Local Tasmanian Saabnut, Drew B, is doing a fixer-upper repair job on a 1995 V6 Saab 900. I covered the initial stages of the job a few weeks ago.

Let’s recap.

When Drew first got the car, it looked like this:

After removing the damaged radiator panel (and associated bits) and straightening the supports, the new panel was spot welded into position and primed, ready to go:

So where are we at now? Well, it’s not quite done yet, but should be on the weekend. Have a look….

[Read the rest of this entry →]

Saab are taking some critical bagging in the motoring press this week as various outlets do their year-end thing.

Autoblog have run a post listing ten vehicles that don’t deserve their engines. One of the ten is the Saab 9-7x Aero, which has the same LS2 engine as the 2005-2007 Corvette under the hood.

Their contention - one that I can very well understand - is that the 9-7x is pretty much the anti-Saab and as such is a blight on the brand (I wouldn’t go that far). Despite the fact that the 9-7x Aero is without doubt the best Trailblazer-derivative there has ever been, they say that a vehicle that so poorly represents the brand on the badge shouldn’t have such a ripping powerplant.

People who own a 9-7x Aero will disagree, but I can see Autoblog’s point, pointless as it is for them to make it.

Thanks Alexandre!

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Australia’s Drive has compiled a list of Hits and Misses for 2008, and Saab’s on it. You might have already guessed that they’re not on the “Hits” section.

Currently Saab and Hummer fall under the umbrella of GM premium brands but the US car maker will soon bring Cadillacs to showrooms. It’s a bold move and one that was delayed until 2009, something of a blessing given the economic crisis. The next big challenge for Cadillac is taking on the likes of BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi.

GM will no doubt be hoping Cadillac has more success than Saab, which saw sales slump 38 per cent in 2008.

And GM will no doubt invest more in marketing Cadillac than they did in marketing Saab. And they’ll no doubt provide more funds for new models for Cadillac than they did for model development with Saab.

I live here. I think Australia’s much more of a Saab-inclined country than a Cadillac inclined country.

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Ryan over at Saab History is reporting, via Nines magazine, that Saab USA’s John Libbos has left Saab in the last few months.

Libbos was most recently the product guru for the 9-3 and 9-5. That made him the guy who put together the specifications of the vehicles, the options and packages.

His experience with Saab is vast and, to be honest, it’s hard to imagine someone who’s been involved with Saab most of his adult life just leaving and starting something new.

Like much of the stuff that’s happened at SaabUSA recently, I’ve been critical of product decisions and that would probably fall into John Libbos’ territory. Regardless, the guy’s given a working lifetime’s service to Saab and I wish him well in his future endeavours, whatever they might be. I hope it’s not too far away from Saab as he probably has more knowledge about the brand than anyone else at SaabUSA right now.

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I hope the people who will end up managing Saab in the future are reading this stuff.

I hope they’re reading it and saying to themselves “never again”

Never again will we allow Saab sales to go unrealised due to poor model development, poor management or poor customer service.

Never again will we allow Saab to be lampooned like they have in recent years with brand-killing mistakes like the 9-2x and the 9-7x.

Never again will we allow the character that inhabits* this storied brand to be diluted for the sake of a short term hook.

Never again.

* Thanks Ted!

December kicked off with a Boston Globe story on the infamous Saab Art Car that lives in the area. It was good to find out some background info on this rolling fun piece.

I’ve been truly blessed with meeting some fantastic people whilst writing this website. One such person I met briefly in Sweden last year. He’s a former Saab designer, now running his own design firm and doing some work for Hirsch on the side - Taras Czornyj. That’s a brief Q&A and a look at his beautiful Hirsch Saab 9-3 SportCombi.

Of course, December was THE BIG month when it comes to the GM bailout. The big three CEOs left their private jets in the hangars and drove to Washington, rocking up in hybrids to show how focussed they are on small cars that few American consumers really want to buy when gas is below $2 a gallon. They had to present their plans for the future and it was here that we learned that Saab was officially under review.

That means that if they can, they’ll sell Saab.

I had my thoughts on this whole situation and Eggs had his thoughts about it, too.

Reports came quickly out of Sweden that the government would provide some aid to keep the car industry going there. These reports were quickly confirmed by the government itself, who took legislative action just a few weeks later. They denid any intentions to take ownership stakes in either Saab or Volvo, however.

I took a breath and summarised the options as I saw them.

These were the prevailing thoughts at this time:

- “A global strategic review of Saab does not mean a sale of Saab, but rather how we can secure the future of Saab and how to raise the money.”

- “It could mean that we work together with an external partner.”

- “There are a number of interesting possibilities. But, of course, you can never exclude the possibility that we sometime will be sold.”

And if Saab were to be sold, that means we had to look at the options as to who may buy them. The global automotive family tree is a complex one, to be sure, but Fiat’s Sergio Marchionne forecasted that it would get a lot simpler in the next five years or so, with the number of automotive conglomerates reducing to around six in that time.

I chatted some more with Eric Geers about the whole situation.

EG: it’s seem that the only thing that’s in the media is then, OK, it’s for sale. And the same has happened to Volvo. Whereas the other options were forgotten. So we tried to explain yesterday what that could be and why they will be, as we see it, on the top of the list…..

….It involves a number of options that we’ve considered, like project-based funding to even equity ownership. We’re looking for the best financial options that will secure a good outcome for a successful Saab business.

Bones.

Happier news, of sorts, in my own black humour way - Kroymans killed their association with Cadillac in Europe. GM Europe should do the same.

We saw an amazing online virtual tour of the Saab Museum in Trollhattan.

Logan got married and drove off happily with his new Mrs in his Saab. Congratulations again, mate!

I finally succumbed and wrote that I hope GM sell Saab. Opel union bosses said that if that happens, they’d still be happy to build the 9-5 at Russelsheim for the new owner. Seems like people at Saab Sweden want to bring the 9-5 back home to Trollhattan, however.

We looked over various bits of Saab technology that we’ve never seen make it to production.

GM announced they’d be selling some of the ‘lesser’ family jewels, including a Pikes Peak Saab from the mid-1990s. Mark LaNeve from GM also came clean on what a “strategic rview” of Saab really means:

LaNeve said the auto maker expects to announce significant developments in efforts to sell its Saab and Hummer brands by the end of March 2009.

SaabUSA announced that they would be showing the Saab 9-5 Griffin Edition already confirmed for Europe at the Detroit Motor Show in early 2009. It’s the 9-5’s swansong and looks to be well equipped but high priced.

The end-of month good news was that I bought a car, which I’ll pick up in a few days from now. It’s a 1999 Saab 9-3 Monte Carlo and I can’t wait to get my hands on it. It needs plenty of work, but should be a hoot to work on.

I have some stuff brewing for TS and need a little help.

If you’re good with search engines and stuff, I need some help with figuring out which are the most linked-to stories here at Trollhattan Saab.

And if you’re good with generating graphics and logos and stuff, I might need some help from you, too.

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Why?

Trollhattan Saab has some problems. In fact, it’s been four years since I started this site and it was a case of learn-as-you-go, which means there’s been a number of mistakes made and the legacy of those mistakes is a poorly organised site with a number of technical issues that need fixing.

For example, certain people using Internet Explorer can’t see this site if there’s a Youtube video posted here. That’s a problem because I like the video medium and would like to use it more often. For some reason, the various bits of code that govern the presentation of this site cause IE to go all haywire when a Youtube video is posted and people are using IE. I’d prefer everyone gets Firefox, but what can you do?

Hence, there’s some changes coming. These won’t be band-aid solutions, though. These will be permanent fixes.

If you can help with the search and image related tasks listed above, please contact me: swade99-at-dodo.com.au (replacing the -at- with @)

Cheers.

November was dominated by the developing crisis at GM. You’ve probably heard anough about that by now, but for posterity’s sake I’ll cover the essential items here.

The month started on a much lighter note, with Gripen’s 11 year old son reviewing the Saab 900.

Eggs entertained with a double-banger top 9 list about the things he envies, and the things he doesn’t envy, about BMW. The truth.

SaabUSA gave themselves a mulligan on the Euro Delivery Program. In October, we inadverdantly heard from a SaabUSA Customer Service representative who said it was cancelled with no view to being reinstated. In November the story was a little softer:

While it is true that, given the current business climate and negative Krona vs. Dollar exchange rate, there is currently no defined plan to reestablish the European Delivery Program, Saab Automobile USA has never said nor confirmed that this program has been canceled indefinitely. Just for the record!

Having previously done alternate colour versions of the 9-X BioHybrid and the 9-X Air, the photoshoppers around here got busy with alt-versions of the Saab Aero-X. As with the 9-X Air, I’ll take mine in black, thanks. Mama!

Pressure started to build on General Motors. The US Congress was talking about $25billion in loans to Detroit car makers, though it went nowhere. GM were burning through (i.e. losing) up to $2billion per month in cash.

I finally - finally - got some wheel time in the Turbo X. It was great fun and I had a great time drawing comparisons here between the Turbo X and a tuned Saab 9-5 Aero and Saab 99 Turbo.

Public Relations 101: This is GM chief Rick Wagoner on November 13 in a story at Autocar:

“We’ve got some other assets that we’re looking at selling,” he said, “but not brands.”

That means Saab, whose future within GM has at times looked distinctly uncertain – and which has had the launch of its critical new 9-5 model pushed back until 2010 - will stay as part of the car maker’s portfolio.

Less than three weeks later, Saab were put up for “strategic review”. GM are in hard times, though it’s not the first time.

Back to genuine fun Saab stuff - we met up with a Saab collector in Italy named Emanuele with a whole shedload of cars. He’s Saab Krazy!! This was my favourite from the collection, a 9000 Carlsson:

We discovered that the “Build Your Own” section of the SaabUSA website was completely screwed. We checked again a few weeks later and it was still completely screwed. As of today, I believe it’s at a 95% level of screwedness.

BSR’s E85 tune for the Saab 9-5 (2002 and after) was officially sanctioned for classification as a “green” car, which means that cars that were originally just gasoline cars could get the tune and then get re-registered as green vehicles by the government, thereby avoiding congestion charges, parking fees and other assorted taxes.

EduSaab did some fantastic research and found a new patent for the Saab 9-6x, a vehicle that was shelved around three years ago. Caused quite a stir around the web, that one.

The Detroit-Three CEOs had their first appearance before a US congressional committee. The appearance ws an absolute disaster for all of them. They all flew in on separate private jets, for starters, a fact which provoked the best quip of the week from one US senator - “couldn’t you have downgraded to first class?” The CEOs were roasted and sent home with orders to do some homework and come back with concrete plans as to how they might turn their businesses around in exchange for the loans they were seeking. Here’s Rick Wagoner’s speech.

What matters to me about this whole crisis thing.

Saab received investment funds for an extended crash lab and GM-wide fuel testing.

After poor ratings in recent years, it was good to see Saab do a whole lot better in the 2008 JD Power Customer Satisfaction ratings.

It was crisis time, so I had a number of conversations with Eric Geers of Saab Sweden. Part 1. Part 2, and Part 3.

Eggs considered the whole GM-Ford-Chrysler situation and captured the attention of many by asking what was so wrong with bankruptcy for these companies?

For me, Saab = Turbo.

Bloomberg were the first to seriously hint that GM were considering a sale of Saab. Given that was the case, I argued a case that I’m not so sure I support anymore, not to a full extent, at least - that Saab should not be sold to the Swedish Government.

November finished on a happy note - the first official pictures of the Saab 9-3x leaked out. They showed here first and were very well received. The 9-3x should go on display at Geneva in early 2009 and I’d imagine will be selling a mere matter of months after that.

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October kicked off with the Saab 9-4x seen practically in the nude and looking good in testing.

We also had some awesome fun bringing the 9-X Air to life with some color samples. I’ll take mine in black, please!

Jan-Ake Jonsson spoke about the Saab 9-1, which Saab still want to build, but concede that they still need to figure out a platform for. Build it on a skateboard chassis for all I care - just build it!!

I learned a lesson today: I really have to publicise and market this blog a bit more. Autoblog are featuring an article on Hirsch and Aerodynamics today, based on an article that Turbonines did a few days ago and notified them of. I covered all this Hirsch aerodynamics stuff back in October and made the mistake of assuming that a site like Autoblog wouldn’t be interested. Lesson learned.

Whilst the Saab 9-X Air was shown via press release in September, it wasn’t shown to the public until the Paris Motor Show in October.

Eggs n Grits celebrated the Autumnal months with a look at how it helps the boost levels in your turbocharged Saab.

Lance Cole took us into the other world of Saab, with a look over the classical Saab 91 Safir aircraft.

One of my Saab mates here in Australia, Joe Lobo, provided us with a review of his new car - a Saab Turbo X.

Until I’m convinced otherwise, this car will be regarded as the best maintained Saab Sonett III on the road. Absolutely amazing and a credit to the owner.

Mac-Mini your Saab!

There was some good news for Saab Sweden with the consolidation of the powertrain and turbocharging groups. At least it seemed like good news at the time. Now, I wonder….

Car photography tips!!

I re-published one of my favourite entries from the Spirit of Saab blog - Yellow Saabs, anything but mellow. It seems even more relevant for me this week

Under pressure, away from home, I came up with a Saab wish list in just 22 minutes in an internet cafe. Turned out pretty good, I think. Yours were good, too.

Djup Strupe opined that the Saab 9-3 would lose it’s V6 option, something that hasn’t happened for 2009 but with the 9-5 coming for MY2010……

Pat Moss, a formidable rally driver in her own right and the wife of Saab legend, Erik Carlsson, and the sister of British racing legend, Sir Sterling Moss, passed away in October 2008.

SaabUSA floored most people when they announced reasonable price increases for 2009 during a period of savagely declining sales. Americans still get their cars incredibly cheap, but this wasn’t the news the US market wanted to hear.

Swedish Car Day #9 was held in Brookline, Massechusetts.

Anyone after a Turbo X coupe?? If only we could.

How many halloween pumpkins can you fit in the back of a Saab hatch???

Drew B did some great sleuthing, with the discovery of an advertisement selling a car in Adelaide that turned out to be a Saab Lightburn prototype vehicle. Unfortunately the vehicle sold before he could consider a price. The car remains in Adelaide and we’re still hoping to get some more photos of it some time.

I launched a defence of the Saab 9-3 Sport Sedan.

After it’s debut at the Paris Motor Show, the sensational Saab 9-X Air made it’s first appearance at the Saab Museum in Trollhattan, Sweden.

The state of Saab declined further in the US, with unofficially official confirmation via some emails to enquiring customers that the European Delivery Program was dead, with no plans for a resurrection. People wonder why I get mad sometimes, but this is a classic case in point. I’d been on this story for almost a year, with promises being made that the program would be back, that it was being integrated into GM’s electronic systems, etc etc. I think they killed it a year ago and treated us all like mushrooms until this staffer finally spelled the story out clear and simple.

It was near the end of October that GM’s current crisis relly began to crystallise and capture the public’s attention. It all started with a proposal to merge GM and Chrysler, which fell aart due to a lack of government support.

I started the month with a fantastic story about a Saab 900 Convertible and the need to carry more wine. The end result was a Saab trailer to be towed behind the convertible. A Saab and a Half.

JL Racing had a good round in the Canadian Touring Car Championship bringing their Saab 9-3 in for three first placings and second placing in the four races held. Haven’t heard from them for a while, actually. Hmmmmm.

I figured out why Saab could do so well in the North American market if GM let them off the leash. Unfortunately, I don’t think GM listen to such things, though.

I ticked off another automotive rite of passage - driving a LHD car with stick - and togethre we thought up some other automotive rites.

One of the highlights during our family trip to Canada was the Great TS Pacaific Northwest Meetup. A few of us met up in Vancouver and then drove down to Seattle and met up with a bunch more. It was an absolutely brilliant day and I loved getting a chance to meet up with a lot of people who’s names I see on this site at regular intervals. Great people, great weather, great cars, great food - what more could you ask for?

I wrote a quick thankyou to all who turned up and especially those who organised the day, but I’ll thank them once again right here for what was an oustanding day and lasting memory of our trip.

One of the attendees at that event has what is hands-down the best Saab NG900 I’ve ever seen. You should check it out, too. An inspiration.

I drove the 2009 Cadillac CTS and I didn’t even get a lousy T-shirt. Eggs drove a Hyundai Tucson and he didn’t get a lousy T-shirt either, though he did get a bad back.

We found out that the Saab 9-X Air was going to be called…… the Saab 9-X Air! We indulged in a little 9-X Air photoshop speculation, too, which wasn’t too far off the mark, either.

In what I think was a real landmark decision - a canary in the coalmine, if you will - Carter Saab in Seattle handed in their Saab keys and became a Subaru dealership.

The car I used to get to the Great TS Pacaific Northwest Meetup was a Saab 9-3 supplied by Dueck Saab in Richmond, Vancouver. Bill Convery gave me a tour of their new facility, which was still under construction at the time. They were doing great things for Saab there when I visited them and I hope it’s all going well now that the new showroom is open.

Jan-Ake Jonsson in Paris, September 2008:

“We are brand on the move.” says Jonsson. These concepts are building blocks in the most intensive product development program we have ever attempted. It is part of strategy that will take Saab into all major segments of the car market. “While we will be launching a number of new models in different market segments, they will all share the core values that go into making a Saab a Saab – progressive, Scandinavian-inspired design, sporty driving with the driver in focus, and efficient, responsible performance.”

“We are determined to grow the brand through expanding our product portfolio while also renewing our current product offerings. The strategy and resources are in place and the execution of our plan has already started with these influential concept cars.”

Jan-Ake Jonsson is currently looking for an equity partner, or buyer, for Saab. How times change, eh?

That quote was from the Paris Motor Show, where Saab released what I think was the best of the three concept cars they showed this year - the 9-X Air.

Eggs did his first podcast. I think we should do more (and Mr Abbott says “i been telling you that since January!!)

In our final week in Canada, I got to drive a Lambofieroghini!! It was loud, very windy and heaps of fun.

Matt the fudgepacker defied all the stereotypes you placed on him and became a father. Sally the future fudgepacker just had her first Christmas.

And finally - I wrote down my dreamy vision as to what Saab will be like on March 30th 2010 - that’s 18 months from the date of the entry and it’s also the date of my 40th birthday.

I’ve got to apoligise to JPile over at Flickr. I’m using this photo and quite possibly without his/her OK, but it was just sooooooo good and it’s being used for a good purpose - the common appreciation of Saab automobiles.

Of course, if JPile is looking in and wants it removed from here, then that’s fine. Just get in touch. But I hope he/she sees the common good in this exercise.

What we have here is an extraordinarily good photo that I think could be used to say a lot about Saab and the winter capability that was designed into the cars. I’ve lost count of the number of people who mention how great their Saab [insert model here] is and how it’s one of the few cars in the neighborhood that gets through just about anything that a northern winter can dish up.

Here’s the image.

Your assignment: turn this graphic into an ad for Saab. You need a tagline and between 20 and 40 words to sell your message.

My effort:

winter: saab time
Saab stand alone for safety and reliability in winter conditions. After all, they’ve been designing, testing and building cars through over 60 Scandinavian winters. Front-wheel drive or cross-wheel drive, your Saab will always get you home safe this winter.

OK, it’s not perfect, which is why I work in finance and not advertising. But you get the gist of it.

Your turn….