There is a new issue available of Saab Cars Magazine. There is only a Swedish version available at the moment. Not sure if any international version is planned (I will see if I can find out more). You can get #6 at OK-förlaget or at the Saab Car Muesum Webshop.
It is now over ten years since Saab went into bankruptcy. There are still many Saabs on the road, at least in Sweden. Many used as daily drivers. The reason this is possible is because of Orio (formally Saab Automobile Parts), which supplies spare parts to our Saabs.
At the time of bankruptcy, the Swedish Government repaid a large loan taken by Saab to the European Investment Bank. Saab Parts was taken as collateral. Orio is not doing very well. According to Teknikens Värld, Orio sales has droppen by 50% the last five years. Further, Teknikens Värld speculates that the life time guarantee on original Saab parts may have accelerated the problem.
The Swedish state is loosing money on Orio and have asked the parliament to get authority to sell Orio. This has already been granted, but now the Government also want to explore other paths, like liquidating the company. According to Swedish Radio, the Minister of Trade and Industry Ibrahim Baylan would like to explore many different paths in order to save as much as possible of the credit loss.
The following statement is quoted from Auto Motor and Sport:
“Gustaf Ljunggren, CEO of Orio, says in a press release that the wording “liquidate through liquidation” is misleading. He believes that the government also wants the opportunity to broaden its operations to achieve profitability. In short, the government wants more options for action. “
A few adds back, I wrote a story about being a Car Enthusiast. When I think about it, the availability of parts and Service Workshops are of big importance. Daily drivers require parts and service. You don’t want to wait for weeks in order to get hold of a used part or a NOS-part (New Original Stock), when you rely on your car in everyday life. That is what Car Enthusiasts do.
I really hope things will turn out for the better for Orio. They have made a splendid job keeping Saabs on the roads. From time to time people have been annoyed about specific parts being unavailable for long times. Still, Orio has come through in most of the cases. Remember that it is very hard to get a fair price for parts with a very small volume. Some of the manufacturers are not around anymore. Orio has worked with what they have and produced new solutions by small means. One example is to fit the auto-dimming dimming rearview side mirrors from Saab 9-3 in the 9-5 as I wrote about in this add many years ago.
It would be a shame if Saab would to be passed into history as an Enthusiast Car, at least this soon. Sweden is working hard to decrease our carbon dioxide footprint. Many false steps have been taken in this pursuit. One of the most stupid was to classify diesel engines as environmental friendly and at the same time stop the support for bio-ethanol. This is something I think many politicians are ashamed of today. Many of the remaining Saabs can be fueled by bio-ethanol.
Lately, the positive effects of driving on ethanol has been re-discovered, but there are very few new vehicles available. This is very much because of political decisions. If we keep Saabs on the road, we keep driving on environment friendly fuel. Later this year all standard petrol in Sweden will have 10% bio-ethanol mixed-in. Why not keep driving on 85% as well? Many of us Saab owners can still do that!
Let’s hope that Orio finds a way to become profitable in a way that suits both the Swedish government and the Saab owners around the world!
Have you seen the movie Tenet? Tenet is an action-thriller directed by Christopher Nolan. It was released in 2020 and has a decent score of 7.4 at IMDB. The plot is a bit tricky to follow, since it plays with our conception of time.
So why would I mention this film here? The obvious reason is Saab. To be more precise: an NG 9-5 which is driven and crashed in more than one temporal dimension. You can follow the hero of the film both getting into the Saab, driving the Saab and finally crashing it.
It would seem to be quite a shame to spoil a fairly rare car, or probably several of them. The good thing is that we all get a visual proof of Saab safety. The roof is hardly bent, even after spinning violently. You can see the car laying upside down in the last video below. You could probably open all four doors despite the crash. The actual explosion should be considered a movie feature. Cars seldom explode in real life.
I have linked some videos showing the Saab in different scenes. Spoiler alert!
Saabs occur in quite a lot of films and TV-shows. Perhaps we should revisit this topic some other time?
I love the new 9-5. Not sure I figured it out fully from the very start, but design grows on you. I still think it it has a modern look and the old commercials make me want to buy one. Sad thing you can’t anymore.
I wonder what a Saab commercial would look like 2021, ten years after last Saab was sold, if things would have turned out better?
Watch and enjoy!
The 2020 edition Saab CabrioChallenge was driven for the 13th time in a row last summer, and even this time we got a report and great photos (actually more photos then ever) from our friend Mioh!
Thanks for sharing this with us! 🙂
Because Covid19 and the restrictions that existed at the moment related to Covid19 was the total participants limited to 50 persons.
The meeting started lightly on Friday evening at “Villa Gladtjärn” in Smedjebacken with some small talk and food for those who were in place the day before the main event.
Saturday morning we all gathered at breakfast, followed by welcome greeting, distribution of roadbooks, two stickers and a few great advice infront of the coming adventure. Afterwards the roofless Saabs rolled out for the roads of the beautiful Dalarna.
Along the roads for destination “Garpenbergs Slott” we were passing trees, bridges, snack opportunity, churches, waterways, Dala-horses, lunchplace, bridges, meadows, ice cream-shops, waterways, bridges and bridges.After many lovely miles in a lovely hot, sunny and great summer weather we reached our final destination Garpenbergs Slott. In the evening we all gathered in the hotel’s large hall where dinner was served to us. Here we enjoyed the whole evening of good food and a nice atmosphere in a true Saabanda (the famous Saab Spirit). Sunday morning started with a hearty breakfast before we got a stationary guidance of the castle rooms and history. Then it was time to check out for this time. Satisfied and happy we all thanked eachother for a nice and sunny weekend. Already looking forward to 2021!
This time Mioh also have made a 360 panorma and a video!
You find the pictures under the panorama and video, click on the thumbs for full size and great comments by Mioh! 😀
http://www.mioh.se/media/scc2020/360panorama/ (Opens in a new window)
In the last episode of Studio Klassiker, you can learn more about Saab 900 as a reasonably priced enthusiast car. About 31 minutes into the show you will also hear the characteristic sound of the 900’s heat and ventilation system.
The complete buyers guide for Saab 900 can be found in the last issue of Klassiker Magazine
If you love Saabs, you cannot just go and buy a new car when it starts to look scruffy. You need to nurse it with care and keep it out of harm’s way if you want it to stay in good shape.
There are many hazards for you and your Saab to get by when you are out driving. One of the worst may be public parking. Parking slots are quite narrow in Sweden. They have been optimized many years ago for small sized European cars. Cars keep growing in size and especially the SUVs fill up the parking spaces to the very limit. This means that you inevitably will get dents in your doors if you’re not very careful. And the car next to you may not be…
One way of keeping your Saab in good condition is to be anal about parking 😊. To illustrate this, I have created a number of scenarios. The examples are based on right-hand traffic. The mission is to park your Saab safely and get to the supermarket entrance. Where would you park?
This is an obvious choice. Slot A is near the entrance so that’s where all the lazy people park. Lazy people tend to be sloppy. People in a hurry will also choose slot A. People in a hurry tend to be less careful. Both categories of drivers will slam their doors against your Saab and you will end up with dents. In space A you can get dented from both sides. Never park with a car next to you if you can avoid it. Space B is the place to choose! Why?
This one is easy too. A is out of the question for the same reasons as in scenario #1. C is also a good spot. Not as good as B, because the car in front of you can back into your car with a tow-bar. Bad drivers tend to forget that they have something sticking out at the end of the car. In this case, the place in front is already occupied and that car will just drive away. If you are away for a long time, the space may change car and someone may back up……..
Both D and E are corners spots which is a good thing. If you park as far out as you can in the spot, you may get far away enough from your neighbor to get out of reach. But which one is to prefer? I would choose spot D. It is quite common that there are no passengers. The driver next to you in slot D will exit the car on the left side keeping your Saab safe.
There are hazards in this space as well. The neighbor may have passengers. Someone may park the other way around in parallel with your Saab. And finally, If you park far out, the spot next to you will get very roomy of your neighbor leave before you. The next car may park very close to your side-line and you will end up getting quite close after all. You can never be too sure…..
What a beautiful sight! Not a car in an any spot. Surely it would be safe to park in slot A? Never! I have done this many times and I have always been amazed that the second car arriving at the parking lot will park next to me, even if there are hundreds of places to chose from. Don’t ask my why, I have not the slightest clue. Always go for the safest spot which is B.
Oh, oh, the parking lot is almost entirely full. The cars next to slot A are badly parked. But I could still slip through, could I? Never!
This is the time to know a defeat. It’s not worth the risk. Find another shop or drive to a car park in the vicinity and walk a few extra steps. I would even consider parking between the trees in the corner if the ground is good enough. Never risk your Saab if the stakes are too high.
If you don’t care much about parking I hope you still found this post amusing 😊. Do you have any advice, please put your thoughts in the comments!
Park safely!
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