Bare-Naked Driving
I am, by nature and training, a deconstructionist. I enjoy the intellectual rigor of
examining a situation, problem or thing and dissecting it into its component parts. This is helpful when one is not overly bright, for it affords me the ability to analyze situations I would otherwise find baffling. Much of my time at conservatory was spent doing this sort of analysis, on both music (I am one of those few freaks who actually enjoyed music theory and analysis and took every course I could) and performance at the instrument. People of immense talent and genius do not do this; they don’t have to.

When assessing the driving experience of a car, there is, of course, how said car feels in total. This is very important. I also like to look past that and gauge my reaction to the various systems. However, as cars have become more integrated, more digital, more “of a piece,” this has become increasingly challenging. Thus it was with great analytical interest that I approached my first drives in the newly unleashed 1985 Saab SPG Hillclimb car built by sons Marcel and Pascal for the Climb to the Clouds race at Mount Washington.

Construction of this car essentially involved stripping it to a shell, throwing away everything that doesn’t contribute to making the car go, stop or corner, and then putting it back together again. Sunroof? Gone. Power windows? Gone. Stereo, comfy seats, heater, AC, insulation, door panels and cruise control? All gone. After being taken to the car’s essence, there are some additions: this is a race car, not an exercise in automotive asceticism. Hence, better suspension, lots of go fast stuff on the engine, racing seats and a full roll cage are fitted. Is it like driving a 900? Unmistakably.

While the ignition key assembly between the seats is gone, the array of switches to
activate various circuits, and the pushbutton starter, are all on a custom console in its place. Nice touch. Once started, the exhaust note, amplified from the large exhaust and absence of sound deadening inside the car is unmistakably 900 turbo. Sitting in a racing seat is not. I adore Saab seats, and while the Sparco seat and 5 point harness aren’t bad, even after 90 minutes in the car, I missed my real Saab seat. Another thing I missed was the 900 smell (every C900 owner knows what I mean). Apparently that does reside in the fabrics, and not in the bones of the car. Once I pulled off, the driving experience was at once familiar.

I was immediately at home in this minimalist 900. Delicious clutch (even with upgraded bits), strong brakes, wonderful steering, and handling that was completely predictable and sure footed, even on modest street tires. When I think back to my parents’ first new car, I recall that it had no radio, a rubber floor mat, crank windows, and not much else. So it was with the SPG. It got me to thinking—do we really need all that junk in a car? I realize that this SPG is not a viable daily driver if only for the noise level, even with ear plugs, and I’m talking road-noise, not exhaust.. When you get rid of all the toys—the NAV, the audio system, the sunroof, the SID, the trip computer, the cruise control…..the only thing you’re left with is driving. Now there’s a novel thing to focus on in a car! It’s like removing all the sauce and stuff on a plate and having just the piece of meat and eating it unadorned. This may not be for everyone, but a real meat lover will like nothing better. Thus, I found myself, even when loafing along on the highway in the right lane in the SPG, very much enjoying the experience.

Could I drive a bare-naked car every day? Almost. A C900, which I drive now, isn’t that far removed when compared to a modern car, so I think I could. I would want to keep some insulation, normal seats, and a heater and defroster are a must. I do like a sunroof but could live without one Likewise I could also do without power windows, locks, cruise control, AC and carpeting. Yes, I would also like to have a radio and clock. But not much else. The realization in all this to me was that if you like a car, then reduce that car to its bones and still like it, then you know that your passion for the car is deep-rooted and goes to that car’s essence. Toys and luxuries are nice to have, but applied to an uninspiring set of bones is like (pardon me here) putting lipstick on a pig. I bet that a lot of Saab drivers would feel the same. Take a Lexus, say, and strip it down and ask Lexus owners what they think. I bet the reaction would be a bit different. I believe that many Saab drivers would love driving a Saab sans accoutrements—not that they’d give them up for good—and this may be why we are so passionate about these cars.

A quandary for the ages

There are some age old debates which will never be resolved, and that’s a good thing, for it means we will always have fodder for verbal discourse. Bird or Magic? Mac or PC? Godfather or Godfather 2? Creation or Evolution? Bordeaux or Bourgogne? Thus, in the past week I’ve had to revisit that most important of automotive questions: front-wheel drive, or rear-wheel drive?

I grew up and learned to drive, as did most Americans of my generation, in rear wheel drive cars, though they tended to be smaller than the norm, with smaller engines and manual transmissions. The first cars I bought were also rear wheel drive, but starting with my first new car, a 1984 Chevrolet Cavalier, then through a couple of Hondas and more Saabs than I can recall, I’ve never owned anything but front drivers. Certainly, there was a time when in New England when the available grip and stability of FWD in wintery weather held enough logic to demand that one choose it over RWD. Now, with limited slip differentials, traction control and stability control, those arguments are moot. With a set of snow tires and all the nanny controls switched on, it’s hard to tell what you’re driving in the snow.

When you get a bunch a car nuts together, especially those who road race, there is an overbearing prejudice against FWD, even if they do admit to the efficiencies in packaging of FWD which makes the configuration sensible for everyday boring cars. But that’s not what we’re talking about. We’re talking real cars, fun cars. The RWD arguments are fairly sound. Are there any FWD cars in F1? NASCAR? Indy Car? Formula Anything? Does Ferrari or Porsche make a FWD vehicle? No. Not a one. Then the few FWD fans in that crowd will chime in about rally racing. While now dominated by AWD (which we will leave completely out of this discussion), there are still lots of FWD rally cars competing….and RWD, not so much. I’ve rather given up arguing the point. On the preponderance of evidence, one ought to prefer RWD if one is a car nut, yet I don’t. Hence I drive a Saab and not a BMW, yet another debate that can’t be decided rationally.

I had a chance, recently, to consider this question at In Control when I was teaching a class of police officers. Most of the class was done in our issue Camrys; but a few drills were done in Crown Victoria police cruisers. The final drill of the day was an auto-cross. It was a good set up—lots of hard acceleration, hard braking, hard turns, and sneaky stuff like decreasing radius turns and a diminishing slalom. It was quite difficult to manage the FWD Camry. In places I would have liked to shake the tail a bit, which I am accustomed to in that car, I didn’t have enough necessary inertia to break the rear free, thus the car understeered ponderously, forcing some turns into hand-over-hand maneuvers. Still, it was all predictable, if not easy.

Then it was time for me to take a turn in the Crown Vic. I can honestly say I’ve never been in a cruiser, let alone driven one. Did you know they have a secret switch to prevent them from coming out of Park? Anyway, the cruisers on loan from the Lowell PD are certainly not their best cars. Suffice to say that I felt like I should put on a black suit and tie, black sunglasses, handcuff a briefcase to my wrist, and have a partner that said, “Hit it.” I expected the Crown Vic to be a handful. In a sense, it was. It was vague and loose, but surprised me with the ease with which I could navigate it at speed, and not mow down cones. Then I entered my first sweeping decreasing radius turn. Where in the Camry I had to yield to the understeer and accept that more steering input would have no beneficial effect, I kept the wheel cranked 180 degrees and stomped on the accelerator. With the engine eliciting a muted roar, ok, more of a grumble, I got the rear of the car to make a rather elegant slide and just like that my turning radius diminished perfectly, and a quick correction to straight had me hurtling out of the final gate with the rear wheels still alight.

I was glad to see I still knew how to drive a RWD car. Yes, it was fun. No, I would not buy one. Not a Crown Vic, not a BMW, not a M-B. Well, maybe I’d have one if it came from Stuttgart and had a name like an emergency phone call. I still like the odd sensations of FWD. I like torque steer. Damn those who would exorcise that from all FWD hot rods. It’s FUN. I like the challenge of getting a FWD car to transition from understeer to oversteer. I like that FWD cars just aren’t supposed to be competitive with RWD cars, yet they are. I just like the way FWD feels, and that’s why you won’t see any RWD cars in my garage any time soon.

Just after my romp in the Crown Vic, a friend of mine posted this picture on his Facebook. Made me chuckle. Dave races Grand Am in a BMW which he built, so his assertion was predictable. [To his credit, Dave is the only person we know of who can perform an emergency lane-change, or moose test, maneuver in a FWD car, get it to rotate 180 degrees mid-stream and then go through the exit cones backwards.] A friend of his replied to the post with this article. I don’t know where this comes from or who the author is—despite the initials, it is not mine. The article recounts the authors experience in two identical Dodge Daytona race cars, one FWD, one RWD, and the contrast and comparison is fascinating. One of the conclusions thus read:

"Wait a minute. Control the radius with the throttle-that sounds like a good rear-drive characteristic. It is. Except with front drive, the front tires dictate radius, not the rears. In fact, this car doesn't much care what the rear tires are doing once the throttle is opened. And since the basic characteristic we experienced from the apex on was understeer, we found the front-drive Daytona exceptionally easy to drive quickly. It inspired confidence, never felt like it wanted to leap out from under us, and always went where we pointed it. What more could we ask for?"

Does the comparison resolve anything? Not at all.

"Which Daytona is faster? At this point in the ongoing development program, the rear-driver is still a bit quicker. But it depends on the racetrack. At Road Atlanta, the two cars were within a tenth or two. At tighter tracks, Mid-Ohio, for example, the gap was larger. But on faster circuits like Watkins Glen and Lime Rock, Showket believes the front-wheel drive may give him an edge. Which is better? Take your pick. Just remember to reprogram the driver to adapt his driving techniques to meet the car's requirements."

In fact, the observations only add rich perspective to one of those arguments which will never be settled. In the end, the French say it best: A chacun son gout.

************************************************************************************

Daytona article from http://home.comcast.net/~cvetters3/test1.htm

Lowell PD cruiser picture from http://www.crownvicsetc.com/PoliceMA.html

Quick review of the 2011 9-5 Turbo4

I had promised this long ago but never had a chance to get a decent drive in one of these so that I could render an opinion. Well, this morning I went for a bit of a drive, and having spent a lot of time in a 9-5 recently, it was easier to focus on the difference between the Turbo4 and the Aero version.

This Turbo4 car had an automatic, 18” wheels and otherwise was pretty basic. The differences between the Turbo4 and Aero lie in the powerplant and the suspension, and both differences were very apparent. I love the engine in the Turbo4. It has a lot of low end grunt, much like the old 2.3 in the old 9-5, and launches much better that the 2.0T in the 9-3. Throttle response is excellent and there is terrific lunge from a dead-stop. The engine is exceptionally smooth and quiet, with a nice growl under heavy load. Gone from the old 9-5 is the shudder and vibration at idle, which I no longer notice in old 9-5’s, but whose absence was discernable in the new car. The engine and transmission work very nicely together, and the transmission shifts are very smooth and require only modest pedal application when a downshift is sought. Mid-range surge is very good, perhaps better than expected. Above 50 it starts to feel a little winded, but overall I find this combination delightful. Saab drivers of old will feel very much at home. I now want to find one with a manual transmission, which I’m sure I’ll like even more.

I can’t rave as much regarding the change in suspension. The difference is significant and I noted it immediately. I liked the Aero DriveSense in comfort mode, which is what I had hoped this car would feel like. I didn’t. It’s not bad, and compared with the previous 9-5, it still feels much more buttoned-down, though not nearly as tight, refined and precise as the Aero. Handling seemed fine, it’s more the way that Aero seemed to absorb road imperfections and recover much more quickly than Turbo4 which left me wanting, as other reviewers have mentioned, that Turbo4 be fitted with the same suspension as the Aero. Again, it’s not terrible. If I had never driven the Aero and was only comparing Turbo4 with the previous car, or other contemporary cars, I’d say it acquitted itself just fine.

I won’t get into other details. I’ve written that all before. Verdict? Thumbs up from me. Given that I still like to row my own gears (pending my roadtest of a manual transmission version), and love the engine in the Turbo4, and am not prone to feeling the need for AWD, I would likely choose the Turbo4 if I were to buy a 9-5 today. I am concerned with the low mileage estimate, with the EPA giving the four cylinder only a one mpg advantage over the Aero, which I find hard to believe. I got great highway mileage on my NY trek in the Aero—28.5 mpg. Am I to believe that with two fewer cylinders, less weight and half the driveline, that I’d otherwise only have averaged 29.5?

It's 1989 all over again

When I started here in February of 1989, I soon learned that one of the staples at Charles River Saab was a newsletter, written quarterly, by then owner Felix Bosshard. They were simple fare—four pages of type, no pictures, elegantly written and with a recognizable format. There were always musings, information on employees, news about Saab product, service and parts specials, the announcement of drawing winners, and usually finished with a paragraph about Felix’s favorite diversions, professional tennis and the Boston Classical Orchestra.

I have kept as many of these as I could find. For a time, after Felix left, I was the publisher of the Charles River Saab newsletter, and the precedent issues were valuable to that endeavor. Over time, the simple, paper newsletter gave way to a glossy one with pictures and articles, and that gave way, well, to this blog.

This particular newsletter, dated March 15, 1989, will always be one of my favorites. First, it announced my arrival as the new Red Team ASM (Assistant Service Manager). Second, this is the newsletter that Felix handed me soon after I arrived to proof-read. As I have recounted on this blog before, I took to the task very seriously. I got a red pen and started marking up everything in sight. When I handed it back to Felix, seeing all the red markings (what was I thinking?!), he said, with his prominent Swiss-German accent, “Vat is all zis?” I told him that they were corrections, and explained that there were a lot a run on sentences, to which he replied, glaring at me, “I like run on zentences.”

There are other items of note in this newsletter. The only employee besides me who is mentioned who is still working here is Doug Bowles, and the “Cat” work mentioned has now migrated to me. Ricky Furlan, mentioned for his fifteen years of tenure, has since retired, but he has two sons, Rick Jr. and Jeff who have respectively been here a combined twenty seven years. Note that the lease program cited is a 66 month lease on a base 900 for $273! This newsletter also announced the start of our shuttle service—a suggestion from Jim Carfagno, who had started here in 1987.

I finally managed to find an OCR program to use on these, but on blogger I do have to sacrifice the formatting, so those who remember these newsletters may find that this doesn’t exactly look the same. It is also why I had to use such a small font—I’ll try to find a way around that for my next newsletter post.

CHARLES RIVER SAAB REVIEW
******************************
PUBLISHED ON A WHIM
Issue # 34; March 15th,1989
Telephone # 923-9230

Dear Friends,

Douglas Bowles, our resident operator of the big yellow Cat in the backyard, has
been visibly disappointed by the lack of snow this past winter. While I complain about the
cost of snow removal, the lack of space to operate with and the loss of customers during
snowstorms, Doug happily motors high on his favorite toy, scooping big buckets and
building snow castles. I almost feel guilty that this winter he had little chance to play; he
sat in the cab occasionally, revved the engine once or twice and sort of challenged the
elements!

For me, the best time of the year has arrived. I walk my backyard at home every
morning, I listen to the crocii pushing through the soil and I watch the leaves budding on
the trees. I then come to work and do the same thing here; I look around the showroom,
the shop and the parts department. I feel the tempo of the prospect traffic, the size of the
smiles on peoples faces and the number of cars in the yard. Then I sniff the air around
the place and decide that things look good. We are ready to blossom and to do great
things in ’89. Our goal, as always, is to be the best. We are getting mail (some good, some
bad) from our customers and we appreciate it when we have somebody take the time to
write; the feedback enters the loop and helps to improve the product.

For the past eight years, I have had a habit of describing the comings and goings
on the roster of our employees in somewhat graphic detail and I sometimes receive the
feedback through my readers that we have a fairly noticeable (!) turnover. This reminded
me to dig back into our books and it led to what will become an annual part of our
company Christmas dinner. The recognition, through a formal award ceremony, of our
longtime employees was in some instances much overdue and it now gives me great
pleasure to announce the recipients of this year’s Orrefors crystal vases. In the 10 year
category, we had three employees:

Alex McWilliam, Bill Gorman and Monica Bosshard

and for 15 years there are three more:
Douglas Bowles, Ricky Furlan and David Martin.

Some of these are well over the indicated threshold, some have left and returned, all are
much appreciated. There is another group of ten who are between three and ten years of
service, making up the core of our employees who moved with us from 20 Watertown St.
It is sometimes hard to remember that as little as 8 years ago, our total count was less
than 15 people.

Still in the personnel department we have to report with deep regret the passing
of two members of our extended family. Julie Aylaian, who had in a few short months
become a real part of us, was a victim of the freak ice storm just before Christmas and
Douglas’ wife, Mary, who lost a long battle with cancer at the end of January. With the
Aylaian family and all the Bowles’, we mourn their passing.

Donald Frazier, one of the above mentioned group of ten, also received an award
at our dinner, he is the first of our technicians to reach SAAB Master Mechanic status in
our new location. Several others are close on his heels. And finally there is the wonderful
news that Rose McWi1liam presented Alex with a daughter for Christmas. Gina McWilliam was born on December 23rd! Congratulations to all!

It is with regret that I have to report that Red Team ASM Mike Scott has left us.
His place has been filled by Pierre Belperron, a young man with considerable experience
as a service writer and substantial other qualifications. (i.e. Graduate of B.U. and Boston
Conservatory, Applied Music: Cello!)

So much for our personnel department; I will elaborate with more details in our
summer letter.

Sales has a whole bunch of items to report. First of all we have a couple of product
announcements. The promised "S" version of the 9000 CD is on its way, we will be able
to deliver the first CD-Ss somewhere around the middle of April and, while we are at it,
we will also start delivering the "Air-Bagged" versions of all 9000s. Now, clearly, is the time to take advantage of the remaining stock of non-bagged versions at their concomitantly lower prices. I would also like to remind you that SAAB-SCANIA Financial is very much alive and kicking and that the current lease programs are still extremely favorable; the present entry level 66 months lease on a 3-door, manual shift 900 is only $273.- plus tax (fees, insurance, excise and maintenance not incl.). Since this is a closed-end lease, it in effect establishes the resale value of the car and thus insulates you from the vagaries of the marketplace. It is, lastly, fair to say that the winter selling season was at very best lackadaisical and that Alex will do his level best to bring the numbers up to a more respectable level; it might well be that prices in the very near future could be substantially more competitive than later in the year. All things considered, early spring should be a very interesting period for buyers.

In order to make it easier for you to drop off your car in the morning, we have in
January instituted our new shuttle service. Between 7:30 and 9:00 A.M. we will drive you
to either Harvard Square to pick up the Red Line or to Watertown Square to the Express
Bus on a first come, first served basis. We cannot think of any reasonable way to organize
an evening pick-up, the bus (#70) from either Watertown Square or Central Square will
do a better job.

David would like to remind owners of ’86 and ’87 SAAB 9000’s to make sure they
don’t overlook the letter from Mr. Robert Sinclair, President of SAAB-Scania of America,
Inc., outlining the "SAAB 9000 Value Retention Program". The program addresses a
number of early teething problems in the 9000’s and is available for all ’86 and ’87 9000’s
regardless of current owner. If you are not familiar with the program, please check with
our Service Department.

To make doubly sure that spring really arrives and that we think flowers instead of
snow, David is offering the following

Spring Special:
Visual check of cooling system, tires, suspension and
undercarriage, oil and filter change plus re-installing your summer wheels.

(Don ’t forget to put your mounted summerwheels into your trunk! )
$34.95

(For just another $10.95, we will even hand-wash the car.)
(Offer good ’til 4/30/89)

Over the last few years, many of you have met Ralph Skinder, our SAAB district
representative. Ralph, a true professional and also a good friend of ours, has decided to
accept a promotion to Sales Training Manager for the Eastern Region. We will miss
Ralph. His replacement, Larry Nay, comes to us from that other Swedish car; as he has
clearly seen the light, we won’t hold it against him. Welcome aboard, Larry! The other two members of the SAAB team in our district are Steve Olesnevich in Service and George
Kaniwec in Parts, both good mentors, both good friends.

It now gives me pleasure to announce the winners of our Christmas drawing. The
following people have received their vouchers:
lst Place $250.- Ms. Paula Del Orfano, Woburn
2nd Place $l00.- Ms. Ellen Tormey, Tyngsboro
3rd Place $ 50.- Mr. Michael Siegell, Cambridge
4th Place $ 50.- Mr. Richard Forrester, Wellesley
Congratulations!

The next drawing will be announced in our Fall newsletter and will be known as the
"Half-Way" drawing as that date will be halfway between our 30th and our 35th
anniversary.

The only thing exciting out of the Parts Department is a set of wood veneer panels
Bill found in England. The "Winchester" is a trim set of burled elm that now graces the
dash and doors of my SPG and at the moment we are waiting to see what will happen
when the sun beats down on it. While the set with installation is not cheap, I think it is
absolutely gorgeous. Next time you are in, why don’t you take a look and give me your
judgment!

The last concert of the Boston Classical Orchestra for the current season will be
given on Wednesday, March 29th and Friday March 31st, The season will come to an end
with a particularly nice all Mozart program featuring Tamara Smirnova-Sajfar, Associate
Concertmaster of the BSO and Concertmaster of the Boston Pops, performing the Violin
Concerto #5, Kécherlisting 219 under the baton of Harry Ellis Dickson. The concert, being
given as always in historic Faneuil Hall, will be rounded out with the Symphony #38 in D,
K. 504 ("Prague") and the Overture to "Cosi fan Tutte" K.588. Tickets can be ordered by
calling Ms. Quindara Dodge at 426-2387. (It would help if you mentioned this newsletter
as your inspiration?) As usual, we also have some free teaser tickets for first time
concertgoers, call Monica or our Sales Department for information.


Have a happy spring!


Yours as always,

Felix Bosshard

New York Auto Show 2011, part 3

On Friday, April 22 I returned to the Auto Show. My day started early. I had to remove the Saab from its spot by 7am—not a problem for someone used to getting up at 4:15, though I did sleep in until about 6:00. While alternate-side parking rules were suspended that week for Passover, finding anyplace to park that was legal was a bit of a challenge. Forty minutes of doing haphazard laps through the cross streets finally yielded a legal spot, and I decided to leave the car there for the duration of my stay.

After a leisurely breakfast, I borrowed a Metro card and took the #6 train downtown to 33rd Street, then walked across town to the Jacob Javits Center. This was opening day for the show, and as made my way closer toward the Hudson I became part of the throng that was heading, en masse, to the JJC. After the relative quiet of the JJC on Thursday, Friday was different—more New York: it was crowded, bustling and noisy. After securing my ticket I went straight to the Saab display.

The Saab display was teeming with people. The Phoenix was on a turntable, as it was on Thursday. This day, though, it was rotating and there was a fence to keep gawkers at a safe distance. That’s when I realized that I had never availed myself the opportunity to sit in it. Perhaps another time. Swade was there. He recounted his morning, and how he had been doing a filming of the Saab display with his tiny Hero Cam, with the intent to show it in high-speed, condensed form—thirty minutes of recording replayed in four as seen here. After hanging around some, listening to the attendees, and staying rather incognito, we retired to the food court to grab some lunch. Afterward, Swade retrieved his bags from the coatroom and bade the NY Auto Show goodbye as he headed off to Kennedy Airport.

Since my hosts would not be back until late day, I went back into the show. I did spend more time at the Saab display. Again, I was looking more for peoples reactions than looking at anything in particular myself. While the Phoenix, Ice Block, massive video screen and Independence Day Convertible were all draws to the stand, the 9-5 Combi seemed to have the most people lingering over it and giving it real, thoughtful attention, as though they were picturing themselves in it, or it in their driveway. I can see why. Say what you will about the treatment of the rear door windows and the awkward line they create moving to the rear. I was not terribly bothered by this when seeing the car in person. I was happy to see the European hatch, with its lower portion deflecting rearward to be flush with the rear bumper. While adding visual appeal and being unique, I think this would present a nightmare in our real world. It wouldn’t take much of a bumper tap to stove that hatch in, and likely leave it incapable of being opened. Overall, the balance of the design is aggressive, cool, and much striking than the sedan’s.

While there were inquiries about the 9-4x, there wasn’t much fuss about it. This is unfortunate, since this vehicle comes to market quite soon. The 9-4x was off to the side and locked. I did not understand this. Sure, that 9-4x was likely not a production car and there may be some subtle differences compared to an actual production version. Who cares? The presenters did speak about the car, but that didn’t bring too many around. There should have been a bright light on the 9-4x, and it should have been open. The other misstep on Saab’s part was the absence of iQon. After all the buzz that came out of Geneva, there should have been a mock-up, or even just something on the display screen. This omission seems very odd to me.

Eventually, I tired of the Saab display and decided to take my tour of the show. I started on the lower level, which touted trucks from every manufacturer, and a few automobiles from manufacturers who must not have wanted to pay the upstairs rent. I’m not a big truck or SUV guy, so I skipped most of those displays. I did spend a few minutes at the Mercedes display. I’ve always fancied the old G-wagon, though not all tarted out the way MB sells them now, and the Sprinter vans were presented in a variety of configurations. I did go and see the Subaru stand, to see the new Imperezza…..yawn. I had hoped there would be rally car, but I couldn’t find one. The most entertaining display was from Suzuki. They were spending a lot of time proclaiming the Kizashi as the greatest car since the invention of the Otto-cycle engine. I’m sure it’s fine…What I liked there, though, was that they included everything Suzuki. There was a big outboard engine (I loved the Suzuki built outboard we once had) and a trio of motorcycles. The one that made me stop and stare, as it always does, was the Hayabusa. I am not a speed freak. Rather the opposite. Yet I revere that machine and all that it is capable of. I appreciate its unorthodox style, its fundamental simplicity and ordinary architecture, and admire Suzuki for building such a no-holds-barred contraption. It is a beast like no other.

I took a peek at the electric car indoor test-drive, also in the lower level, and concluded that it was just stupid. I also wondered about the people queued up for this test drive. Conversely, on my way back to the upper level, I went outside to see what the Jeep contingent was up to. They had a large installation outdoors, that consisted of a test-track to demonstrate the off-road prowess of a Jeep. It was a great amusement park ride! Attendees rode along as passengers, and Jeep provided the driver. First, the Jeeps, many different models, drove up, over and down a huge metal arch at such steep angles, you’d swear the Jeep should just slide off, especially coming down. Then it was through some sloppy stuff (deep mulch), big bumps, off-set bumps to lift individual wheels off the ground, and over an obstacle to prove its ground clearance. Jeep had enthusiastic hawkers with bull-horns encouraging onlookers to go for a ride, and they were packed all day. Good for Jeep!

Next, it was back to the upper level. I saw a bit of everything. Besides the cars that ought to take your breath away, like the Aston Martin, Bentley, Lotus and Spyker, there were two displays I did not tire of looking at: Jaguar and Fiat. I am Jaguar ignorant. I know the difference between an XKE and an XJ6, but not much more than that, especially regarding the new offerings. I can tell you that based on pure automotive sex appeal, these were the class of the show, both individually, and especially when seen as a group. It was just hard for me not to stare, and then stare again. The Fiat 500 was loads of fun. The sardine-can retractable cloth roof, reminiscent of the 2CV, is wonderful. I wanted to get inside one for pictures but it was just impossible with so many people trying to do the same. I love diminutive cars. An original Mini is on my bucket list. [I might like the current Mini, but an acquaintance whom I loathe drove one and now I can’t look at a Mini without being reminded of them, so new Minis I do not like.] So is a 2CV. I never craved the original 500, and they did have a lovely one there. The new 500 shows well, and I am sure, especially with gas prices doing what they’re doing, that these will sell well. Good for Fiat!

Some honorable mentions need to go out: Audi, for building the A7 (Take a look Saab. The 9-5 could have been such a hatchback.); Mazda, for getting rid of the Joker-face on the 3; Mercedes, for showing an A-class sized car, albeit some alternate power version; Infiniti, for displaying the Renault F1 car; Scion, for showing that Japanese car makers can have an interesting display; all the European brands, except Volkswagen, for having attractive presentations. Boos and hisses go out to Volkswagen, who seems to bask in the glory of indifferent blandness in both its cars and its display; to Lexus-Toyota-Acura-Honda for being uninspired in their presentations (except for Lexus having really cushy carpeting at their display—how appropriate!); Mercedes, for presenting a concept car so fake, it had painted cardboard behind the wheels to look like brake components.

At the end of the day I had museum legs and I was tired. Still, I had a fabulous time at the Show. It was great to meet up with old Saab friends, especially Swade, meet new ones, like Jason Castriotta, and see all the exciting product in the pipeline. Thank you, Dan Leahy and Charles River Saab, for permitting me to go on this junket. I hear that Frankfurt is going to be something this year…..

2011 New York Auto Show, Part 2

Once secure in knowing that I could leave the 9-5 in parking without having to take out a mortgage, I decided to enjoy the nice—if windy—weather with a walk through mid-town. I am no stranger to New York, having grown up in its shadows. I am also not ignorant of cities. I’ve visited a number of them and lived in Boston for several years. Still, the New York experience is like no other. No, I have not been to Hong Kong, Shanghai or Tokyo. But from my limited urban experience, New York takes everything to a degree not found elsewhere. The most immediate attack on my senses was not the smell (New York still smells worse than other cities), not the visual intimidation of its scale; it was the noise. While I might live in a remote setting, and Watertown isn’t a metropolis, I am compelled to listen to traffic and air-impact guns sounding all day long. Those are but a whisper when compared to the relentless din of New York City streets. I found I never got used to it.

The energy of mid-town, with its masses of people and vehicles, creates an excitement which is hard to ignore. Not only were sidewalks and roadways crowded, but every store was packed with people. I wandered into Macy’s, the self-proclaimed “World’s Largest Store.” From the look inside, you would have thought it was Christmas Eve. Say what we want about the state of economy. I can tell you that in that part of Manhattan, it is nothing if not a boom time.

I stopped for a time in the vicinity of Herald Square to watch the passers-by, both pedestrian and vehicular. With respect to the vehicles, I noted that the Lincoln Town Car is passé, and that black Mercedes, BMW, Land Rover and Audi vehicles are ubiquitous. There were no exotic cars to be seen that day, though our fanciful cars like one Aston and a few Porsches. Of note was the fleet of the NYPD. Unlike most police departments, which drive only Crown Vics, or only Dodge Magnums, or a combination, it seems that when the NYPD requisitioned their fleet, they just asked for one of everything. I can recall: Ford Explorer, Ford Escape, Ford Fusion (hybrid?), Chevy Impala, Crown Vic, Dodge Magnum, a Pullman (three-wheel contraption) and several Toyota Prius. Yes, Prius. I guess if you sign on to do police duty in NYC, you have to check your machismo at the door. Given that the weather was fairly nice, I was surprised to see few two wheelers: a few couriers on single speed bikes, a few Vespa and only one motorcycle, a V-twin Suzuki sport bike. There was one cantankerous dude on a long board, a huge long board, who got frustrated when turning cars would not let him proceed through the intersection. Exasperated, me picked up the board and walked across, like the rest of us.

When retrieving the car, I had to help the lot attendant locate the Start/Stop switch. After his moment of embarrassment, he raved about the car and how beautiful it was. While he is a lot attendant, he is also in a lot of very pricey cars all day long. I accepted the complement. After picking up Swade in the 9-5 and shuttling him to his hotel later in the day, we parked and did a bit of shopping on foot. Even as the early evening came, the crowds seemed not to abate at all. I fancied that perhaps we’d go up the Empire State Building to show my Aussie friend a rarified view of Manhattan; that was, until we got close enough and saw that the queue counted into the hundreds. So much for that. Afterward, we dined at Ben and Jack’s Steakhouse. It was superb. I think Swade was caught off guard when the waiter, in my absence, asked if he’d prefer flat or sparkling mineral water, only to see a $10 charge for mineral water appear on the bill later, and again when he asked what the very pricey steaks came with. You guessed it—nothing. So we each had a simple dinner—steak and fries. Simple. Fabulous. Yes, expensive.

After leaving Swade at his hotel, I headed up-town where I was staying with friends. Driving through the Upper East Side, I came upon a display window for a small shop, whose name was too high up to be seen. In the window were white T-shirts with the KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON poster imprinted on the front, the very same one which Saabsunited and Swade posted so often during the trying times prior to the Spyker sale. How a propos, I thought. When I parked the 9-5, between Park and Lexington Avenues, I admired its presence in that tony neighborhood. It looked distinctive among all the other fancy cars, in large part because of its Glacier Silver color which contrasted not only with the other cars, but the grayness of the New York background. Then, too, it's just a fine looking car, no matter where it's parked.

Coming next—Part 3, the rest of the Auto Show.

2011 New York Auto Show, Part 1

When it comes to auto shows, I’m a bit of a neophyte. I’ve attended and worked at the Boston show a number of times, but that’s it. On the heels of Saab’s wild success at Geneva, I got an invite from Steven Wade, founder of Saabsunited.com, and newly appointed social media director at Saab, to join him at the New York Auto Show. I couldn’t resist. New York is so close, I knew I could see the Phoenix and 9-5 Combi, and I could spend some time with our friend Steven whom we had just seen at Swedish Car Day 2010.

While the official opening of the show was April 22, there was a dealer meeting and press conference going on there on the 21st so I made my way down that day to see if I could muster my way—having no valid credentials—into the proceedings. I left early Thursday morning from New Hampshire, stopping briefly in Acton to pick up some goods from Ralph Bockoven for Steven to take back to Trollhattan, and then made a leisurely drive to Manhattan. My steed was a 2010 9-5 Aero. While I had driven these before, this was my first long drive. I took time to set up the car for my use, including making the Bluetooth connection for my phone, and hooking up my iPod via USB. What I hadn’t previously realized was that when the iPod is thus connected, the car recognizes the device as an iPod, and suddenly the radio controls, including those on the steering wheel, and manipulate the iPod and display on the radio screen what otherwise is on the iPod screen. I know this is nothing really, but I’m glad to see the interface is so complete.

I did hit a delay in Hartford, where what appeared to be a construction site was in fact a clean-up operation for a rolled tractor trailer whose contents were spilled all over an entrance ramp to I84. There was another, on the West Side Highway in New York, but that was it. I turned onto 34th Street at about 10:30. I located a few parking locations a few blocks from the Jacob Javits Center, and all seemed to have the same “$8.32” out front, for the first 30 minutes. I chose a smaller, outdoor lot, left the car, and walked to the JJC. I entered and surveyed the area. Yes, there was security at all the entrances to the halls. Undeterred, I sent a text to someone already inside (not an employee of Saab, but he shall remain nameless to protect his integrity) to see if there was any way of surreptitious entry on my part. I was told to wait in the lobby.

My accomplice met me a few minutes later and whisked me around the corner to a blind corner out of sight of all the security types. There, he produced the requisite lanyard and wrist band. I was now “Chris” and he headed into the main hall. Through the guard station—no problem. We reunited with Chris, whom I did not know, and I returned the credentials. I was now running around naked, with no lanyard and no bright wrist band. I had no idea if I would be thus spotted and thrown out, so I knew that I should stay in groups at the Saab stand and not venture too far off—there would be time for that tomorrow. Before long, I was attacked from behind, a massive bear hug thrown on me. No, it wasn’t security—it was Steven Wade!

We chatted at bit, and he filled me in on the goings-on in New York. Then as he went about his business, I started catching up with friends and acquaintances at the stand. First off, the stand itself was spectacular. If you saw the Boston show, picture the same basic layout, but with the addition of the Independence Day convertible, the 9-5 Combi, the Phoenix, and graphics on the video screen specific to the Phoenix. It was all spectacular. So was the company. Working clockwise around the Saab display were Porsche, Audi, Spyker, Lotus, Volvo and Jaguar. At the stand were Saab reps John Longo and Roger Marlowe, dealers Tom Backes and Kurt Schirm, our very own Dan Leahy (who kindly authorized my attendance), and SCD attendee and Saab salesperson Meg Haviland. I was introduced to Jason Castriotta. I’m a diminutive guy, so almost everyone looks like a giant to me. When I saw pictures of Jason from the Geneva show, he looked sort of small—must have been all the giant Dutch and Swedish standing around him. He is anything but small. He’s not tall—just taller than me (who isn’t?). But even in a suit, in person, he has a physique which is quite imposing! He was very gracious, and displayed his Saab knowledge by knowing very much who we are at Charles River Saab.

After a time, Swade signaled it was time for lunch, and we, joined by Curvin O’Reilly, retired to the food court for a sandwich. At this point, I had traversed the security check point and was not able to reenter the show—that would have to wait until the next day.

I walked back to the parking lot, unsure if I should retrieve the car. My math isn’t that good, but I know that at $16+ per hour things would ring up fast. When I got to the lot and inquired about the cost if I took the car out then or later in the afternoon, I was pleased and stunned to learn that the $20 I had left that morning was enough to park all the way until 10pm! When I pointed to the rates on the sign, I was informed that those rates only applied to cars left from 7-10 am. There’s a lesson there—just go to NYC a little late, and park in mid-town for less than you could in Boston.

When distraction meets impatience

I’m a commuter. I have never lived closer than 25 miles from work. This never seemed abnormal to me, having grown up with a father who commuted great distances to New York city every day, albeit by bus or train. Having recently moved, I have a new set of roadways to consider—I had done the old commute from Ipswich for so long that I knew every permutation and possibility for getting to Watertown, and I also knew which stretches of road required extra attention.

My new commute requires that I drive a ten mile stretch on Interstate 495. It had previously occurred to me, from traffic reports and first hand accounts by veterans of that roadway, that 495 is a dangerous place. More bizarre things seem to happen there than on all the other superhighways in greater Boston combined. [Do a Google image search for route 495 and see what I mean.] This has been borne out in my months of driving that short section of 495. I have witnessed: a flipped horse trailer; stalled tractor trailers on the same bridge crossing the Merrimack on consecutive days; a wheel fall off a BMW directly in front of me; a mobile home, a great BIG mobile home, come off its trailer hitch producing a shower of sparks as the front of the trailer hit the ground and I wondered if the safety chains really could hold—they did long enough for me to build some boost and rocket away.

Last night, 495 was uneventful. They next leg on my journey as I head north is a few miles on a divided, four lane road with lots of stop lights and commercial activity. It’s tedious, but only lasts a few minutes, and until last night was never exciting. Right at the state line, a ratty looking Mitsubishi sport coupe (lots of primer and dents) zoomed up behind me and then cut hard into the left lane and passed me. She certainly was in a hurry. Over the next mile she made so many lane changes trying to get ahead that I lost count. Not surprisingly, despite her haste and irresponsible maneuvering (never a directional), she actually lost ground and ended up behind me again. At this point, we were at a light, one of the last in this stretch, and I was in the left lane and she in the right, a car or two back. The light turned green and we pulled away.

Ms. “I’m in a Hurry” cut into the left lane (eliciting a horn blow from the driver she cut off) and after passing the cars on the right then dropped back into the right lane and started to pass me, again. We approached another intersection; the light was green. As we arrived at the intersection, a Jeep Grand Cherokee, driven by “Ms. I’m talking on my Cellphone” ran her red light, cutting directly in front of “Ms. I’m in a Hurry.” Ms Hurry slammed on her brakes and her horn. Actually, Ms. Hurry was OK, because while Ms. Cellphone was trying to turn right, into Ms. Hurry’s lane, since she had only one had on the wheel, she couldn’t cut the wheel enough and ended up in my lane. Now I was the one on the horn and brakes.

We all pulled up to the next traffic light together and stopped. I looked over at Ms. Cellphone. She had never stopped talking. Her distraction caused her to blow a red light, and her holding that phone in her right hand caused her to have such diminished control that she almost crashed into me. That made me mad. Really mad. I think Ms. Hurry was frightened by Ms. Cellphone because she stayed put in that right lane thereafter.

I can’t preach about cellphone use behind the wheel because I am guilty of it. It is wrong. It is always wrong, even with a hand’s free device. Had Ms. Cellphone had a hands free device, she still would have run the red light, only she would have negotiated her turn better and left me out of harm’s way. I’m a good driver with many skills at my disposal behind the wheel, but I know that I am diminished when on the phone. We have to find a way, everyone, to look at driving for what it is. It is not a void that needs to be filled with other activities. Driving is about driving. Leave the other junk aside, including your phones. As to Ms. Cellphone and Ms. Hurry—perhaps you would feel more at home if you confined your driving to Interstate 495. At least there, we’d be expecting you.

DMS = Dealer Management System

Every auto dealer has, as its information backbone, a DMS. The two big players in the United States are ADP and Reynolds and Reynolds. Not a penny moves around inside a dealership without being tracked somehow on the DMS. Want a part? Need to generate a parts invoice or service repair order. Want to pay a technician? Need to do that on an opened repair order. Want to calculate payments on a used car? You’ve got it, you do that in the DMS. All said data from the three departments are then funneled into the accounting department for scrutiny and application to a P&L statement. That all makes sense.

At Charles River Saab, we use the Reynolds and Reynolds system. I have used it for so long that it seems rather normal to me. However, I bet that if I were to hire a new employee who was young and had never worked with this system before they would be dumbfounded by it. Nothing about it is intuitive. Nothing about it is consistent. Want to close a function? Sometime you press S, Enter. Sometimes E, Enter. Sometimes END. Want to go to the next page? Sometimes you press N. Other times F. Want to go back a page? Sometimes it’s B, other times, its P, Enter, [page number], Enter. Who wrote this stuff? Obviously, lots of different people who never used the system and didn’t talk to one another. Mouse? What’s that for?

This came to mind today when I sat with a nice representative from R&R who came in to show us some new functionality on the system. Sounded good to me. After going through a few new shortcuts—again, if you don’t know they are there, there’s know way of knowing they exist—I got down to asking questions. I have had two that have bugged me since I first encountered R&R in 1988: what about word wrap; what about spell checking?

You probably think that I can’t be serious. Here we are, in 2011, and in thousands of dealerships across the country, auto dealer employees are struggling with a system that requires that they hit “return” at the end of a typed line, like they were typing on a Selectric. Remember those? Worse, especially in this business, is the lack of spell checking. Words and language matter to me, and while I have no particular gift for the written word, and am largely ignorant of grammar and usage (other than the ability to know when something sounds incorrect), I always tried, in my days as a service advisor, to prepare service invoices with clean, concise, correct English. I would like to have advisors everywhere do this, but some of us just have better spelling than others. Oh, and if you make a mistake in R&R, you can’t glide your mouse over it and fix it. Remember, no mice allowed. Have to go back and re-write the entire entry. At the end of some long days, I know that I let pass “ajdusted” or “isntalled” as entries.

In 1988, I went to R&R headquarters in Dayton, Ohio, for training. The system we were using at that store in those days was pretty crude. Essentially, the computer was used in service to create a repair order header (name, address, phone, VIN, plate etc) and then the complaints were all hand written. Once the customer was in the system, at least you could bypass all that header writing in the future. More important, some amount of crude vehicle history was stored, and all the parts and service information could be entered into accounting, but this was done manually. It was 1988, and that was a start. The system was capable of much more, but that dealership hadn’t bought-in to such a degree. The training was excruciatingly boring. Most of the people in the class had never touched a computer before. Hard to imagine now there ever was such a time. I had a leg up on the others. I had been using a Macintosh SE30 at home for a time. It even had MS Word loaded on it. During the class, I asked why the R&R system didn’t word wrap. I was met with a blank stare by the instructor, and he provided some lame excuse. Nobody else in the room knew what I was talking about. I wasn’t completely sure the instructor did.

When I came to CRS in 1989 we were running an ADP system that was fully implemented—no hand writing required. A year later we switched to R&R. Still no word wrap. It must be coming soon, I thought. As years have become decades, R&R still does not word wrap, and as a reflex, I always ask anyone from R&R when it is coming. At this point, I don’t care what they say….I won’t believe them. The R&R system is a very powerful accounting and data management tool, but everything else about it is hideous. I can’t believe that someone out there, even Microsoft (I thought they had floated the idea to try?), hasn’t jumped in to give us better product and break this duopoly.

Saab 340 coming to Northern Ontario



In the 1980’s when I started with Saab, there was that unique and current connection between Saab automobiles, Saab aircraft and Scania trucks and busses. Then things got broken up and only the Saab name and country of origin were shared. Still, beyond the Saab fighter jets with sexy names, the airplane I most identify with Saab is the 340. They were somewhat distinctive, and their turbo-prop engines seemed anachronistic for our time in planes of that size, 30-36 seats.

I noted, whenever flying, that when reading the airline magazines, which all listed the planes they had in service in the last pages, that the 340 had disappeared from view, at least areas that I traveled. Having gone out of production in the late 1990s, and where I had read that 340s were starting to pile up in aviation grave yards, I was surprised to see an article today in netnewsledger.com , which services Thunder Bay and Northern Ontario, that Bearskin Airlines is adding a 34 seat 340 to their fleet, and plans a second for the fall. Nice to see the 340 again!

See the full article here

If we don’t want automobiles which are just appliances, what do we want our appliances to be?

appliance b. an instrument or device designed for a particular use; specif: a household or office device. (Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary, c. 1977)

Those who have a passion for cars and driving will often cast aspersions on certain cars as being “appliances” and nothing more. For some drivers, there could be nothing better than such a car. They want to get in their car, turn the key (or push a button) and then arrive at their destination with as little fuss or contemplative input as possible. I was reminded of such a car this past weekend when I was teaching at In Control, where I had to pick up one of their Camrys and drive it to Otis AFB on Cape Cod where we had a full schedule of teaching Saturday and Sunday, and then drive it back to North Andover on Sunday night. That’s a lot of time spent in a Camry.

The Camry has to be the poster child for the appliance automobile. The ones we use at In Control are basic CE models. They are well equipped—six speed automatic, traction and stability control, OK sound system, reasonably good seats and so on. They function well for our class—acceleration is brisk enough, braking is strong, ride and handling are balanced, and while prone to under-steer, we’ve all learned how get the tail end rather loose on demand. In the end, these cars are so forgettable because they don’t offend you in any way, nor do they elicit any sort of aesthetic or visceral joy. None. Again, for some people, that’s perfect. For me, it will never do.

So if we don’t want to have cars to be just appliances, what do we expect our appliances to be?

We moved to a new house, hopefully the last stop of our lifetime, last year. While I wish I was substantial enough to have specified Viking this and Sub-Zero that when outfitting our kitchen, since we all love to cook (and eat), those units weren’t quite in the budget. Still, I did not want to take the “contractor package” that the house came with. So we went out and had some fun looking for appliances. There were only a few restrictions—refrigerator had to be cabinet depth, and the stove had to be gas and convection. Here’s what we should have done—gone to Sears and said, “Give us some appliances.”

But no, that wasn’t good enough for me. I wanted some cool factor in my appliances. In the end, we decided to get all one brand—stove, fridge, dishwasher, micro/hood, washer and drier. Being a new house, we liked the idea that everything in the kitchen would match. We had had a few better quality brands in previous homes, and especially liked our washer and drier. So we went to that brand, which shall go nameless, but let’s just say that said brand might also produce lots of parts found in a Saab. The specs were all great, they looked cool, they matched and we were very excited to have them. At least at first.

Our first problem came when the microwave could not be installed with our stylish staggered cabinets because the venting could not be adapted. So, we had to switch brands. So much for everything matching. At least it was a swell new micro, and included a convection oven. Then in October, a catastrophic failure in the refrigerator flooded our kitchen and basement and required the complete removal and replacement of floors, walls and cabinets (and the granite counters which could not be removed in one piece). We got our kitchen refit, finally, just before Christmas. Then the stove started getting funny. Occasionally, the flames were out of control on the stove top. Then the convection oven stopped convecting. Two service visits later, no improvement. While the manufacturer would not authorize replacement, the retailer, Appliance Warehouse of Seabrook, NH, stepped up and replaced the stove. The owner encouraged us to take another brand, if we would like. We did. I now have a lovely Electrolux stove and it is fine. It doesn’t match the dishwasher or refrigerator, but it doesn’t scorch my pans, drop its oven temperature or fail to engage the convection fan. It’s not as sexy as my previous stove, but it’s still sort of cool. Looking back, I should have stuck with really boring appliances. I’ve cooked plenty of great meals with unremarkable appliances, so why did I feel the need to do anything more?

That brings us back to cars. If we are committed to no appliance cars, how much “character flaw” are we willing to tolerate in the cars we love? There was a time when one had to forego reliability to get character, but that was long ago. Today’s Saabs are extremely reliable and as robust as ever. In fact, we’ve yet to see a NG 9-5 in for any sort of service problems. Remember the old tag line? “We don’t make compromises. We make Saabs.” Today, that is truer than ever.

If a Tree Falls in the Woods and Nobody Hears it……

In the past week, Steven Wade, aka Swade, of SaabsUnited.com passed the baton to new ownership of his venerable blog as he has moved on to work in interactive media for Saab. The new group has carried on his tradition of providing interesting insights, and all the latest and greatest news from Saab. Recent weeks, at least since the start of the Geneva Autoshow, have been chock full of news from Saab. Today’s big announcements included a good showing by Saab in the US JD Power quality survey, and premium auto component builder ZF (pronounced zed-eff) has entered into a contract with Saab to build subframe and axle assemblies near Trollhattan.

While this may not all be earth-shattering, it is news worthy, and if the Saab cognoscenti are interested in this, so should those who work at Saab dealerships. I am. That’s why I am in the habit of reading Saabsunited and refreshing the page several times a day. However, not every employee here or at other dealers has the time to do this. The one site we do visit and stay on all day is SCNA site called IRIS, where we transact all our business with Saab, and where we derive all our information on service, sales, parts and training. Beyond that, there is a “What’s New” page which will often give news about comings and goings at the company, relay information that’s been in the news about Saab and so on.

I’ve been astounded since the Geneva show that there hasn’t been a single post except to announce the Saab Banner Builder and Story of Saab on Facebook. No mention of the Geneva show and its PhoeniX, 9-5 Combi debut or iQon infotainment system. No mention of Swade leaving Saabsunited to work for Saab. Maybe we all don’t need to be conversant in the ZF deal, but could you imagine a customer coming in and striking up a conversation about Jason Castriota’s PhoeniX being met with a blank stare?

Beyond providing knowledge for the sake of maintaining an educated dealer network, Saab dealers need to maintain their optimism as the brand is being rebuilt. What better way for Saab to trumpet their progress than to post it on the site that all dealerships and almost all their personnel look at daily?! Building our excitement is key in building excitement for Saab owners and prospective buyers. In fact, wouldn’t it be cool if as part of the greater Saab family we heard these things BEFORE the public did.

I’ll get my information, whether Saab puts it on IRIS or not. I just think that Saab needs to recognize what their omission of communication symbolizes to those of us working the trenches. It’s not endearing.

Monster Fiesta a FrankenSaab

There was a time, especially in Detroit, when you could almost imagine that cars were manufactured in their entirety on location, that raw material went in one end of a giant factory, and complete vehicles popped out the other end. As Saab owners, I think that we understand that automobiles are amalgams of parts made from a variety of sources. We’ve had Saabs with Triumph engines, Ford engines, gearboxes from ZF and Aisin Warner, audio from Clarion and Panasonic and so on.

These days, shared components among manufacturers and partnering in component development is no big news, which brings us to a car driven by Ken Block. Ken Block, founder of DC Shoes, skateboarder / snow boarder / moto-cross racer and now rally driver and gymkhana guru, switched his ride in the last few years from Subaru to a Ford Fiesta. He can been seen racing stateside in Rally America events, including the New England Forest Rally, as well as in some stages of the World Rally Championship series in locales around the globe.

MotoIQ.com did a pictorial piece on Block’s gymkhana Fiesta. The build is amazing, as one might expect. Of course, beyond the Ford Duratec engine and Fiesta chassis, there’s not much Ford about this car. The biggest surprise is the engine management—it comes from Saab! The article doesn’t specify which Trionic version, but it wasn’t too surprising since the car was built in Sweden (probably by a bunch who drive Saabs). Good to see a bit of Saab DNA find its way into such a great car. And it's not just any old DNA--this is a brain transplant!

Ten Years

I started working in the automobile business in February, 1984 at Porter Chevrolet-Honda-Saab in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Initially I sold Chevrolets. By May, I was also permitted to sell Saabs after tutoring by Saab’s Ralph Skinder. My first Saab sale came later that month when I sold my first, a four door 900T automatic in Cherry Red. I would go on be the best Saab salesperson that year at Porter, often selling more than our monthly allotment of cars (and, I would add, at full sticker price plus accessories and options).

I was a victim of my own success. Because of the numbers I had put up, I believe, management changed the pay plan on Saabs, and I promptly quit my position. I had been offered a job selling Toyotas, right here in Watertown after a rather brutal negotiation on a Corolla GT I was trying to buy—we ended up buying a CRX at Porter Honda, where my wife worked. Still, I had impressed the folks at Toyota enough that they offered me a position. When the pay plan change was announced, I gave my notice. When the service manager at Porter, Paul Carter (now a technician here at CRS) heard I was leaving, he convinced me to stay at Porter and to become a service advisor. Second best move I ever made. I was an OK salesperson. I turned out to be a really good service advisor.

In 1989, with Porter having sold its Saab franchise in 1988, I was recruited to work at Charles River Saab and took the position as service advisor. That was the best move I ever made. It’s hard to believe now that it took me more than a week to accept the offer. I continued my work here at Charles River Saab as service advisor until about 2000, when service manager, Tim Martino, pulled me off the service desk and had me functioning as his assistant.

I was happy with the change, and it was a pleasure to be relieved of the daily pressure of working a service desk. I will contend that being a service advisor is far and away the hardest job at any dealership, and the most important. Tim set me up doing a lot of the routine clerical work which any manager must perform. Then he set me to working on various projects, including the very first Swedish Car Day. I think that what he was really doing was grooming me for succession, as he was likely looking to make a change himself, having spent twelve years at CRS, eight of them as the manager. (When Tim was hired as manager in 1993, I was the other finalist for the position. In retrospect, I am so happy that Tim got the position rather than me at that time. I learned a lot from Tim, both from his time as an advisor and as a manager—the guy is brilliant.)

In early 2001, Tim gave his notice. He was going to work at a BMW-Mercedes-Bentley dealer, and he lobbied hard to have me be the next service manager. Thus, on March 1, 2001, ten years ago, this cellist became the service manager at Charles River Saab. As is often the case with such reflection, there are times when it does seem I started yesterday, and at other times it seems a hundred years ago, not ten. My, how the world, Saab and this store have changed.

We still live in the wake of September 11. That event carries its own set of stories which I’ll recount later in the year. The wars, changes in travel, the economy et cetera have all been affected by the fallout of that morning. The effects certainly reverberated throughout the industry and this store.

For Saab, this has been a decade of slow decline. Part of this is clearly as a result of GM’s stewardship, misguided and indifferent as it often was. Our business model was also affected by the fact that cars broke down less and required less maintenance. That, however, coupled with ever declining sales, meant that we had to rethink our paradigm. Thus, on the brink of the pan-economic collapse of 2008, we had already reconsidered our business strategy and started reconstituting this store and my department. Much of this has been painful. We have had to part company with lots of great people, and to their credit, to a person they were gracious as I relieved them of their duties here. Fortunately, we are left with a lean crew which is outstanding in every facet. I am truly blessed to have outstanding management at the helm to guide me, and a tremendously gifted and loyal staff to do my bidding.

It has been holding together this team which has meant the most to me during these years. I have much to be proud of with respect to the events we have pulled off over the years: eleven Swedish Car Days; innumerable Advanced Driver Training dates; clinics galore; celebrations; rallies; a harbor cruise! All of that pales, though, next to the notion of maintaining such a dedicated and talented group of employees, without whom I am nothing.

So here’s to the first ten years. My thanks to Tim Martino for having been my mentor during his tenure and beyond. Thanks also go out to General Manager Dan Leahy, who showed me how to manage effectively in difficult times. I look forward to the next ten, and hope to enjoy the challenge of an ascending Saab.

Why does a Saab Dealer need a Honda, a Chevrolet and a Caterpillar?

Because Saab doesn’t make snow-throwers, snow plow trucks or bucket loaders. Life in New England means dealing with snow, and over time we have amassed a perfect combination of machines for dealing with keeping our lot cleared. Per square foot, I bet there is no more challenging pavement to plow, and good equipment is vital.

The challenge is less in the snow removal than in the preparation and clean up. Shopping malls? They wait for everyone to go home and push the snow to big piles. Streets? Cars can be a hassle, but otherwise, you just keep pushing with a tipped blade. Our lot? First, we have to remove every car we can. We load the shop to the rafters…literally. Then our roof deck gets filled. And right now, with lots of inventory, our rear lot has dozens of cars which get huddled together. All of this preparation takes place over the course of a few hours with all hands on deck. Then the snow falls, and all that empty asphalt gets plowed clean. Of course, you can only push snow so far, so we end up with large piles in a few locations, and once the plowing is done, the loader comes out and relocates the piles to the main pile in the rear lot. Along the way, we also go out and clear the sidewalks on our block, including our neighbors’. Then the cars come back outside, the cars left outdoors are cleaned and relocated so their lot can be plowed. There is much to do with each storm! To do all this well, we rely on really good machines.

When I took over as Service Manager in 2001, I also assumed the responsibility for snow removal. In those days, the equipment was miserable. We had the same loader, but the plow vehicle was a bent Jeep Cherokee (really bad idea for plowing) and a small John Deere tractor with a snow thrower attachment, which worked only marginally and was never right, no matter how much money we threw at it.

After muddling through with these and other patchwork solutions, we got a real plow vehicle in 2007, a new Chevy Silverado 2500 with a Fisher Minute-Mount plow. This joined the Honda 928 snow blower which we purchased the year before, and of course, we’ve had the 1963 Caterpillar 922B loader ever since we moved to this location in 1987.

While the Chevy and Honda were purchased new, the Caterpillar was inherited. This location, before it was a Saab dealership, was a heavy equipment dealer. I’m not exactly sure how this factored the bargain, but I know that after the blizzard of 1978, many businesses wanted to be sure they could deal with the most dire snow emergency, so I’m sure the owner wanted a big machine for his new, big parking area. Here’s what I know about the loader. Sometime before my tenure, the engine failed and was replaced with a Continental I6 gasoline engine. In the early years of my snow removal career, we did little more than change the oil and add air to the tires. In recent years, we’ve done much more. First, we gave it a paint job with Eastwood rust remediator in silver. The bosses here always complained about how ugly this machine was, and silver really does make it disappear, no mean feat! Then we had the leaking tire replaced. We paid more for that tire than I’ve paid for some of my cars. Then we set about getting it running right. In the last year it has had new plugs, wires, condenser, points, air filter (this stuff was all new-old-stock AC Delco), the heater box rebuilt, plumbing to the heater added with assist from a 9-5 electric coolant pump, the manifolds repaired and gaskets replaced, rebuilt the carburetor, the giant twin 6 volt batteries replaced (took six weeks to get these!), the generator rebuilt…..The extra special amenity we added last year was a 9-5 power seat, complete with power adjustment.

The 922B now runs great. Thanks, Mike Clancy, for all your hard work! There are still issues, like the brakes which have never worked. I am not concerned—the lot is flat and toggling between forward and reverse is quick, and dropping the bucket means a quick stop. I fixed the water that used to pour in on me with lots of RTV, plus an old Born from Jets banner glued to the roof. The Caterpillar is a transport tool for snow. After snow is plowed into piles, the loader comes along and, one bucket full at a time, takes the snow from the smaller piles and puts it in one massive pile in our rear parking lot. There, we stack it as high as possible. The 922B is perfect for this task. I try to be gentle with the old beast, appreciating that it is already living on borrowed time. I let it warm well before setting it to work; I try to limit the abruptness of my maneuvers, and to have a gentle hand on the hydraulics.

There are five levers, three pedals and a steering wheel. The steering is very light, with a large, thin rimmed three spoke wheel, reminiscent of what a bus might have. On the left side of the steering column is the forward-neutral-reverse lever. Next to the seat on the left are two levers, one for 2wd/4wd, and the other for high and low range. On the right side are the levers for the bucket. The pedals? I only use the accelerator since the brakes are inoperative. While I am sure that modern machines with their joysticks are far easier to control for the professional, I like having these large, separated, heavily weighted mechanical controls. It requires that every move I make with this machine is deliberate. If I make a goof with a snow plow, it could cause damage or injury. In the loader, that becomes demolition or death. I’ve only frightened myself once. In my early days of running the 922B, I tried to get my snow pile higher by driving up into the pile itself a bit, then lifting my bucket as high as it would go before dumping. One time, with the bucket fully extended, the snow under the right front wheel gave way, and I thought for sure we were going over, especially with all that weight lifted high and now swinging right! We didn’t go over, and in all likelihood an experienced operator would have thought this was all normal and routine, but it scared me. Now, all four wheels stay on the ground, and the pile is a little lower.

The loader has seen some alternative uses over the years. I have used it to straighten some mighty fence posts and to rescue a beached snow plow. Aside from that, it sleeps all summer and only sees use in winter. For every foot (30 cm) of snow we get, it requires four hours of loader time to transport the snow. So you see, even in years where we get lots of snow, the loader gets very dear use indeed.

The Honda 928 (9 horsepower, 28” swath) has given us good service. We purchased it looking for a machine that would take hard use, clearing sidewalks which are always deep in snow/slush plowed onto the walk from the road. It has hydrostatic drive, and a very robust mechanism to rotate the chute. The engine is a joy, always starts on the second pull, thus obviating the electric start. I have two complaints about the Honda. First, it is tiring to use, requiring lots of effort and body English to wrestle it along walkway. Second complaint is the price. I wanted something here that was reliable and a good performer, so I didn’t mind that this machine was so much more expensive than other machines in its size class. But after living with it several years, I’m not sure if the cost difference, which was nearly 100%, was worth it, mostly because it just works me too hard.

The Silverado is an unqualified success for us at Charles River Saab. A full sized pick-up with an 8’ (2.4 m) plow blade, it is much better suited to wholesale plowing we need as compared to the Cherokee and Jeep Wrangler which preceded it. It is a basic work truck—5.3 liter, automatic, manual windows, rubber floor mats….but the cloth seats are comfortable, the HVAC works perfectly, and radio sounds fine and is manageable while wearing gloves. We’ve had no mechanical faults with the truck or the plow. I noted today that there are 4000 miles on the odometer. This must mean that in reverse, the odometer does not remove miles. If it did, we’d be much closer to zero. Other than the occasional run for building materials or welding supplies, the truck stays parked here except for snow duty. The 4-wheel drive system provides excellent power delivery, and we’ve only gotten it stuck a couple of times.

In all, we are lucky to have these machines. True, if I had to by a snow thrower again, I’d likely consider something else as the premium price for the Honda may not have elicited the value I expected. Then again, if we’re still using the 928 in ten years, I may rethink that point of view. As much as I am not a fan of the General, based on our experience, I would re-up for another Silverado if need be. And the Cat? She’s priceless. Consider this. We just had half of our 25,000 cubic foot (700,000 liter) snow pile removed for $2500. Most years we don’t cart it off at all, we just let melting occur and then reshape the pile until the next storm. Without the loader, every storm would mean having equipment come in. Cost to replace our aged Cat? About $7500. That loader is invaluable, and once you get beyond the fatigue from the exhaust gases and the noise, even with hearing protection, it’s sort of fun to operate….like playing in a big sandbox!