A Saab Family affair
August 26, 2010 in Saabology
This is my favourite post of the month. I just love Saab Stories like this. Saab Pride at its best.
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Before you read this post, please have a look at the following photo.
If you’re not familiar with that car, which I photographed at the Saab Festival in July 2010, then you need to click here and read the story behind it. It’s a very impressive story about a young guy named Jacob – shown with Erik Carlsson in that photo – (re)building his first car.
Done with that?
OK.
Jacob has just bought a VW Van and is travelling around Europe with some friends. The impending journey was a good excuse for a family get together, so whilst they were all there in the one place, they thought it a good idea to pose for a family photo.
I’ll let Jacob’s father, Hans, take it from here…..
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All our old family Saabs and their owners were gathered to a dinner and a photo session.
My father and mother (87 and 85 years) bought their first Saab 96 TT in 1963 and ever since then they have driven all the models right up to my fathers retirement 21 years ago – when he bought a second hand 9000i. Now, after 350.000km, they still use it as a car for every day use.
My daughter Tine (21) restored my father’s Saab 900, a 1980 model, when she got her licence 3 years ago. We had kept the car in a garage for 7 years and now the “next generation” is ready to be transported safe in the same car – That car drove my parents, me, my wife – and our daughter – when she was born.
The blue 96 from 1970 was bought as a rusty and worn out car in 1976. It was then rebuilt and used for 400,000 km before it was taken apart, welded and galvanised and sold to a good friend. Then, after 4 years it came back and was sold to our neighbour son, and then after 5 years we mounted with Bosch K-jet and a Ström 1.85 l engine – all in all more than 800,000 km.
The black Aero 900 from 1985 has been my wife’s Saab for nearly 20 years, now with 670.000 km. It was driven down by a Volvo truck once, had a new front added on and then a decade later it turned over in a winter storm ferry tour, between two four wheeler Land Cruisers, becoming 2” narrower in the cabin and a bit higher! We brought it back with a little hydraulic work and some new paint.
The yellow Sonett, from 1971 was a US import 22 years ago, all taken apart sandblasted, hot galvanised and rebuilt. It was then used as daily car for 10 years, doing winter with snow, rain and salty roads! No problems at all. Then used twice for tour Norway and Nordcap in 1997 the 50 years anniversary for Saab, and again at 2007 the 60 years anniversary. It now has a 1.85 Ström engine and K-jet and special gear – crown- and pinion wheel 9:38, produced in Denmark.
And the brown Saab 92b -1953, you know, belongs to the happy handy man – Jacob (19).
The ‘new’ 9-5 Aero, 2001 – with only 250.000 km is still to get a real family story after only 6 years as my private car.
This is how we try to raise our family in Denmark, service them, rebuild if needed, but keep them running and keep them alive, by using every day as a new adventure.
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I had plans last year to do a Saab Pride book, however time and a few other things scuttled the idea, unfortunately.
Ok, so this isn’t a real Saab Pride entry. But even just reading a Googletrans of the story, it feels like it should be.
