Remembering the Last SAAB 9-5 – A Fitting Tribute to Sweden
the last SAAB 9-5 symbolised the dying embers of American greed, a greed that sapped energy from everything its filthy tentacles touched.
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10, 2023
6
07, 2011
SAAB 9-5 Aero. The sexy car that nearly wasn’t.
If you ask the average person what they think of when you say Scandinavia, they’ll say Volvo, SAAB, ABBA, Princess Mary and Bang and Olufsen. You’ll also think “stylish and beautifully designed” homewares. Ditto for the cars and they have pioneered safety since before it was trendy. We very nearly lost SAAB which would have been criminal, because we [...]
4
07, 2011
SAAB 9-5: Hot or just burnt out?
We’re nearing the end of our week with the brand spankers 9-5 SAAB. I confess to being brimming with enthusiasm with the expectation keeping me on the edge of my bath. I couldn’t stop myself from reading what a few others had to say about her. They mentioned it’s not a BMW for which they got big extra points, [...]
30
06, 2011
Does taking your top off make you sexy? Living with convertibles. WRAP UP: Peugeot 308cc, VW Eos, Lexus IS250c
When we set out there were just a couple of tiny little objectives. We wanted to know if you could live with a roofless car and could you use it every day and what is it like to drive a convertible. Would it surprise you to learn that there is not a single solitary reason why you should not [...]
29
06, 2011
SAAB does a deal. Factory sold, conditionally.
The Saab saga (saabga? Saaga?) continues today with the announcement that a consortium of Swedish real estate investors with Hemfosa Fastigheter AB at the helm, is set to purchase 50.1% of Saab Property for $39.28 million (SEK 255 million). The property includes 5.199x10^6 square feet of building space. But that leaves Saab Automobile without a place to build cars. [...]
21
06, 2011
SAAB, is it all over? Let’s hope not
SAAB is struggling to stay alive. The last 12 months has seen a change of ownership for the innovative car maker. After the sale by GM to Spyker, SAAB has not really had a chance to get going. First there was a stoppage at their factories due to unpaid bills to suppliers. Then another stoppage due to a shortage [...]
10
06, 2011
SAAB Production stopped yet again
Things over at SAAB are not going so well. Their production had stopped for financial reasons a few months ago. The Chinese stopped by and helped out by buying a few cars and giving the parent company a bit of a cash injection. Sadly, while the cat was away, the mice got bored and stopped making parts so SAAB [...]
4
06, 2011
SAAB in trouble again: finance deal has fallen through. UPDATE finance now OK
The NEW 9-5 is safe. We test this car in a few weeks time! WooHoo! All is not well over at SAAB’s H/O in Sweden. The finance deal which saw support for continuing development of new models has gone wrong. The Chinese investor seems to have gotten cold feel. It is very sad as SAAB was in deep strife after [...]
25
05, 2011
Road Deaths: Education NOT Cameras save lives. Speed doesn’t kill, lack of driver education does.
For years we have wondered if speed cameras actually do anything to lower our road deaths. Here is a graph you might find interesting. The countries with the lowest death tolls are the ones with the highest driver education standards. Interestingly some of the countries with the lowest death tolls have the highest speed limits. Germany is a case in [...]
13
05, 2011
Top Tip 6: The Test Drive, make it a LONG one. If the salesman is cute, take him with you…
You selected a few cars and you want to make sure it’s the right choice. Chances are you’ll be living with this choice for 3 to 5 years at least. If you have your ducks lined up, you’ll have cash or finance ready to roll. Tell the salesman this and say your are ready right now. Tell him that you [...]
