but short on glitz and entertainment values. Since public television is commercial-free, their reviews tend to be a little longer and more detailed than their counterparts on commercial television. On the other hand, I’ve not been such a fan of the Goss’ Garage (sic) package. I feel that it’s much too general and much too simplified for most true auto enthusiasts (case in point: one segment spent about five minutes talking about why oil changes needed to be done on a regular basis).

This review of the 1991 9000 is no disappointment. It shows off the 9000 in a good light, and lays the critisicm where it needs to be laid. Easy enough, if you can get past the acid-washed jeans and high-top sneakers. Noice!

What caught my attention here was a comment from John Davis comparing Saab to other European brands towards the close of the video:

“Saab takes a more evolutionary path. One that favors refining what works rather than chasing the latest marketing gimmick. This has allowed Saab products like the 9000 Turbo to consistently offer value, performance and an exhilerating driving experience you can’t get anywhere else.”

That’s about as succinct as it gets, folks. Well said, Mr. Davis, well said.

Is there a kernel of truth in that quote for Saab to build on for future marketing campaigns? I think that there certainly is. Portray Saab as a refinement of what works. Turbocharging is a prime example, as is front-wheel drive and XWD. Saab: Simply refined or Born from Jets and refined by drivers. Brighter minds than mine can bring that message out in better ways, but I really think that general train of thought has legs.

Watch and comment.