We all have an ethic of car ownership. Some of us have ethics that are more consciously held than others. Let's compare and contrast: the Scandanavian car ethic vs. for example the early German ethic as seen in the famous Volkwagen "beetles."

Volkwagen--- "The People's Car." Loud, noisy, low-tech, cheap, not built to last, weird, ugly, cramped, uncomfortable, poor heating and cooling, not sporty, not fun, pure utility, cousin to the Yugo!

Saab Ethic: a family car that does it all for a family for many years. With a Saab, you don't need to own two or three vehicles---Durable, safe, well-built, comfortable, sporty, sensible, multi-purpose, Saab might be seen as the original "Sport-Utility" vehicle. The first truly perfected exemplar of the Saab ethic was probably the 9000 series, in particular the wagonback versions. These had U.S. releases in 1985/86.

Picture note: Rod Beckner's phone area code is obscured-- his full phone number is 541-327-1133.

Many of these OLDER Saab vehicles simply refuse to die, still providing their loving owners safe, fun, reliable companionship as the vehicles exceed 20 years in age..... Take for instance the current (officially-listed) high mileage leader in my own category, which is Saab 9000s-- Bud Clark of Torrance, California, has driven his 1987 Saab 9000 Turbo the equivalent of 25 times around the World (he's got 614,000 miles on it at last count) ...BUT right here in Oregon there's Model 900 Saab with even higher mileage--- it's a dull green 1979 Saab 900 EMS; I viewed it myself a few months ago (Feb. 2006)... It's is owned by one of the employees at Gary Small Saab in East Portland (his name is Bill Holbert (Bill Hulbert) of Camas, WA), Bill's old 900, which he bought new in 1980, has close to 620,000 miles (I forgot to write down the exact mileage, but it is a Daily Driver, so is accumulating more miles every day!)....Also in the same part of Oregon is John Collins, a friend of Rod Beckner's. John's 1975 Model 99 is officially listed with 460,000 miles as of February 2005, which placed it only a little behind the highest listed Saab in the pre-900/9000 category (Note: in John's category, the #1 car was documented nearly six years ago, and so may by now have finally given up the ghost, which would leave John's car as Numero UNO).....By the way, the very highest mileage Saab in any category was reported in May of 2005 to have 910,000 miles, nearly ONE MILLION MILES...It's a 1989 Saab SPG model residing in Wisconsin, USA.......Please click for a link to an official honor roll of very high mileage Saabs worldwide

Here is a Saab owner's story about the Saab Ethic, gleaned from her two years' of residence in Finland in the 1980s.... It casts the Saab ethic squarely into the Scandanavian culture of its origin: "There is a Saab auto plant in Finland, not so far from where I lived in Helsinki. Saabs were the most common vehicle on the road. What amazed me was how most families scrimped and saved to own a single vehicle, which was then assumed to last for at least 15-20 years. The whole infrastructure seemed to be in acccord with this ethic.. To own a very old Saab was not seen as a disgrace, and finding parts and service even for quite old Saabs was never an issue." Quiz about the picture from Rod's wrecking yard: who can pick out the Saab Sonnett sports car model?

Question: Sure it is nice to own a newly-near Saab, and great to have it serviced at the American Saab Dealers, who "Consumer Reports" state have the highest overall customer satisfaction rating of any new car line in America.......But who are the unsung heroes who labor each day to keep those older Saabs running? Who are the people behind the scenes collecting worn out Saabs so that their expensive parts can be recycled so that the Saab Ethic can be maintained: safe, sporty family car that is affordable and will last for decades:

The Oregon Hall of Fame includes: Scott Nelson in Philomath, Rod Beckner and John Collins in Jefferson (near Albany) (phone 541-327-1133), Rick Wolf in Eugene/Springfield, ph 541-726-0664 (Rick has a large Saab wrecking yard specializing in much older Saabs), and Jack Ashcraft and his son Mark in Medford, phone 541-779-0731, website http://www.jackashcraft.com/ and email jack@jackashcraft.com .... Please contact me if you know of others, and I will be happy to add them).... Rick Wolf and Rod Beckner maintain what are probably the two largest Saab-only wrecking yards in the State. That's Rod at work below.

ROUTINE SAAB OIL AND FILTER SERVICES are vital to keeping your older SAAB running well. Russ, Assistant Manager at the Tualatin Valvoline store is a longtime Saab owner and rebuilder who you should ask for. Valvoline is just two blocks east of I-5 on Nyberg road (ph 503-691-2518), next to McDonalds. Valvoline offers synthetic oils of course, radiator flushes and other related services that Russ will be happy to describe for you.

RESTORATION OF CLASSIC SAAB 96--- John Collins has a Saab shop right alongside Rod Beckner's where he excercises his speciality, the restoration of classic Saabs (see pictures of his Saab 96 restoration which took Second Place at the 2009 Saab Convention in Copper Mountain, Colorado.... if you've got an older Saab, please remember John!....

PORTLAND AREA, resources courtesy of Andy Peterson, who has driven Saabs since 1969, and knows Rod and John, and has a couple of very old project cars down at Rick Wolff's.... Andy's referrals are two: Garth Ankeny Trackside Motorsports, http://www.tracksideracetires.com--- Rally Saab 96s are a speciality with Garth... Then there is Travis Decker Atomic Auto on NE Sandy Blvd, Travis likes to work on classic Saab 900s and also newer Saabs. http://www.atomicauto.biz

And if you live east of the Cascades, in Central Oregon, you've had a great Saab resource in Bend for many years, beginning with Bud Landstrom, who I would bring my Saab to in the late 1970s. After I'd moved from Bend, Bud sold to a man named Pat about 1985, and Pat has had the shop ever since, still in the same building on the north end of the Bend downtown, same darn place as I used to visit so many years ago! Nowadays, it's named "Pat's Import Auto Clinic," and specializes in Saabs and Subarus, Pat Proctor, ph 541-389-1023 (it's still the same phone number that I used to call with my Saab problems 30 years ago!)....