Paul's Saab Page

Car and Driver wrote in 2002: "Saabs are an acquired taste, like single-malt Scotch and reggae." Unfortunately, as a vehicle manufacturer, they are now history. But those with the least amount of GM DNA are very much still on the road and great vehicles (assuming you have that acquired taste).

Allow me to go on a bit of a tangent about new vs. used cars:

I love cars, but I cannot understand, unless you are really rich, plopping down 40 grand or more for a well-made, well-appointed and high performance vehicle. The alternatives, then, are to purchase a cheaper made, not well-appointed and not high performance new vehicle or get what you really want but get it used.

Cars are not like laptops or digital SLRs of a few years ago. You wouldn't want to buy a 40Mhz laptop with a 1GB hard drive and 32MB RAM. Neither would you want to buy a 1MP digital camera.

But there are many areas where buying new isn't important or isn't even desirable. Houses are definitely in that category. And cars are too, especially performance cars. Aside from fuel efficiency and hybrid engines, which may be important to many, cars are not on the same curve as other technologies. In my mind, every time I would make the decision to buy a much better used car (than I could ever afford new) and maintain it through a mechanic you can trust.

There's something to be said for caring for a car and getting to know how it works. Along the way, you can learn how to do some things yourself. At the very minimum, you can learn how to do something you wouldn't have to do with a new car for a while: wax it and detail it.

Now allow me to go on another tangent about transmissions:

I also don't understand why nearly everyone drives an automatic transmission. Driving any car with a manual gearbox is so much fun. Some have even said it's like having sex. AskMen wrote: "Real men understand that cars need three pedals, otherwise the vehicle is nothing more than a fancy golf cart. Men understand that driving is a skill, and that the best way to master this skill is to maintain absolute control of all aspects of a car at all times."

We have owned an '86 Saab 900 manual transmission 2-door hatch, '87 Saab 900S automatic convertible, and '92 Saab 900SE 4-door sedan. Now my wife drives a '97 Saab 9000 CSE. Why buy such an old car? It is an incredible classic sedan. It turned out that the car had been serviced by our own mechanic in Boston, the wonderful Ross Martin from RPM Automotive (who since passed away in March 2012). So, we snatched that up and that's been our main family car.

I drive a 2001 Saab 9-3 Viggen (shown in the picture). I had never heard of a Viggen, but when I drove it, I was hooked. The Saab Viggen was a limited production high-powered version of the Saab 9-3. It was made as a 4- and 2-door hatchback as well as convertible. The 4-door hatch was manufactured from 2000-2002. The special upgrades on the Viggen are a heavy duty clutch (to handle the extra torque), stiffened and lowered springs, firmer dampers, stronger CV joints and driveshafts, specially bolstered leather seats (with beautiful black interior), sport suspension, larger wheels, and upgraded brakes. This car has some Viggen performance modifications: Taliaferro 6 point sub-frame brace, Saab steering rack clamp and brace, Saab 22mm rear sway bar, and a new Saab Information Display.

What's the 9000 CSE like to drive? It drives like a smooth sedan, yet is has some zip to it with the turbocharger. It mostly drives like you'd expect a sedan to drive. It's interior is clean. The only pet peeve is that there are different colors on various displays (green versus amber), and that kind of thing drives me crazy.

What's the Viggen like to drive? It drives like what I think a sports car should drive like (though I admit to not having driven a BMW or Audi or any other high performance vehicle and suspect if I did my views on the Saab may not be the same). There's no sedan ride to this baby. You know you are driving a car. It accelerates fast and the clutch is buttery smooth. It hugs turns tightly. The interior is like a cockpit. The bolstered leather seats are tough and feel like I'm being hugged. All the interior elements are superior grade and sporty.

This car is not for someone who is not interested in caring for it (or should I say having it cared for).

Sadly, as many know, Saab as a company is no longer. That means parts for these cars are probably going to become more expensive, though the company that manufactures parts for Saab is apparently not affected by the demise of the car company. It also means that used Saabs are probably going to be even more reasonably priced.

In any case, I know my days of owning Saabs are numbered. They are certainly quirky cars. But quirky cars do work well with quirky owners!