Photo Credit: Keith Coleman

Keith Coleman, one of the participants that attended the “SAVE SAAB” kickoff event in Detroit this past January, has kindly shared a photo for this week’s “Saab Sighting of the week” at Saab History.

Here’s his quote below describing the photo of the Saab 9-3 SportCombi and how he took it. It looks spectacular!

I was traveling in Spain and Scotland the past few weeks and enjoyed seeing a good amount of SAAB’s on the road. Here is a shot of one in Elgin, Scotland. I shot it on my infrared camera. Hope your well, keep up the great work. Thanks, Keith

Photo Credit: Saab History

This week’s Saab Sighting of the week depicts yet another Saab sighting at an embassy, this time a red Saab 9-3 Convertible in front of the Embassy of Nicaragua in Washington, D.C. taken this past weekend.

Photo Credit: Saab History

The Saab sighting of the week this week depicts a diplomat driving a Saab 9-5 sedan in Washington. D.C.

This is not the first diplomat to have owned a Saab as depicted at both the Embassy of Argentina and Mexico back in 2007.

It’s nice to see diplomats that have so many options to choose from in the automobile marketplace, specifically choosing to to buy Saab while here in the United States.

Photo Credit: Saab History

This past week, I was in nearby Vermont and unlike my visit a few years ago, this time I was impressed by the sheer numbers of Saab models that I noticed. The photo opportunity above for the Saab Sighting of the week, is of a Saab 9-5 Wagon taken near the pedestrian area known as Church Street in Burlington, Vermont. As I was preparing to take the photo, I must have seen at least 5 Saab models pass me as I was taken this photo within the course of 10 minutes, reaffirming that Vermont still has a lot of loyal Saab owners out there.

However, as we know, time passes on and each year we see less and less variety of Saab models on the road. Today, we now usually see just 9-3 and 9-5 models and that is also true for the Saab dealers and independent mechanics that service them. As I learned from visiting a local, longtime Saab independent shop in rural Vermont, it’s the lack of variety that is his biggest challenge as an independent that keeps him from getting as excited as he used to get. This lack of variety is also a challenge for the dealers as well, however these challenges will slowly begin to change as the new product roll out gets fully underway.

Here’s hoping that this variety comes back with this new era of Saab, so we can once again see a noticeable and varied Saab product lineup on the roads again.

I have to say that it is always refreshing to see those colors and varied products at all of the Saab Owners Conventions year after year.

Photo Credit: Ross

Saab History frequenter Ross in Bridgeton, Maine has recently submitted a photo of a Saab sighting from a visit to Provincetown in Cape Cod, Massachusetts during the summer of 2009.

Photo Credit: Saab History

Saab History has discovered yet another small business owner in Portland, Maine that owns a Saab. This business is Brian Boru, a notable Irish Pub located right in the heart of old port in Portland.

I find that now that I walk by this pub, I refer to it as Björn Borg, not just because the owner drives a Saab, but because the crown in the logo reminds me of Sweden’s National Emblem, “Tre Kronor” (Three Crowns).

In the meantime, I’m now going to track down the other Small business owners here that also own Saabs, including the one that drives a similiar 9000 as mine with the license plate “SMALBIZ”.

Photo Credit: Peter F

Saab History has received a photo by Peter F here in Portland, Maine for this week’s Saab Sighting of the week.

This photo taken by his mobile phone, depicts a Saab 9-5 Sedan in Polar white on a flatbed getting hauled away from what looks to be a rear-end accident.

I hope that the owner’s of this vehicle realize just how much Saab focuses on Safety in every vehicle they produce. If the insurance adjuster claims the vehicle totaled, one can hope that the owners are looking at the newer Saab 9-5 as a worthy replacement, just look at those crash tests!

Photo Credit: Michi

This week’s Saab Sighting of the week depicts a Saab 900 Turbo with the SPG kit painted in yellow, taken near what looks to be a boat house of some sort with the Boston skyline in the background.

I am surprised that in all of my travels, this is the first time seeing this unique Saab in the greater Boston area. I hope to get more details from the owner of this Saab.

Photo Credit: Chris C

This week’s Saab Sighting of the week depicts Saab Enthusiast Chris C of Maine with his 2002 Saab 9-5 parked in front of the entrance of the Saab Parts Facility in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

This photo was taken last spring when he was en-route to the “Saabs @ Carlisle” event.

A thank you to Chris for the great shot!

Photo Credit: Saab History

Over the past year, I have passed through North Conway, a ski resort town located in the White Mountains of New Hampshire and have encountered a few curious Saab sightings each time. These Saab sightings peaked my curiosity because each of the two Saab 9000 models I discovered, had a yellow sign mounted on the roof. As we drove by them, we never got the chance to read what type of business they represented (I initially presumed Pizza Delivery Services), until now.

Today, I decided to explore more deeply into what company was driving these Saabs and that turned out to be a company appropriately called “Fast Taxi”. According to the owner of the Fast Taxi, they own “two Saab 9000 CSE models for taxi services in the greater ski resort area”.

These vehicles have been in use for approximately 5 years now as the current owner has been acquiring the vehicles from the greater Boston area. Apparently the previous owner of these vehicles believed that once the Saab’s hit 100,000 miles, they are no longer useful, the owner of Fast Taxi strongly disagrees. In fact, her vehicles now have over 200,000 miles on them and today, her customers indicate that they continue to enjoy being chauffuered and with the hatchback utility, luggage is never a problem.

This is another one of these great marketing stories for Saab, specifically here in New England. Please expect a follow-up to this Saab Sighting Of The Week.

Photo Credit: James Dale

This week’s Saab sighting of the week comes from James Dale, the one who recently purchased a beautiful 1993 Saab 900 CE from Swedish Motor Cars.

He’s provided us a photo of an extremely impressive “barn find” in Canada. This vehicle is a 1977 Saab 99 EMS with 55,000 original miles on it!

I guess the deal with these “barn finds” are just as legend has it, you find them in some old barn, virtually untouched and need only minor work with with extremely low mileage. I can’t believe there are still “barn finds” for Saabs here in North America as Scandinavia is another story.

Great job James! Glad that you got your Brother to buy it! Here’s the rest of the story by James:

I responded to an ad on the weekend stating There was a 1977 EMS for sale- no photo included. I answered the ad and drove about 60 miles out with my brother to see it. Met this kind gentleman who opened a barn up to reveal this gem perfectly preserved ems. He supplied his original receipt for $8,300.00 Canadian dollars off the Saab showroom floor. He bought it when he was 32. I made my brother buy it and we drove it home. We cannot believe this gem with full service records was sitting in this Barn waiting ­ 55,000 miles on it- he loved it so much he wanted to preserve it. We assured it was going to a good home. 4000.00 canadian ­ We are still pinching ourselves.

Photo Credit: Arte Levy

The Saab Sighting of the week this week goes to Arte Levy who just purchased the 1990 Saab 900 Friction Tester from Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C. recently.

You may recall that back in August of last year, the airport was selling it. Well, it finally ended up in this Saab enthusiast’s hands and he is very excited about it!

Thanks Arte for another one saved, here’s what he had to say about it!

I have an update on that Saab Friction Tester from Dulles…

Dulles never resold it…and they ultimately asked me if I would be interested in buying the SFT.

So I did!

I picked it up a couple of weeks ago. It’s pretty neat. Totally functional and came complete with everything including the calibration tools.

I’ll cull together some pictures of it once I clean it up this spring and send them to you.

Here’s what I know about it….

The SFT is a 1990 Saab 900 Turbo. It was built by the Saab factory as a friction tester before GM sold off the surface testing equipment business in the early 90′s to what became ASFT. The SFT serial number is 244.

The car was sold by Saab as a friction tester to Chicago Midway Airport in the US. Around 2004/2005 the car was sent to ASFT in Sweden as a trade in and complete overhaul and computer upgrading to the current Mark IV friction testing system. It was then resold to Dulles Airport in Washington DC. When it was sent back to the US, it sat on a ship, delayed several weeks thanks to some customs issues. After the paperwork was taken care of, the airport took possession and they ran it all year round. When it wasn’t being used during a snow event, it was used to check for rubber buildup on the runways during the summer.

Dulles designated the SFT as “OPS 10.” The current cost for this car after a major mechanical and computer refurbishment to this standard is approximately $85K. This vehicle would run over $200,000 when new.

Attached is a quick snapshot of the 1990 Saab Friction Tester I purchased from Washington Dulles International Airport on the day I picked it up.
I needed to rent an auto-transport trailer for the long tow back along I-95 to Upstate New York.

The photograph was taken just outside the high-security checkpoint that allows non-passenger access to the airport.

The SFT is complete with all equipment, drop-down wheel, Mk IV computer, manuals, calibration gear, etc. … it even has leather seats and Saab floor mats!

Once I learn more about it, I’ll let you know!

Cheers,

Arte

This week’s Saab Sighting Of The Week was quite a suprise when I received an e-mail over the weekend. This photo was taken by a camera phone (note it’s a bit wavy), of the Saab History 1992 Saab 900 Turbo Project that found a new home late last year in the West coast!

It was nice seeing this photo as I could see the critical “Made In Trollhattan” by Trolls sticker, the classic New England Saab Association Sticker and Saab-Salomon stickers and of course the Saab Rally Lights on the front, a throwback to Saab’s rally days.

I think it looks quite happy out there, in a good and resourceful new home with great year-round weather enjoying some nice travels in the area.

A thank you to the individual that shared this photo with me. I think the one who sent me this photo, did not know that this was once owned by Saab History, thinking it was just a random Saab sighting as it was not from the owner.

This week’s Saab Sighting of the week comes from Bob in New Jersey who saw two other Saabs parked next to one another, so it was logical to park next to them and snap a photo of the three together.

As we know, Saab owners typically like to go out of their way to park alongside other Saab owners. Here’s more proof!

A thanks to Bob for the submittal, happy Saabing!

Hi –
Great website! After looking at your Saab Sightings section, I had to submit mine. I was looking for a parking spot at the local shopping center in Garwood, NJ when I happened to spot a 9-5 wagon and 9-3 sedan parked next to each other. There was an empty space on the right, so I just had to park my 1996 900 S two-door alongside for a triple sighting!

Bob

Photo Credit: Saab History

As part of this week’s Saab sighting of the week, I noticed a silver Saab 9-7x at the Sunday River Ski Resort.

This makes three vehicles as part of the Sunday River Ski Resort in Maine that I have spotted since 2007. The other two vehicles include a black Saab 9-5 Sedan as and Sport Combi.

There were a number of other Saab vehicles in the parking lot that were not official vehicles of the resort, so that in and of itself was also good to see.

Photo Credit: Saab History

I frequently see Saabs throughout the Portland, Maine region, but this past weekend was quite a rare occurrence.

This week’s Saab sighting of the week, is none other than a 1996 Saab 9000 Aero. This Saab sighting was not just another person’s transportation, it was clearly owned by an enthusiast. It was a nice sign to randomly see a Saab with Connecticut plates touting both a 2008 Saab Owners Convention sticker in the rear window as well as an Aero emblem on the hood.

By sharing this information here on Saab History, we can hope that the rightful owner of this car can give us some more insight into their interest and passion for the Saab Automobile brand.

Photo Credit: Carl Levine

Carl Levine, has provided Saab History with a nice Saab Sighting of the week this week. This Saab sighting showcases “spiritual successors”. These being a 1992 Saab 9000 CC to the right, adjacent to a 2004 Saab 9-5 at a parking garage in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

As we all know, the Saab 9-5 was developed as the successor to the 9000 and in 1997, they were built side by side at the Saab Factory in Sweden as one was being phased out and the other, phased in.

It’s not often when you see the older 9000 CC models around, especially the few years that the facelifted version was available (1991-1992) in the hatchback model as you see here.

A great find and nice to see it on the road and running today, especially in the suggested new home to Saab Cars North America, Portsmouth, New Hampshire!

Photo Credit: Saab History

The Saab sighting of the week this week is a 1997 Saab 9000 CS with NH plates “Manhatn”, clearly a reference to a place the owner either lived or wants to live, apparently living in exile in New Hampshire.

What I think is interesting about this vanity plate reference is that Saab also made a connection to this reference in a book published in 2002. This book focused on Saab’s first home, Trollhättan, Sweden in comparison to their first home in the United States, Manhattan, titled “Manhattan / Trollhättan” pictured below.

With Saab returning back to their Swedish Roots in Trollhättan, Sweden, wouldn’t it make sense for their United States roots to follow suit? The recent poll asking Saab History visitors where Saab Cars North America should move their new headquarters to, 2nd place goes to New York, NY

Photo Credit: Saab History

A few weeks ago, I was walking through the “Old Port” section of Portland, Maine (reminds me of Old Town in Stockholm, Sweden) and came across a beautiful Saab 9-5 Sedan. This car upon closer inspection was clearly not just well maintained, but certainly an enthusiasts car that none of my Saab colleagues can identify as a colleague of theirs.

The give aways with this particular car were the front and rear replacements of the Saab emblem, with the current logo of SCANIA trucks (hard to get), followed by the grille replacement with mesh and the turn signal bulbs and that’s just for the exterior. The interior was upgraded, with particular attention to the shifter and dash area in aluminum appearance.

I did not get the chance to drop a card on the window, but if I do see this vehicle again, I will certainly do that an entertain their feedback here on Saab History now that they’ve been featured as the “Saab Sighting Of The Week”.

The question I have for the owner, is, are they trying to give the appearance that this Saab is “born from SAAB jets” or born from “Scania Trucks”? At least both scenarios, are technically accurate.

Photo Credit: Saab History

This past week I noticed a beautiful Saab 9000 CS here in Maine with Colorado plates. The car was immaculate and reminded me of the same model and color that budget rent-a-car had 10 years ago that many rented for the 1999 Saab Owners Convention in Keystone, Colorado.

I suspect that there won’t be any Saab’s to rent this year, however but I do hear from the convention folks that if you are renting a car, they will be providing you a nice Saab emblem with double-sided tape for you to place on your rental car during your stay!

I wish the owner of this Saab 9000 a safe travel back to Colorado, perhaps we may see this Saab again at the convention next month?

Photo Credit: FW

The Saab Sighting of the week this week, is a great photo I received from my Wife who spent some time in Missoula, Montana recently.

This photo is of a white Saab 9-5 Sedan, prominently displayed with the nearby hillside in the background. The condition is absolutely immaculate, so here’s to those that don’t need to worry about salted roads like we have out here in the North East region of the United States and elsewhere!

It’s not often we hear about Saabs in that region, so here’s to those keeping up the Saab spirit in Montana!

Photo Credit: Saab History

This past week, I saw a great 1992 Saab 900 4-door sedan in front of the Harbor Fish Market in Portland, Maine.

I frequent this fish market as it provides some of the healthiest local seafood in the area at good prices and it’s clear that other Saab owners feel the same!

A nice Saab Sighting Of The Week, I hope to see this one driving around again!

Photo Credit: Saab History

The Saab 900, a staple of preferred transportation in academia for years, was recently spotted at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, making it this week’s Saab sighting of the week.

This 1987 Saab 900 Turbo parked in front of the museum of art at the college, was quite unique with it’s Koenigsegg orange inspired wheels, which makes for quite a good connection with the pumpkin colored side marker and turn signals normally found on these vehicles originally destined for the North American market.

This Saab sighting of the week is the third sighting of a classic Saab 900 at a reputable art museum, where we’ve previously seen a Saab 900 at the Portland Museum of Art in Maine as well as the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

It’s one thing to see just another Saab, and another for a classic Saab 900, but it’s quite a nice sight to see both complete with an artistic touch, because we know there are only artist inspired Saabs around.

Photo Credit: Saab History

This weekend was the annual summer kick-off “Old Port Festival” that my wife and I attended. The event, was great fun with vendors, music, plenty of food, fun, etc.

At this event, there were numerous Saab sightings, but this one was by far one of the best, although I think the driver was quite surprised!

Photo Credit: Saab History

This past weekend, my wife and I went to pick up some fresh produce at the local farmers market here in New England.

While we were heading over, I noticed a good photo opportunity of a Saab, the most intelligent car ever built next to a Smart car, so I appropriately titled the photo as “Intelligent Car Vs. Smart Car”.

I thought this photo opportunity was good enough for a Saab Sighting of the week!