Has anyone seen this site yet?
Saab - Maintain Your Identity
I did notice that many if not most of the videos seemed to come from the East Coast.
SaabGuy
Has anyone seen this site yet?
Saab - Maintain Your Identity
I did notice that many if not most of the videos seemed to come from the East Coast.
SaabGuy
I love to sing and dance in my car??
I love my Saab because it's 15 years old and isn't covered in rust...
Nasty Bob,
That is good to hear! However, we're not the best ones that should hear it, it will be those in the general public and Saab Cars Inc.
Can you please make a video of you and/or a photo of you and your Saab?
- Ryan
That is the lamest attempt at viral marketing I've seen this year.
Moreover, it made me really sad. This is really what it has come down to. "Buy a Saab because Saabs are different" - no longer "Buy a Saab because Saabs are good". The irony is there is far less differentiation now than there was before, when they were good...
To be fair, Saabs always have been *different*. Quirky, interesting etc...
You're simply saying they're not good anymore ?
Graham
Yes, but it's always been different /for a practical reason/. Many of the innovations were either safety or performance led. It seems now the spin is that you should buy a Saab because they're different, with "being different" as an end in itself, not just a result of practical engineering decisions that make the car better.
There's more to what I'm saying than just that - 'good' is a relative term.
Grunff,
What years do you think were the good years?
It seems like everyone I talk to had different opinions.
Such as the Stroker groups, as those were the only REAL last SAABS
or the V4s were the only last SAABS, or the 1980s.
SaabGuy
They ended when the C900 died. Before that, all good. The 9000 Aero helped, but they even had to give that the bum's rush in the end.
You're of course correct in that everyone will have their own take on this.
My personal opinion is that the C900 was the last real Saab. The 9k was a pretty good car - I enjoyed owning one for several years, but it could very easily have been another make.
The C900 was the last car produced by Saab which incorporated a long list of design features aimed at making the driver's life better. This was done with little regard for convention - the designers did what they did because they believed it was the right thing to do, just as they had on the 99, the 96, and all the previous models.
Today's lineup leaves me distinctly unimpressed. With the single exception of turbocharging, the Saab range is really very close to the lineup offered by other mid-range euro brands. There's nothing about the way they are built, or the way the drive, that makes me want to own one.
It is sad that they had to END the 9000 altogether.
SaabGuy
Ah the purists...
"There's never been a better train than the Flying Scotsman"
"The spitfire was the last true fighter plane"
"The supermarket has killed the corner shop"
"LP's sound so much better than CD's"
"Good music died in 1970"
Whilst I drive a C900 Aero, and love it to bits, I am grown up enough to realise that time moves on. We own a NG900 too, and I've said it before and I'll say it again, it has been a superb car, reliable, tough, comfortable, safe and actually a bit of a head turner with my clients. I work in Civil Engineering, most engineers I work with drive Focus or Mundeo type vehicles it's not a rich business. I keep trying to spread the word, Saabs are well priced on the second hand market here in the UK.
Yes the NG is a GM car, so what, it's a good car. As was my 1996 9000. Currently thinking about buying a 1999/2000ish 9-3.
I am bored with all the negativity here about newer Saabs, read the posts guys, many of our posters are drivers of NG900's, 9-3s and 9-5s.
The C900 was actually the car that made Saab, it was the car that moved Saab from a vehicle driven by quirky eccentric head teachers and vegetarian college lecturers to a vehicle bought by company directors. Rather than the obligatory Jags and Beamers of the 80's.
The C900 was the beginning not the end, and the NG900 was not the beginning of the end.
Al
You're missing the point Al. Yes, the NG900, and the 9^3 and 9^5 are perfectly usable cars. But the real point is how do they compare with their competitors? Hows does a 9^3 compare with a same-year BMW 3 series? Or even an Audi A4? On the other hand, how did the C900 compare with a same-year BMW 3 series?
I've spent a lot of time looking at recent Saabs, and driving them, and I'm just not impressed - which is why when I needed newish car, I bought a BMW.
Al,
I completely agree with you. I have moved on myself. The best way to judge someone is how well they transition from situation to situation thus, how they grow as a person. I continue to live in the present, looking forward to the future not to the past, and not what to wait for, but what to contribute to. I think that it is time that others here and elsewhere grow up as well.
SaabGuy
[...]
But we don't want to hear that "quality is patchy" for the 9-3 (The Independent
21/06/2005). There should be absolutely no reason for that in a modern Saab!!!
someone is how well they transition from situation to situation thus, how they grow as a person. I continue to live in the present, looking forward to the future not to the past, and not what to wait for, but what to contribute to. I think that it is time that others here and elsewhere grow up as well.
So 'growing up' means sticking blindly to a brand regardless of quality? Continuing to buy the latest offerings when competitors are out-competing your favourite brand by a mile?
someone is how well they transition from situation to situation thus, how they grow as a person. I continue to live in the present, looking forward to the future not to the past, and not what to wait for, but what to contribute to. I think that it is time that others here and elsewhere grow up as well.
Grunff,
Yes, I know it may sound a bit strange or whatever, but I believe in loyalty even in today's society. I also believe in not hoping on the bandwagon with the #1 baseball team even if your home team is not doing as well.
SaabGuy
Well given that Saab's are now made by the same company which makes parts for most of the other Euro brands (and in the case of Subaru, makes the whole cars too), that is not a surprising conclusion.
Craig.
The 9000 isn't a GM design, so GM probably don't want to keep stuff that they can't claim 100 percent ownership over the design of since that would allow a 'hole' in their oil company prop-up masterplan for other manufacturers to exploit down the track. 8-)
Craig.
Craig,
Any word on the server? for Saab Videos?
SaabGuy
Could you elaborate on that please? It is interesting :)
SaabGuy
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