I didn’t want to let this week end without noting the fantastic response received to the poll posted earlier in the week – How long have you been a Saab owner?

We had over 1,200 votes in the poll and what was remarkable to me was that almost 10% of respondents had owned Saabs for over 30 years. The #1 and #2 results were 6-10 years and 0-3 years, indicating the impact of the 9-5 and 9-3 Sport Sedan over that period. There are things that we should be thankful towards GM for.

I’d also like to acknowledge the wonderful comments and stories left in response to the poll. Many of you had great tales to tell and wonderful collections over the years. I already featured Xavier’s story of leaving and coming back to Saab on the site, but here’s a few more from the poll results:

• Kurt Krauss, whose 19-Saab journey since 1980 has come full circle with the recent purchase of a 1980 Saab 900.
• Kef107 who took Euro delivery of a Saab 99 in 1972 and has had around 10 since, with another Euro delivery thrown in. Currently driving a Merc, but we’ll get him back
• Tim Winker’s first car being a 2-stroke 1960 Saab 93F bought for $250
• Evan H, who avoided losing his girlfriend in 1960 when she said she wouldn’t go out with him if he bought a Volkswagen. He bought a Saab and they’ve been married for 51 years!
• Andreas P, who has only been driving 18 months and has already bought two Saabs (it’s addictive, isn’t it?)

I also had a few emails come in about the subject, like the one from B. Steiner here in Sweden. A fantastic story that goes right back to the roots of the company:

The story begins 1947 when I happened to get sight of a test-car of the very first SAAB 92 which was parked in a street in my neighbourhood. I found the shape of the car to be so very different from other cars on the market. I became so fond of what I saw so I said to myself that such a car must be mine as soon as I was allowed to drive and could afford to buy one. I was only 14 years old at the time.

The time went by and 1954 became the first year when my dream to drive a SAAB 92 became a real possibility. The local SAAB dealer needed people to drive home sold cars from Trollhättan about 150 kilometers away. He asked me if I was interested and of course I was. This “sidejob”, I had earlier the same year been employed as a police officer, lasted until my desire to buy a SAAB became reality. On October 21 1957 my wife and I became proud owners of a brand new SAAB 93B. Ever since then we have been faithful to the brand and have had the great pleasure to be owners to several 96 two-stroke and V4, 99, 900, 9000, 9-5 and finally 9-3, all new. Besides them we have had a number of used cars, SAAB 92, 93 as well as 96 two-stroke and V4. We have still a 93B from 1959 which we bought 34 years ago, still going strong.

I tell you, the stories around this company never cease to amaze me.

Apologies to all those not listed. They were all great stories and there’s too many to list here, but I wanted to give people just a taste in the event they hadn’t read through the 40+ comments themselves.

We know here at Saab that we have a very loyal and engaged customer base. We also know that we have to fight for you and work hard to keep your loyalty. I can assure you that the sense of urgency has never been higher here in Trollhattan. We want to win you over, win you back and bring some of your friends along for the ride as we create a whole bunch of new memories for people to share in the future.

Thanks for participating. We’ll have another poll on site over the coming weekend.

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