Saab Dreams
Bullnose, 95/96, 97, Saab Life, Q&A
E-Mail me at: [email protected]
Summer's Gone...I've lost count of the days I've spent up to the elbows
in Saab projects this summer. Which is the point I suppose...to lose yourself
in comprehendible work and be able to mark the progress you make after a day.
Working on Saabs is the antithesis of what I do for a living. I'm a middle
school teacher and I write this on the last day of summer vacation. Tomorrow
I begin again a year long process of learning and growing with a 150 12 to
14 year olds. I ride the roller coaster of their emotions and do my best to
give my students a way of expressing themselves, of growing their minds. It's
great work and I'm privileged to do it, but it just isn't working on Saabs
is it?
Does working on Saabs help me grow my mind? In many ways yes. I like figuring out how it all works together. I like solving the relatively simple, even predictable problems that present themselves. In the end you have a very basic test, will it run? If it does then you begin to refine the machine so that each time you turn the key you get the peak experience. Being Saabs you also get a hefty dose of unpredictable experiences. With the proper philosophical stance every break down is a lesson. I'll try to remember that during the next snow storm.
Then there's the internet world of Saab nuts. Great guys who share the affliction (or passion). Many like minds from so many different places. It's a great kick to connect with Saabers from around the world. The net gives a sense of community that just doesn't exist where I live. Here at Lake Tahoe I know three folks who own Saabs, all late models. They have a vague sense of the joy I feel when I drive my 96 down the street--but not enough to get into a vintage car for themselves. On the net I find enough feedback to know I'm not alone. Still, in 4 years of hardcore, wide eyed fanatical Saabing I've only seen two other 96s on the road (outside of the convention at Kirkwood in 96). So it remains a fairly unique, and lonely, experience to drive these cars down the highway.
Working at Johnston Machine this summer has been memorable. Long days slip by. Things get done. Occasionally a breakthrough. Almost always I spend a few minutes at the end of a day looking at what I've accomplished and planning where I'm headed. All the while throughout the garage there are Saabs that once were very special. Sonetts that ran on the dry lakes, a hot rod 96 that blew by a new Mercedes uphill at 110, a MonteCarlo 750 that was bought for $50.00 and once did 89 at the lakes, a 67 96 stroker that was used as background color in the movie Jack the Bear, Eric Carlson's second Baja rally car. Everywhere you look a Saab that has real experience. And my cars are there, too; The Golden Bull, one of the first 96s made, the 73 V4 lingering in the shadows waiting for a heart/lung transplant, the famous possum under deep cover.
Well I ran out of time before either of the prime candidates ran. The Bull
is about three good days away from the road. The 73 will take a bit longer.
All I can hope for now is that I'll get them both on the street this fall...timed
to counteract the traditional fall depression that settles in. In the meantime
I've sorted through a variety of mood shots that reflect the Summer of 98 and
the Saabin' I did.
Wild horses and comatose Saabs.
The mustangs galloped off when they heard the click of the camera.
Based on my contacts around the world it would seem that the sun never sets on a Saab waiting to be rebuilt.
Bullnose, 95/96, 97, Saab Life, Q&A
E-Mail me at: [email protected]