SaabsUnited.com

Wow. It’s 1am at the end of another incredibly packed day. Five hours until the wake-up call, so I’d better get moving.

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A few minutes ago I waited in the lobby for an elevator so that I could go up to my room. The bell dinged, the doors opened, and out came two identically dressed men, both wearing those earpieces with the curly wires that you see in any movie featuring the Secret Service. I don’t think they were Secret Service, but it’d be interesting to know who’s on the top floor here.

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The #1 car from another manufacturer that was popular with Saab people today – the new Range Rover Evoque.

The wide prediction was that this car will replace the Mini as the must-have car for the wives/girlfriends/ladies of LA.

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The #1 car from another manufacturer that was regarded as a sad joke by me – the Acura ZDX. I used to respect Honda so much but their mojo is seriously MIA.

It has a front end that can only be referred to as a monstrous proboscis and the rear seat is basically inaccessible without a chiropractor (with a rear door that’s so dangerously pointy it should be classified).

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The stands from today:

• Audi – superb
• Buick – woody
• BMW – truly, as boring as bat$h1t
• Volkswagen – so boring, I think it was bat$h1t, but then they did have Heidi Klum. Seriously, VW’s American range is a giant, unambiguous snooze.
• Suzuki – it really is a wonder that anyone knew they were there
• Kia – very well prepared
• Mercedes – had the excellent cupcakes
• Toyota/Lexus – no, your SEMA cars will not transform you into an exciting company
• Fisker – Spending their federal money well, if you like nice, luxurious stands at auto shows.
• Jaguar – elegance in green, excitement in silver
• Saab – clean and very, very classy

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Dinner tonight was another stunning event – held on a rooftop at The Standard.

The rooftop at The Standard has a pool, a bunch of ‘pods’ with waterbed type lounges in them, sofas everywhere, bars and some very good food. They also had SAAB projected onto the walls like a big, Swedish bat-signal.

They even had the ‘Elements’ video from the Saab 9-4x launch projected onto the gym on a bulding across the street!

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I’m working on getting answers to (most of) your questions posed prior to the LA Auto Show. Unfortunately, Victor Muller and Jan-Ake Jonsson have been working harder than a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest with regards to their appointments with the press corps today. Pinning them down has been difficult.

They might be scarce tomorrow, too, but I’ll pin down some others to provide answers wherever I can.

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The gallery below shows images from things mentioned above. Just another awesome day at the LA Auto Show.

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I’ve been awake for 39 hours straight, so forgive me if these aren’t totally coherent.

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We just had the first of two wonderful dinners, at a spot called Geoffrey’s. Fantastic food, but even better was some of the conversation and discussion. It was an event with various members of the motoring press, from Holland, France, Sweden and the US. A small gathering, but quite nice (sensational food – I even ate salad!).

Here’s an example of the smaller, more nimble Saab for you. Efficiencies gained since the GM separation mean that Saab will deliver it’s next all-new vehicle (the successor to the Saab 9-3), in at least three body styles, for the same cost as what it took to do the 2008 Saab 9-3 re-fresh.

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I met Jason Castriota for the first time in person this evening. He’s just as warm, personable and communicative in person as he is in the interviews. We didn’t have much time to chat but I’m sure we’ll get opportunities over the next few days.

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I know from comments that people will be watching the pricing of the Saab 9-4x quite closely and making comparisons with the Cadillac SRX.

I raised this issue with Mikael Jakobsson, who’s one of the product managers for the Saab 9-4x and he mentioned some poignant truths in response.

First – if one were asking oneself about what car they wanted, you’d have a choice between the Cadillac exterior/interior and the Saab exterior/interior. Which one suits you best? I know what my answer would be.

Second – whilst two brands, or even two manufacturers might have the same thing listed on the equipment list, it doesn’t mean that the package is the same. The Saab – and everything in it – has been calibrated as a Saab…. to Saab’s specifications. We often get judgmental after making back-of-the-envelope comparisons between vehicles but you really have to get the vehicle in your hands to see what it’s actually like.

I’ve dwelled a fair bit on this point as it’s been a frustration of mine for a while. Let me put it this way – just because you’ve got a voice and a forum like SU to have it heard, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t think hard about what you write before you write it.

What you say has ramifications for others who read it. So you dislike a light/trimpiece/advertisement/whatever – think hard before you try to amuse those around you with your witty remarks about how it “makes you feel”. There’s a time to be moved to anger and a time to temper your words and make sure you’ve put your opinion in perspective.

“I don’t particularly like those tail lights” makes more sense and gets your point across more effectively than “those tail lights make me sick” – which is an outright condemnation as well as an indicator of a particularly strange physiological constitution.

I try very hard to avoid having delusions of adequacy, especially when it comes to technical matters. I freely acknowledge my own lack of understanding. The same should go for all situations where you can’t easily put your thoughts in the appropriate context.

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I’m compelled to say that I was really surprised at the Saab 9-4x preview today and I’m looking forward to seeing it again tomorrow.

Having seen the Saab 9-4x in concept form a number of times, I was ready to appreciate seeing the 9-4x for real today. What I wasn’t ready for was the totality of the impression it made on me.

Seeing it through the prism of the 9-5′s launch – as an extension and genuine improvement on Saab’s design execution (think interiors) – makes the Saab 9-4x make a whole lot of sense. It’s a very handsome vehicle when seen in person and when you consider the number of vehicles in this class that are on LA streets, it bodes well for some successful sales for Saab in the future.

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Visitors to the LA Auto Show over the next couple of weeks should know that the 9-4x they’re showing there isn’t perfect. As mentioned earlier today, this is essentially a pre-production type car. It uses production-standard parts but it isn’t up a grade that you’d ship to a customer at this stage.

This is just a show car.

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We had a guy from Autospies.com there at dinner tonight and he was genuinely enthusiastic about Saab’s future and the potential for doing things in new ways.

It was refreshing to hear someone outside the usual circles talking about things like the huge list of achievements Saab has accomplished this year, especially in the light of them being a dead brand walking earlier this year.

Seeing the Saab 9-5 and 9-4x together today and knowing there’s a successor to the Saab 9-3 just two years away does indeed bode well for the future.

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Time for bed.

It’ll be a big day tomorrow, featuring a real iceberg in the middle of the Saab stand that Chris McKinnon will have to navigate around when bringing the 9-4x on to the stage during the reveal – should be fun.

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Howdy all.

The eagle has landed! A few short notes from my first 75 minutes in LALA-land.

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First off, kudos to V Australia, who run a first class airline. It was my first time flying with them. Food was great, entertainment was sensational and the legroom was very good for economy class.

Aussie people-spotters might be interested to know Dr Geoffrey and Mrs Brynne Edelsten were on the flight.

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The first American I spoke to after we landed was the passport control guy, who asked me why Saab don’t advertise much.

True story.

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My first Saab sighting (and only one, so far) was a Saab 9-2x.

True story.

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I’m now waiting to get on a bus for a super-secret photoshoot. I’m not sure if I’m allowed to post photos straight away, but I reckon we’ll find a way.

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The late autumn weather here in Santa Monica seems to be better than the late spring weather I left behind in Tasmania.

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I need some sleep.

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