2007 Saab 9-3 Sport C Wagon, 4cyl 2.0 Turbo, Fwd, Super Clean Non-smoker, Loaded on 2040-cars

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Chunk of ice smashes man's windshield

Driving a car piled with snow isn't just lazy, it's dangerous. A driver on Interstate 495 South in Massachusetts learned that the hard way last week after a huge chunk of ice flew off the top of an SUV and onto his windshield. Jeffrey Cote's dashboard camera was running as he drove his Saab 9-5 Aero Wagon down the freeway in Haverhill, MA, Wednesday morning. He was following an SUV in the left hand lane. The SUV doesn't appear to have too much accumulation on it, but the owners clearly didn't remove the snow and ice from the very top of the vehicle. A large chunk of ice flew off the top of the SUV, spun through the air and shattered Cotes windshield. Cote's must be one of the cooler heads on Massachusetts' roads. He didn't swerve, or swear or even gasp. Despite being unable to see the road and covered in glass Cotes safely moved over to the right lanes and safely pulled off on to the shoulder after the accident. The ice not only totally destroyed Cote's windshield but damaged a wiper arm and his side mirror as well. "If I had braked harder, I could have avoided impact," Cotes wrote in the video description. "But it initially appeared the piece was going to fall in front of me." Cotes couldn't read the driver's license plate on the footage and told CBS Boston that he doesn't think the other driver even realizes what occurred. He told the news station he hopes the video reminds people to do the right thing and clear the snow off their cars. "Just a few seconds, just try to slam as much ice as possible off your roof," Cotes told CBS Boston. "Because, it could have gone a lot worse, and it could save someone's life if you do a better job cleaning," Cote said. News Source: CBS Boston Saab Driving Safety Videos snow winter driving cold

Vampire Weekend burns for Saab

Or is it the other way around?
Could Vampire Weekend be trying to tell me something? A just-launched music video for the indie rock band's new single Diane Young features what looks like a pretty mint black Saab 900 Turbo Convertible being torched in slow-motion. In fact, with the exception of a brief, flickering cameo by a 900 three-door of a similar vintage, that's all that there is to the nearly three-minute long video. It's both sad and oddly beautiful.
Coincidentally, I have a similar-looking turbocharged black Saab convertible sitting in my garage, and I've been reluctantly pondering its sale this very week. Admittedly, mine is a later model (2001 9-3 Viggen), but tri-spokes and more tapered rump aside, it looks eerily identical. And while mine isn't mired in flames (I love it too much to torch it), through no fault of its own, it's been sitting motionless far too regularly. Thankfully, I see a better future for it than the droptop seen above.

Petrolicious keeps our love of the Saab Sonett aflame

German auto designs lean toward function and purpose. Italian designers deliver passion and beauty. The Brits, majesty. American cars, brashness and authority. If you want a funky design, though, you go to Sweden. The land of cheap, do-it-yourself furniture and delicious meatballs knows a thing or six about style and design, and while that character is only now reemerging thanks to a certain string of Volvo concepts, it use to be that Saab was the authority on penning some of the industry's more unique designs.
Take the beautiful Sonett for example - a small coupe whose appearance is a funky mishmash of a Porsche 911 and a Bugeyed Sprite with just a hint of a Citroën DS (it's that convex rear window). It's a positively striking car, made more unique by its two-stroke, three-cylinder powertrain and four-on-the-tree manual transmission. With just 70 horsepower hauling about 1,500 pounds of Swedish style, the Sonett strikes us as an ideal alternative to some of the English sports cars of its day, particularly for those that are looking for something beyond your average MG or Triumph.
For Glenn Roberts, the Sonett was a part of his childhood. His family owned example was originally a special-order item by his parents in 1967. He bought the car from them 13 years later and has never looked back, completing a restoration in 2004. With a story like that, it's not surprising that Roberts and his silver Sonett are the most recent pairing to get some attention from Petrolicious.