Here's something I didn't know:
The Saab factory team still holds the Pikes Peak Open Class hillclimb record.
I'm not sure which run it was, but the 2002 run by Per Eklund in a 9-3 Viggen was pretty darn good. You can see the video here. Wait until about 3:20 when you get to the in-car camera so you can see just how scary-fast that car actually was.
Yes, PT, you should buy that Viggen.
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One of our Aussie Saabnuts and former Chairman of the Saab Car Club of Australia - AlAero - is in Sweden at the moment and is loving it.
"Sleds everywhere!" was the email I got.
He hits Trollhattan on Monday so if you're there and you see a dark haired bloke with a funny accent at the Saab Museum, go up and say G'day.
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One of European mates, Z!, whipped up a pretty good sketch of the 2010 Saab 9-5 wagon back when the spyshots came online.
He's now turned his hand to the sedan, which is once again, looking good.
I'm not sure we'll get the Nesbitt-nose on this one (the U-shaped swoop on the hood a-la the 9-3) but these do look really good.
And isn't the look of pencil on paper somewhat akin to the warmth of music on vinyl?
More of Z's work is available on Flickr - and in bigger sizes, too.
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Ezra Dyer is a young automotive writer who's already established a considerable reputation. I love his work and don't get to see enough of it.
His latest print work is in Automobile Magazine, where he's written a piece from the point of view of a sad General Motors that has to get rid of it's favourite Swedish project car because the wife says it's taking up too much room and he's never going to finish it, yada yada yada.
If your local news stand sells Automobile, look for the August edition.
Click to enlarge this snippet. The last line's a doozy.
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It looks like there's a new magazine in Germany with a feature on the Saab Sonett.
The webpage is here, though the online preview doesn't show the Saab.
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Who's seen Transformers 2?
Did you spot an Aero-X in there? I didn't think so.
There were several websites last year that were adamant that there was going to be a Saab Aero-X in Transformers 2, despite evidence to the contrary. I won't mention them here but this is a small, subtle reminder that linkbaiting false stories is a no-no and the results will be noticed.
Big daddy swadediddly is watching.....
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Anyone here who has seen the actual car care to comment on the above drawing? I reckon we are looking at something 99% accurate here.
I hope it wont be too long until we see the finished product.
next month .
sorry, have not seen Transformers 2, but there WAS a (really battered) 900 hatch in Terminator Salvation. ages ago (early June), someone thought there was a yellow Sonnett in episode 1 of Royal Pains, and, they were correct. yes, i watched it again, just to look at the Saabs.
does seem as though there are a lot of Saab fans in the automotive press.
hope everyone saw the photo of 9-3s into infinity on the Trollhattan assembly line at http://www.bilnorge.no/artikkel.php?aid=34202
GM reaps what they have sowed. Just hope a different team was working on the 9-5 interior...
Clamshell History:
99 - Clamshell
C900 - Clamshell
9000 - No clamshell
NG900 - No clamshell
9-5 - Clamshell
OG9-3 - No clamshell (but desrevered one)
9-3SS - No clamshell
9-3SS 2007 update - Clamshell
NG9-5 - Probably no clamshell
Whats betting when the NG9-5 gets a facelift, it'll score a clamshell?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/38481000@N07/3617037045/
Swade, from the most recent spy-shots you can see that it's got the curve in the bonnet
http://www.autovandaag.nl/nieuws/foto.php?x=800&y=532&f=http://www.autovandaag.nl/upl/newsitem_3696_14848.jpg&t=newsitem&tid=3696&pid=14848
it's not that clear but it's there.
Markac- I think if there were to be a clamshell bonnet it would be a massive due to the location of the headlights and may also cut into the top of the fenders (correct word? (the bit above the wheel)) too much. But that's only my opinion
Oh well... Money saved and all that.
Grrr.
--
Rune
no more drawings,
now I'm waiting the real metal ninefive! :)
Z!
Karen: Saw the C900 in Terminator Salvation too. Shot to bits by a Transformer looking robot.
Cheers/Tom
It would be interesting to know more about this Pikes Peak 9-3 though. Steven should try to score an interview with some of Saab's drivers (or anyone on the racing team for that matter).
Anyway, my instant thought was "only people smart enough to own a Saab C900 will be smart enough to survive the apocalypse." though, not so sure being that smart is a positive ;)
Saab definitely has a car casting agent friend in Hollywood. So many 900s keep showing up this year, and not just because of the distinctive (yes, iconic) silhouette. The Saabs are part of the character development. loved the Saab-Cadillac smackdown in "State of Play"
At 4p.m (it is 9am now), can watch the World Series of Off-Road Racing. At 9pm, "Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain"
What have you guys done to me!?
For you Transformers fans out there - we did get to see the Constructions form Devastator in the film. Nice! As someone who grew up with the Transformers, that was really cool.
As far as seeing the Saab, I didn't see it, but there was an Audi that got cut in half.
Now that you have provided a manifestation, design looks much better than that of the present 9-5, very elegant, not too much unmotivated edges and dents. It also appears that the car is highly optimized aerodynamically. Hopefully, this will offset the big front opening (which could off course also be a non-functional fake, i.e. not letting air into the engine bay).
The rear side windows seem to follow a present trend for miniaturization, so that you one not be able to see much through them, and light will also not get into the car. The Insignia is simply a dark cave, I hope that Saab finds in brighter (:-)) solution.
http://www.reuters.com/article/reuterscomService5/idUSTRE56418Y20090705
The lovely thing about a pencil-styled drawing is that it is so clear for the wiever that it doesn't pretend to be anything but a drawing, and any small oddities are easily overlooked. Unlike a photorealistic "photoshop" that kills all imagination, and makes the wiever shout "Fake!" at the first irregularity.
The scoop pic business needs more people like Z!
The mention of the Pike's Peak record being held by a "Saab factory team" (Per Eklund's OG9-3) reminded me that Saab still had a factory "Competition Department" which if I remember correctly consisted of ONE employee. I wonder if Koenigsegg got him and everything he had been working on in the deal.
Karen: I seriously was thinking about buying a Solstice GXP (the turboed version) a few years back but after sitting inside it at the L.A. Auto Show I changed my mind. The interior is all this cheap plastic everywhere and the ergonomics are non-existent. It's impossible for a passenger to not keep popping-out the cup holder with his/her knee. I can't imagine how the coupe could be worse. This I have to see! ;-)
Last thought for the day: when is Saab going to start making motorcycles? I'm going to buy a 2010 Triumph Thruxton as soon as it comes out but I would love to see a Saab motorcycle with a turbo. Come on, they can use additional revenue streams and BMW makes great motorcycles. Saab could to better then Beemer.
Or perhaps just used at the press release to launch Saabs 2011 WRC Car: The 93AeroX Coupe.
1985 Gripen: read how bad, except for the exterior design by Holzhausen now at Tesla, the Solstice coupe can be. Destined as limited edition (1100)collectible yard sculpture:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/05/automobiles/autoreviews/05solstice.html?ref=automobiles
sorry for including the URL Swade, but I really could not stop laughing.
BTW, today I saw part of a classic auto auction in West Palm Beach. 66,000USD for a 1969 Camaro. The audience seemed filled with gray-haired men determined to preserve the great muscle cars before the Clean Air Act changed everything.
WRT bicyles: I agree and although there already is a Saab Bike ( the Everywhere Bike from Denmark?) its certainly something that could be looked at by Saab or any other car company. Helps with fleet CO2 stats :p and offers a great footprint into many markets. Not the least, the emerging ones. Peugeot, Porsche & BMW all have bikes - albeit very expensive ones. Need a partner to go along with Salomon for the Ikea-inspired lifestyle centres that the new Saab will have as dealerships.
Hmmm, off to Wikipedia.
As for my Saab motorcycle suggestion, it's about diversifying. When Saab Automobile was started it was because after The War Saab realized they need to diversify out of aircraft and it already had good aeronautical engineers it could put to work on making cars.
Later Saab Automobile tried diversifying by making the Saabo.
Already being experts in turbocharging you'd think that a logical step would be to put the automobile engineers on task designing a motorcycle. Maybe a hypermiling turbocharged eco-motorcycle? Honda made a turbocharged production bike back in the 80s but it had many problems.