Sadly and after much deliberation and soul-searching I have decided to part company with my lovely parchment 9-3 Convertible and regretfully leave the world of SAAB behind.... for now at least.
I have owned and enjoyed this car as well as the company and camaraderie of this community for something like the past six or seven years in spite of my longer absences here more recently, mostly due to a combination of long shifts and busying myself restoring the vintage MG. I know that I may possibly regret this decision later, but it is one borne out of practicality and reason.
Having settled myself in with the new job at Brize Norton which is just a short drive from my home rather than the long cruise down the M40 into Middlesex that I used to do, my mileage has now dropped to around 5000 in two years, and I can no longer justify running such a luxurious and perhaps expensive-if-it goes-wrong beast.
Moreover being a diesel, I'm acutely aware that short journeys don't go well with diesels. As well as this, I am often leaving work in the wee hours, and these last few months I have been caught out in some really nasty blizzard like conditions that even with winter tyres on, I have only just made it home. While I agree that the snowy period in this country is very short it is nonetheless worrying when driving in these conditions thinking you might have to abandon your pride and joy in the middle of nowhere at 4am in order to walk several miles to get to warmth.
My intention is to stay with the open air motoring but find something that might be more resilient to the 3rd World road surfaces in this country
, while also being capable of dragging itself up snow-laden Cotswold hills - this doesn't give me much choice on my budget unfortunately; an open topped 4x4 offers me either an old rag-top Landrover or a pre-2005 Suzuki Jimny.
So after much thought, I am now on the cusp of part-exing my beloved SAAB for Jap-Scrap
. Sacrilege I know, but the Jimny is a very capable vehicle if a bit slow and dated. My brother owned one and loved it, in fact he still drives a Suzi 4x4 today - but its a more conventional modern car.
My midwife neighbour has a Jimny as her winter vehicle for getting around the rural hills to visit the Stork's latest arrivals rather than ruin her gleaming white open-top Peugeot, and has allowed me to drive it in anger in this recent weather. Its cheap to run and after lots of consideration probably my best option. I was amazed at what it could do; I deliberately tried to drive through or over impossible snow-drifts on relatively normal all-rounder tyres, and I couldn't get the thing really stuck! I was utterly astonished.
I would like to keep my account on Tech Talk going and will certainly drop in from time to time. I still have lots of 'calling cards' left that I had printed and will continue to leave them on windows of SAABs that look like the owners care, and will continue to do this until they run out.
I will always be eternally grateful for all the conversations, help, and ideas generated here. I bought my car when SAAB was lurching towards its demise, and have learnt a lot of SAAB history. I hope to see some more SAABs begin attending the local classic shows that seem to spring up everywhere now, I attend these with the MG Midget I bought back after 17 years of it being AWOL, (which this year will be kept busy as its the Sprite & Midgets 60th birthday!).
I will update this thread later, particularly if, and when I acquire the Jimny.
My respect and thanks to you all.