This is Takuhito's classic 900 convertible. He loves it a lot. No wonder.
Location: Tokyo, Japan.
Showing posts with label convertible. Show all posts
Showing posts with label convertible. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
The japanese beauty
This is Takuhito's classic 900 convertible. He loves it a lot. No wonder.
Location: Tokyo, Japan.
Friday, August 2, 2013
Back to the roots
It's always great to have some photos hidden somewhere in the darker side of the harddisk. Just for coming back after months or years, to enjoy them. This is one of them.
Technically far from ideal but still it has a lot of atmosphere. A good friend of mine, Eva, a photographer shot it. Just as an experiment. It was a cold March, it's on the parking place on the hill above the village Hainburg an der Donau in Austria. A photo flash is used as light source and some games with shutter times, appertures, ISO and things. This is what left. I like it.
It's already a timestamp from the saabish era.
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
A Saab 9000 convertible ?
This is a custom rebuild of a Saab 9000i, done by Björn Frykholm. It's a 50th birthday gift to himself. It took two years to accomplish, from 1993 to 1995. Many self made parts, the frame, the doors, interior parts. The canopy is a modified originally from Ford Escort. At least this I could understand from the google translated description from the swedish Saab turboclub forum thread.
The author of this masterpiece Björn Frykholm was for a time working with Robert Solstad, who did several special rebuilt Saabs, including convertibles as well as special transport vehicles. And this 9000 was not his first rebuilt Saab.
For more pictures definitely visit the mentioned Saab turboclub forum, there are more of this. This convertible is a nice addition to 9000 rebuilts including a couple of combis. Also here is one more interesting picture.
Nice !
source : Save Saab Museum facebook, Saab Turbo Club of Sweden
Saturday, July 6, 2013
Cabrio season as it should be
These days is here in the middle of Europe probably the best convertible season in the year. The summer started, 25-28°C (77-82 Fahrenheit) is the ideal temperature, not too hot, not too cold. Exactly as it should be. It's no sea or ocean here, but the Danube keeps the days and evenings very comfortable.
Things have changing nature. We had at the staircase of my former flat a grafitti saying simply: "up and down", Right now some things are up and some down. It depends on how many things you do and perceive. It's now here this strange mixture of the ups and downs.
Fuzzy-headed from both sides I've decided to do a bit of head refresh, stabilise the too many thoughts and emotions. With a convertible ride of course, in this weather a no-brainer. Through the drive some nice moments appeared.
Some pictures, photographed simply through my sunglasses.
Things have changing nature. We had at the staircase of my former flat a grafitti saying simply: "up and down", Right now some things are up and some down. It depends on how many things you do and perceive. It's now here this strange mixture of the ups and downs.
Fuzzy-headed from both sides I've decided to do a bit of head refresh, stabilise the too many thoughts and emotions. With a convertible ride of course, in this weather a no-brainer. Through the drive some nice moments appeared.
Some pictures, photographed simply through my sunglasses.
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| Ferry through Danube. Someone decided 20 years ago, that a free ferry for many years is cheaper than a bridge. OK :) |
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| Sunflowers around the road. |
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Prince Charles & Saab
In july 2010 there was an article in Green Autoblog about Prince Charles, who was opening his gardens at Clarence House to a garden party showing how the green and sustainable future might look like. Part of this garden party were (?) eco-friendly vehicles.
Saab was there as well. A blue BioPower 9-3 convertible. However a picture of Prince Charles sitting in a Saab convertible isn't an everyday thing, is it ? In the second picture Sir Stirling Moss giving an advise to Prince Charles at the Revolve Eco-Rally launch event.
Saab was there as well. A blue BioPower 9-3 convertible. However a picture of Prince Charles sitting in a Saab convertible isn't an everyday thing, is it ? In the second picture Sir Stirling Moss giving an advise to Prince Charles at the Revolve Eco-Rally launch event.
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| What a strange key ... source : Green Autoblog |
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| Price Charles and Sir Stirling Moss. source : flickr.com Revolve Eco-Rally |
The Independence Edition dashboard
It seems that everything needs it's time. This was a Christmas gift to my Saab. It needed some time to come here and again many thanks to all who helped. Then it was Christmas time, afterwards 2.5 weeks vacation, then hardcore work. And then the service guy got a flu. So the whole thing took nearly three months from start to installation.
But it's here and installed. Finally. Together with Hirsch leather door handles. The dashboard hasn't a Hirsch logo on it, because the Independence Edition didn't had it. It is maybe one of the last available, if not the very last one.
My biggest concern was, that it will visually "fight" with the Maptun steering wheel. Luckily, it's not the case, they are playing very well together. I love it.
And besides the visual upgrade, the original dashboard had a quasi alumium edge, which created a bit annoying reflection on the windscreen under the "right" light conditions. This is now gone.
The search another parts for replacement or covering of other aluminium parts in the cockpit continues. The center console and probably the glovebox. If it needs it's time, ok. So let's see ...
Monday, January 7, 2013
The Streets of San Francisco
In the streets of San Francisco there is a pretty good chance to meet a Saab on the road every day. Multiple of them. According to my experience the frequence is maybe simillar to England. Mostly 9-3 II and older 9-5. Like. The photos are form yesterday. More to come soon.
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| In the streets of San Francisco |
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| A 9-3 convertible overtook us at the entrance to the Golden Gate |
Friday, January 4, 2013
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Saab 9-3 convertible : Drop top gorgeous
I've found a series of advertisements (I suppose) which seem to be a bit hidden from what circulates around the internet nowadays. A smart idea of incorporating the Saab 9-3 Convertible into hints how to spend some time in 4 cities in a stylish manner. It appeared in Sunday Times in July 2011.
In spite it is the same newspaper involved into the phone hacking scandal, this has nothing to do with it. It's just an advertisement.
Here are the links : Edinburgh (just a start), Brigton, York and London.
In spite it is the same newspaper involved into the phone hacking scandal, this has nothing to do with it. It's just an advertisement.
Here are the links : Edinburgh (just a start), Brigton, York and London.
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Saab 900 Classic Convertible study from 1983
Top Gear once covered an interesting study of Saab 900 Classic Convertible from the Frankfurt Motor in 1983. It appeared recently on the net.
The study shows a different soft-top and a rear window which could be opened separately.
The video starts exact where it should, at the Saab 900 part.
The study shows a different soft-top and a rear window which could be opened separately.
The video starts exact where it should, at the Saab 900 part.
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Sand or not Sand (top) ?
The wast majority of the convertible soft top roofs are dark. Black, dark green, dark blue etc. It has practical reasons of course, the dust and dirt is less to see so it requires less maintenance.
But sometimes there are brighter coloured options, quite rare, but they are. Saab offered them, I've seen it on the classic 900 convertible but the most known is the Sand top (beige color) on the 9-3 II.
The official and most known photo is this :
Nice, isn't it ? Rare as well, it's a niche in a niche.
But is it really that hard to maintain it to be clean ? That is a question to be asked the owner.
I've met such an owner completely by coincidence at IntSaab 2012 in Spa. Through the day, the convertible roofs were mostly down and invisible. But in the evening while coming back from the "Le Grande Soirée" i've seen it. Stopped to talk. Alexandros, the owner and driver, knew my blog, he even sent a picture to the "World map of Saabs" couple of days ago.
So I've asked him to speak about the Sand top, to make a reality check for the owners, especially those, who dream about it, but fear about the practical side of it.
Could you please introduce your Saab ?
It's a MY 2007 9-3 Convertible with a 2.0T engine, Vector edition. I bought it back in January 2007.
Was the sandtop your original idea or you just came across and liked it ?
I've chosen Nocturne Blue as the car's colour. Blue is one of my favourite colours anyway. I couldn't imagine the car with a black or blue top. If I recall corectly, Sand wasn't actualy an option in the configurator. It was all in my imagination.
Saabism note : the Sand, called Beige, was an option in the pricelists, at least the german ones. There is a list of older german pricelists, look for "Faltverdeck in Beige".
How often do you drive it and in which conditions / part of the year ?
It's actually (as every Saab Convertible!) a car for the whole year, also during the Bavarian winter. As we live in the countryside, my wife and I often need two cars. I drive about 15.000 km per year with the convertible. Our other car is of course a Saab (MY2008 9-5 2.0t SportCombi, Linear).
So how's with the dust and dirt on it ? Too much ? Too often or not really ?
Well, you don't see really the dust on it. What you see is the dark dirt of the road (exhaust gases etc.), some bird's doodoo and the imprints of the top's booth.
How often do you clean it ?
I wash the top about 3-4 times every year: the first time after the winter, I confess, I go to the carwash, where I choose the special convertible programm. I have spoken to many people and the majority of them thinks that carwash is not a problem for modern convertibles. After that I impregnate the top. The other times I wash it per hand with special detergents.
What do you use for cleaning ?
I am using Sonax products for cleaning and impregnation.
As a sand top owner you probably know more of them. How many sand top owners did you met or know about ?
To be honest, I have seen only 2 to 3 Saab Convertibles with a Sand top until now and of course some more from other brands. It seems that many convertible buyers are very hesitant towards buying Sand tops and I think this is a pity because some convertibles would look amazing with a Sand top !
Anything to add ?
A dirty car can always be cleaned and look beautiful again. A "boring" car can't...
... which is an absolute true remark and a great finish of the talk.
Thank you very much Alexandros for taking a time to write the answers.
But sometimes there are brighter coloured options, quite rare, but they are. Saab offered them, I've seen it on the classic 900 convertible but the most known is the Sand top (beige color) on the 9-3 II.
The official and most known photo is this :
Nice, isn't it ? Rare as well, it's a niche in a niche.
But is it really that hard to maintain it to be clean ? That is a question to be asked the owner.
I've met such an owner completely by coincidence at IntSaab 2012 in Spa. Through the day, the convertible roofs were mostly down and invisible. But in the evening while coming back from the "Le Grande Soirée" i've seen it. Stopped to talk. Alexandros, the owner and driver, knew my blog, he even sent a picture to the "World map of Saabs" couple of days ago.
So I've asked him to speak about the Sand top, to make a reality check for the owners, especially those, who dream about it, but fear about the practical side of it.
Could you please introduce your Saab ?
It's a MY 2007 9-3 Convertible with a 2.0T engine, Vector edition. I bought it back in January 2007.
Was the sandtop your original idea or you just came across and liked it ?
I've chosen Nocturne Blue as the car's colour. Blue is one of my favourite colours anyway. I couldn't imagine the car with a black or blue top. If I recall corectly, Sand wasn't actualy an option in the configurator. It was all in my imagination.
Saabism note : the Sand, called Beige, was an option in the pricelists, at least the german ones. There is a list of older german pricelists, look for "Faltverdeck in Beige".
How often do you drive it and in which conditions / part of the year ?
It's actually (as every Saab Convertible!) a car for the whole year, also during the Bavarian winter. As we live in the countryside, my wife and I often need two cars. I drive about 15.000 km per year with the convertible. Our other car is of course a Saab (MY2008 9-5 2.0t SportCombi, Linear).
So how's with the dust and dirt on it ? Too much ? Too often or not really ?
Well, you don't see really the dust on it. What you see is the dark dirt of the road (exhaust gases etc.), some bird's doodoo and the imprints of the top's booth.
How often do you clean it ?
I wash the top about 3-4 times every year: the first time after the winter, I confess, I go to the carwash, where I choose the special convertible programm. I have spoken to many people and the majority of them thinks that carwash is not a problem for modern convertibles. After that I impregnate the top. The other times I wash it per hand with special detergents.
What do you use for cleaning ?
I am using Sonax products for cleaning and impregnation.
As a sand top owner you probably know more of them. How many sand top owners did you met or know about ?
To be honest, I have seen only 2 to 3 Saab Convertibles with a Sand top until now and of course some more from other brands. It seems that many convertible buyers are very hesitant towards buying Sand tops and I think this is a pity because some convertibles would look amazing with a Sand top !
Anything to add ?
A dirty car can always be cleaned and look beautiful again. A "boring" car can't...
... which is an absolute true remark and a great finish of the talk.
Thank you very much Alexandros for taking a time to write the answers.
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Car apps : internet radio players for Android
For many music fans the streaming radios are one of the important sources for new music hints. I am not an exception and use to listen to them often on the desktop. But this section of the Internet in my Saab was completely closed due to expensive mobile data. This has now changed, I finally could get a mobile phone plan with the data unlimited.
However to find a good free player in my older Android based phone is a different story. I've tried a couple of them and got very different results. Partially because of philosophy of the players but also because of the quality of the code.
So what do I expect from such a player ?
Required features : 1) search function (full text as well as genres), 2) stability of the music play + reliable reconnect if the connection drops, 3) lightweight and simple, 4) support of Shoutcast and 5) to see the track's metadata - artist, track etc.
Nice to have : to send the selected artist and track via e-mail as a reminder to my home e-mail. On one click. Remembering the last listened station or bookmarks.
How I tested : Very simple. Install and drive a couple of hours inside as well as outside of the city, on country roads between towns and villages, where the GSM signal is weaker. Stop somewhere outside, change the station and continue. Hardware : an older HTC Desire with Android 2.2.
Applications :
XiiaLive™ Lite - Online Radio
Pros : Easy to use, can search in genres and text, has history, support tags, writes artist/tracks. The size of 3.6MB is acceptable, a bit at the edge. It's user friendly.
Cons : Unstable, it loose the signal too often. Maybe a larger buffer would help. Battery consumption, but the car charger solves this.
Fusion Radio
The Fusion set of apps seems to be a separate application for each genre or topic. I would buy that concept for music with added value, f.e. when an experienced dubstep DJ selects the best dubstep stations offered in the app. It's nothing like this there. So search button is expected, but missing. Therefore uninstall.
A Online Radio
Pros : much more stable than XiiaLive. Favorites/bookmarks button is great. Very effective text search, however it doesn't search in genres without typing a keyword into the textbox. Hm. Smart app name - it appears at the top of the app list in the phone.
Cons : most of the time it fails to reconnect when the signal drops, which is annoying. Also it doesn't write the radio station correctly.
Winamp
Pros : Simple UI, music flows on 3-4 clicks. Very very stable. Cca 8s buffer. Search is intuitive and fast.
Cons : 12 MB is a lot. But it allows to install it on SD card. Cca 50% success on reconnect. It doesn't write metadata (artist/track), you have to click for it and it's small. Not very safe for a car.
To be honest I am not very happy with the results. Not one of the app was stable enough in terms of not loosing the signal. I was driving the same roads and the drops were not at the same places, so it has nothing to do with the GSM network itself. Also not one of them could really reliable reconnect.
Winamp provided the most stable music stream and has a great user interface at the start. However the most reliable reconnect came from XiiaLive as well as it shows the most visible useful informations plus a big star/stop button. So these are the two favorites, but not one of them is 100% what I've expected.
I will stick with Winamp for a while, but after dropping it from my Windows desktop (in favor of the great foobar) I have a strange feeling because it's so big and packed with stuff without use for me.
There are more players on the Android Market (whatta stupid name Google Play Market now), so there will come a next round of players in the future. Also I've tried just for fun to use my iPad hooked to the wifi hotspot from the phone. It appeared stable, so let's see.
However to find a good free player in my older Android based phone is a different story. I've tried a couple of them and got very different results. Partially because of philosophy of the players but also because of the quality of the code.
So what do I expect from such a player ?
Nice to have : to send the selected artist and track via e-mail as a reminder to my home e-mail. On one click. Remembering the last listened station or bookmarks.
How I tested : Very simple. Install and drive a couple of hours inside as well as outside of the city, on country roads between towns and villages, where the GSM signal is weaker. Stop somewhere outside, change the station and continue. Hardware : an older HTC Desire with Android 2.2.
Applications :
Pros : Easy to use, can search in genres and text, has history, support tags, writes artist/tracks. The size of 3.6MB is acceptable, a bit at the edge. It's user friendly.
Cons : Unstable, it loose the signal too often. Maybe a larger buffer would help. Battery consumption, but the car charger solves this.
The Fusion set of apps seems to be a separate application for each genre or topic. I would buy that concept for music with added value, f.e. when an experienced dubstep DJ selects the best dubstep stations offered in the app. It's nothing like this there. So search button is expected, but missing. Therefore uninstall.
Pros : much more stable than XiiaLive. Favorites/bookmarks button is great. Very effective text search, however it doesn't search in genres without typing a keyword into the textbox. Hm. Smart app name - it appears at the top of the app list in the phone.
Cons : most of the time it fails to reconnect when the signal drops, which is annoying. Also it doesn't write the radio station correctly.
Pros : Simple UI, music flows on 3-4 clicks. Very very stable. Cca 8s buffer. Search is intuitive and fast.
Cons : 12 MB is a lot. But it allows to install it on SD card. Cca 50% success on reconnect. It doesn't write metadata (artist/track), you have to click for it and it's small. Not very safe for a car.
To be honest I am not very happy with the results. Not one of the app was stable enough in terms of not loosing the signal. I was driving the same roads and the drops were not at the same places, so it has nothing to do with the GSM network itself. Also not one of them could really reliable reconnect.
Winamp provided the most stable music stream and has a great user interface at the start. However the most reliable reconnect came from XiiaLive as well as it shows the most visible useful informations plus a big star/stop button. So these are the two favorites, but not one of them is 100% what I've expected.
I will stick with Winamp for a while, but after dropping it from my Windows desktop (in favor of the great foobar) I have a strange feeling because it's so big and packed with stuff without use for me.
There are more players on the Android Market (whatta stupid name Google Play Market now), so there will come a next round of players in the future. Also I've tried just for fun to use my iPad hooked to the wifi hotspot from the phone. It appeared stable, so let's see.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Bucharest
In my recent job I am travelling quite a lot around central and eastern Europe. The driving parts unfortunately not in a Saab but it is always a pleasure to meet one on the road and after a time one becomes a feeling where most Saabs are. It looks like it's Prague and Warsaw. 5-7 Saabs a day.
This was my first time in Bucharest, Romania, so I was very curious about how many Saabs I will encounter. The result is 4, the newest one in the facelift until 2007. The traffic is very hectic there, so I really don't know if I would dare to drive a new Saab there. Locals are most probably used to it.
There is also a Saab Club Romania facebook page, a nice one.
Looking forward to go there again, Bucharest surprised me a lot.
And this is the newest Saab seen while sitting in a taxi to the airport with the camera prepared to hunt :)
This was my first time in Bucharest, Romania, so I was very curious about how many Saabs I will encounter. The result is 4, the newest one in the facelift until 2007. The traffic is very hectic there, so I really don't know if I would dare to drive a new Saab there. Locals are most probably used to it.
There is also a Saab Club Romania facebook page, a nice one.
Looking forward to go there again, Bucharest surprised me a lot.
And this is the newest Saab seen while sitting in a taxi to the airport with the camera prepared to hunt :)
Monday, June 11, 2012
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Convertible season 2012 starts
Packed with a lot of energy from the last weekend drive and browsing through the pics on the disk I'd like to share two of them. Nothing special, just random shots while driving, but such longer rides in great weather through interesting roads is something which enables me to enjoy life. Yes, it could be any other convertible as well as a motorbike, but sometimes after talks with people I more and more understand, that the Saab evokes mostly very positive feelings. Which I enjoy a lot, to spread positivism is an awesome feeling. I'm not sure if some musculative Mercedes would evoke the same.
This trip was not different. After parking a friend of a friend, came to me asking about the Saab and it turned out he knew about this car a lot, having it through his time in Australia. With the same engine (2.8T V6) which was developed by Holden, Australia. It was not the first time, that someone wanted to talk.
Oh and yes, my convertible evidently fits into the hills.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Friday, April 27, 2012
... a ride
The convertible season is already here, so I've made a ride with a friend with similar obsession for topless cars but driving a different brand. It's fine to have friends, who in these situations doesn't immediately start to compare cars and battling in features but instead just enjoy the ride.
Also here in eastern (ok central) Europe many people assume, that if you drive this kind of car, you must be a member of mafia or a sophisticated thief or something like that. This is definitely not the case. But one have to learn to live with that and after a while each of us simply doesn't care what the others think.
I didn't had the camera with me, so just some telephone pictures.
Btw. 581 horsepower together on the pictures. 275 hp in the Saab (2.8 V6 + Hirsch, 400Nm) + 306 in the Z4 (3.0V6, 400 Nm).
Also here in eastern (ok central) Europe many people assume, that if you drive this kind of car, you must be a member of mafia or a sophisticated thief or something like that. This is definitely not the case. But one have to learn to live with that and after a while each of us simply doesn't care what the others think.
I didn't had the camera with me, so just some telephone pictures.
Btw. 581 horsepower together on the pictures. 275 hp in the Saab (2.8 V6 + Hirsch, 400Nm) + 306 in the Z4 (3.0V6, 400 Nm).
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| BMW Z4 and Saab 9-3 Convertible |
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| BMW Z4 and Saab 9-3 Convertible |
Saturday, April 7, 2012
90003
When I bought him, he had 39.000 km on the tachometer. Now it is 90.000 km.
All the 50.000 km were a pure pleasure. Austria, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, Holland, Sweden, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Croatia and of course Slovakia. Except regular service stops no serious or expensive failure. Hopely it stays so. I am satisfied.
All the 50.000 km were a pure pleasure. Austria, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, Holland, Sweden, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Croatia and of course Slovakia. Except regular service stops no serious or expensive failure. Hopely it stays so. I am satisfied.
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