Originally Posted by
Vanilla Dude @ TTAC
[FONT=Verdana]What a great bunch of words!
This article was needed!
SAAB is worthy of this work.[/FONT]
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SAABs were not perfect. They were never designed to be driven by folks interested in running Pookey to soccer, getting Mariposa to the American Girl shopping euphorium, or for Molly to pick up fresh brioche at Whole Foods. SAABs could to that, but that is NOT why SAABs were designed. It is not why they are beloved. How SAABs handled the daily routines of farting around town is not why they will be missed.[/FONT]
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They will be missed because they required more than a 3000 mile jaunt to Jiffy Lube. SAABs needed more than anything put out by Tokyo and most vehicles out of Detroit. SAABs needed you. Rarely do today’s brands ask from their drivers an actual relationship with their cars. Today’s cars don’t need you because they have been designed to be ignored by you, yet put out a few hundred thousand miles, and be sold off with a respectable resale price to another driver who will ignore the car. If you think a car’s only purpose is to drive from point A to point B, without it intruding into your life, then Tokyo, Detroit and most any other European brand can do that for you, and then disappear into the wallpaper.[/FONT]
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SAABs needed their drivers. SAABs needed mechanics.[/FONT]
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This shouldn’t be considered a flaw, anymore than having a favorite horse thinking it is a part of your family and needing love, daily care and vet visits. SAABs are auto pets. Ownership can be more than just holding a car title. Ownership can be more than just bragging about how your car doesn’t fail. Ownership can be more rewarding than tooling to the mall in an Accord, a Camry, or a Fusion. Cars can be more than our passive silent slaves.[/FONT]
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Cars used to mean more. Today they really don’t. Perhaps it is because a growing number of supposedly enlightened people tell us that using them is some kind of symbol of whatever-it-is-they-are-kvetching-about-this-week. College professors lecturing against cars because of sexisms, or poverty in Flambodia, or an ice cube melting in Dallas. Cars used to be considered more than wheels. They used to be considered the future. Car ownership used to be a positive statement in a future-focused society. Cars used to have fins, torpedos, jet hood ornaments, and cockpits. SAABs come from that era.
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[FONT=Verdana]It is a wonder SAAB survived this long. Twisting a SAAB into a boring people machine with hopes of churning profits into GM’s coffers was like trying to mass produce your favorite pair of flannel boxers. You wore those holes into them, you stretched them out so that they don’t yank at your hairy bits, they smell like you. There is a reason you sneak them out of the trash when your wife finds them in the laundry and continually throws them out. There is a reason SAABs are saved from junk yards. It is our imperfections that make us individuals which finds us comforts and love.[/FONT]
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Cry brothers and sisters! Today we mourn! We have reached a point where soul-less Toyotas, Fords and Nissans sit passively in our three car McMansion garages. Cry for a time when men were needed to tend to their family’s rides. Look back at today and recognize there was the time when there were brands of cars that needed your sweat, brawn and muscle, your patience, time and cash to stop them from piddling on your driveway. Cry for the death of another one of a man’s favorite responsibilities. Auto perfection is causing our hands to grow soft and our tools to collect dust. It is closing our garages with their smell of grease, Snap-On calendar girls and empty PBR cans and forcing us into sipping lattes in dealer showrooms where computers tell spotless auto specialists your Civic needs a new chip.[/FONT]
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Look upon a SAAB like you do an old Kentucky Derby winner and savor the relationship it offers you. That is true auto perfection!
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