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The Saab Pride series is your chance to share the enjoyment you get from Saabs in general, and your Saab in particular. If you’ve got a story to tell (and some great photos to go with it) the shoot me an email with “Saab Pride” in the subject line.
Today’s Saab Pride entry comes to us from the UK. Laurens W owns this magnificent 1997 Saab 9000 CSE Anniversary.
I’ll let Laurens tell the story:
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My love for Saab started when I was a kid, when my dad bought a 99, followed by a classic Saab 900.
My first Saab was a US-spec1978 900 GLE 5-door. I replaced the original grille-headlights with the Turbo version. In Holland I bought a 1989 9000i, followed in the UK by a 1997 Amethyst Violet mica 9000 CSE Anniversary 2.0t, which came to an untimely end. It originally had the black Anniversary interior but I had it swapped for the cream version.
Its replacement, shown here, is a 1997 Amethyst Violet Mica 9000 CSE Anniversary 2.3t automatic fitted with a full stainless steel exhaust.
Click any of the pictures to enlarge.

These images were taken at Hinxton Hall. It’s part of the Wellcome Trust, one of the oldest medical funding charities in the world.
The modern architecture of some of the newest buildings on the Wellcome Trust Genome Campus fits nicely with the progressive design of the Saab 9000 CSE. Although the design is about sixteen years old (and the central section even twenty-three years old!) it hasn’t dated much and is I think one of the best looking Saabs.

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There’s been a lot of news about Saab in 2009 and whilst covering it has been the right thing to do, there’s been a loss of focus on you – the Saab enthusiast – and your Saab experiences and vehicles.
Back when I started the Saab Pride competition, the theory was that the motoring press don’t always “get it” when it comes to Saab. Through the various Saab Pride entries, we’d have the chance to express why owning a Saab is such a great experience – and a great drive!
I’ve got a lot of Saab Pride entries stocked up and am looking forward to bringing them here so that we can all enjoy the experience together.
There’s a Saab Pride image, just like the one at the start of this article, at the bottom of the right sidebar. Click it any time you feel like a boost.
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This entry comes from a guy named PGAero, who no stranger to this site. Peter’s Saab 9000 Aero was one of the original Trollhattan Saab calendar cars back when that was the done thing and it also featured in the 9000 Lovin series when we were all getting more familiar with Saab models.
PGAero recently took a trip in his 9000 and shot some great photos along the way. Thankfully, he sent it all in to share here at SU
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On June 18th, my wife and I packed up our 1993 9000 Aero (5 spd, Cirrus White/Black, 106K miles) and left our little northern California home of Nevada City for a 1,300 mile road trip that would bring us through a wide range of California’s many landscapes. The objective was to attend my wife’s brother’s graduation from college (UC Irvine, Magna Cum Laude!) and we decided to add a few other sights to the trip.
On Thursday, we set out to make time on the way south and took Interstate 5 for most of the trip, but headed for the coast in Kettleman City to have dinner with my grandmother in Santa Barbara. After some visiting and dinner, we continued south via Interstate 101 and 405 to Irvine.
The Saab 9000 is an amazingly capable long-road car. My Aero has safely taken me on several 12+ hour solo drives between Montana and California during my graduate school days, so last weekend’s “quick trip” to Santa Barbara and then on to Irvine was nothing for the ol’ beast. It’s tough to beat 30 mpg in a car that does 0-60 in the mid-sixes. The legendary Aero seats did not disappoint.
Anyway, the graduation weekend was a blast, and we did the (obligatory?) Southern California beach visit (Laguna Beach this time), and generally had a great time with the family graduation festivities. A big congratulations to the graduate!
On Sunday, we headed out of Orange County and the greater Los Angeles area aiming to take Hwy 395 north along the east slope of California’s magnificent Sierra Nevada mountains. As avid backpackers and skiers, my wife and I have spent countless weeks exploring and enjoying all that this mountain range has to offer. Since its just June, and much of the high country hiking is still snow-bound, and we have a 6-day backpacking trip planned for the end of July, we thought it a great chance to see some of the other attractions which 395 has. We decided to explore the Alabama Hills, the White Mountains, and finally see the ghost town of Bodie.
The Alabama Hills are an outcrop of decomposing granite immediately east of Mt. Whitney (The highest point in the US’s “lower 48″). Many movies have been filmed in the area, and after we drove to the Mt. Whitney trail head, we drove along Movie Road to see the landscape.
Click on any of the pictures to enlarge

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