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.

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 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 my wife'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."

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 (has large Saab wrecking yard with mostly older Saabs), and finally Jack Ashcraft (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. By the way, John Collins has a Saab shop right alongside Rod Beckner's (mid-2007). This may be a temporary location; it was due to an unfortunate incident where Rod's Saab shop in Corvallis burned down. John Collins' speciality is older Saabs, so if you've got an older Saab, please remember John!